Cannabisinfused beer on the far, far horizon

THERE are now several places in Arrowtown to try brews from two breweries producing in the town.

Arrowtown Brewing is the second brewery, after Lake and Wood, to have beer on tap. Its pilsner and lager are made in Christchurch at the Twisted Hop brew pub and are now on tap at the Fork and Tap, Slowcuts and Fan Tan.

Lake and Wood, which has been making small batches in a shed for a couple of years, has a saison, pilsner, porter and pale ale on tap at Slowcuts and la Rumba.

‘Herbal’ beer

Pundits suggest that cannabisinfused beer is not too far away — not that we will see it here in the foreseeable future — as the world liberalises its attitude to marijuana use.

A United States brewery is working on a nonalcoholic cannabis beer, which will come as ‘‘light, regular or fullbodied’’.

Already there are cannabisinfused sparkling fruit juices in the United States. (The labels recommend that firsttimers drink half the bottle and wait an hour to see whether they should have more due to its delayed effects.) Colorado laws restrict the amount allowed in drinks and also in the marijuana cookies that smokers are now turning to instead.

A Belgian brewery already produces a beer using hemp hearts and with an aroma from cannabis oil. A Gisborne brewery last year produced a brew from hemp seeds (hemp, a relative of cannabis, does not contain enough thc, tetrahyrocannnabinol, to produce the euphoria than comes from smoking marijuana).

The use and possession of marijuana is illegal in the United States, although about 30 states have more liberal attitudes to it. Most of those allow its use for medical purposes; some allow small number of plants to be grown and possession of small amounts for personal use. Nine have legalised ‘‘pot shops’’ for its sale — Colorado, for example, has more dispensaries than McDonald’s outlets statewide.

It is taxed like tobacco, of course, and various states are making billions.

Not that adding something to beer is new: the original brewers, the Egyptians, used spices and herbs and especially dates.

British beer, called gruit, in the Middle Ages had a mixture of sage, pine, broom and wormwood to counter the cloying sweetness of the brews of the day.

Belgian beers are famous for their use of such things as coriander, cumin, ginger, anise, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves.

American giant AnheuserBusch (Budweiser) has an ‘‘energy beer’’ with caffeine, guarana (a Brazilian berry high in caffeine which has a range of health benefits and is a natural aphrodisiac) and ginseng (which limits the negative effects of alcohol).

Others are using caramel sauce, chocolate and even icecream in infused brews. Even heather is now being used in some British beers.

Awards

About 600 brews and ciders have been submitted by 90 producers from here and overseas for judging for the annual New World beer and cider awards.

The results will be announced in early June when the gold medal winners will be on sale in New World supermarkets.

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