{"id":8590,"date":"2018-12-18T13:42:22","date_gmt":"2018-12-18T13:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=3302387"},"modified":"2018-12-18T13:42:22","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T13:42:22","slug":"grainwave-a-thc-infused-non-alcoholic-beer-hits-dispensary-shelves-friday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/grainwave-a-thc-infused-non-alcoholic-beer-hits-dispensary-shelves-friday\/","title":{"rendered":"Grainwave, a THC-infused non-alcoholic beer, hits dispensary shelves Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/grainwave-a-thc-infused-non-alcoholic-beer-hits-dispensary-shelves-friday\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>After <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2018\/03\/29\/cannabis-beer-ceria-beverages-blue-moon\/102568\/\">months of chatter<\/a>, a booze-free beer promising a different kind of buzz will hit pot shop shelves this week just in time to be a stocking stuffer for select folks age 21 and up.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ceriabrewing.com\/\">Ceria Brewing Co.<\/a>\u2018s debut product, Grainwave Belgian-Style White Ale, will be available at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tgscolorado.com\/locations\">Green Solutions\u2019 dispensary locations<\/a> across the state starting Friday.<\/p>\n<p>The nonalcoholic\u00a0beer, going for $7.95 per 10-ounce bottle, will deliver 5 milligrams of THC to the drinker\u2019s system, about half the amount of many standard edible servings. The aim is to provide a high that is pleasant, relaxing and mellow enough to be enjoyed socially as well as recreationally.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou should feel good but you won\u2019t get too stoned,\u201d Ceria co-founder and brewmaster Keith Villa said. \u201cWhat better way to enjoy a Broncos game, especially when they\u2019re losing, than to have a couple of these and feel good?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Villa is known for making a different Belgian white ale. He created Blue Moon, which put him on the brewing map in 1995. The brewmaster retired from Molson Coors earlier this year, and a short time later he and his wife, Jodi Villa, founded Ceria in their hometown of Arvada.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to remove the stigma around cannabis,\u201d Villa said. \u201cThere are still a lot of people who won\u2019t go into a dispensary. This breaks down stigma. We truly believe it will change the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grainwave is brewed as a normal beer, and then the alcohol is removed. That\u2019s why its label calls it \u201cde-alcoholized cannabis beer.\u201d Villa formulated his beer with help from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebbu.com\/\">Evergreen-based hemp research firm ebbu<\/a>. The folks at ebbu helped Ceria connect with <a href=\"https:\/\/keefbrands.com\/\">Keef Brands<\/a>, makers of Keef Cola,\u00a0Bubba Kush Root Beer and other infused sodas.<\/p>\n<p>Its products have been available on dispensary shelves since before legalized sales began in 2014. Keef is providing the cannabis extract that spikes Villa\u2019s beer, as well as bottling and distributing the product.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3302903\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone size-article_inline\"><img class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/grainwave-a-thc-infused-non-alcoholic-beer-hits-dispensary-shelves-friday.jpg\" width=\"5568\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/grainwave-a-thc-infused-non-alcoholic-beer-hits-dispensary-shelves-friday.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/grainwave-a-thc-infused-non-alcoholic-beer-hits-dispensary-shelves-friday.jpg 620w,https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/wee-infused-beer_AC20048x.jpg?fit=780%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 780w,https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/wee-infused-beer_AC20048x.jpg?fit=810%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 810w,https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/wee-infused-beer_AC20048x.jpg?fit=630%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 630w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<p>Andy Cross, The Denver Post<\/p>\n<p>Production supervisor and beverage expert, Casey Steele, left, pours out maltodextrin used on a test batch of THC infused, nonalcoholic cannabis beer at the Ceria Brewing Co. in the Keef Cola facility Dec. 13, 2018. Brewmaster Dr. Keith Villa, right, takes a close look during the test. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ceria\u2019s profile as something to be shared in a social setting appealed to Keef CEO Erik Knutson.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere you\u2019re looking for a social experience, you don\u2019t sit down and break up a brownie into 20 pieces,\u201d Knutson said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a cool alternative for people who are maybe at a point in their life where they don\u2019t want to drink alcohol anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Green Solution prides itself on carrying new and unique products, said Casey Efting, the chain\u2019s retail manager for Colorado. He files Ceria under \u201crevolutionary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Colorado has long been home to a vibrant brewing culture, as Villa can attest. And it was the first state to allow recreational marijuana sales. It seems only natural the two should meet. But federal law prohibits infusing alcoholic products with THC, leaving two options: Infuse beer with another nonpsychoactive component of cannabis, or make a nonalcoholic beer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is something that even we have looked at in the past. How do we crack that code? How do we bring something to market that doesn\u2019t have alcohol in it?\u201d Efting said. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be very popular.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ceria has two other beers on deck: an American light lager and an India Pale Ale. The lager will pack less of a THC punch, 2.5 milligrams per bottle. The IPA will be more potent, with 10 milligrams in each.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On the opposite side of the metro, in Aurora, there is a brewery making an infused beer on the other end of the spectrum.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.breweria.com\/\">Dad and Dude\u2019s Breweria<\/a> this summer relaunched its cannabidiol, or CBD, infused beer. CBD, lauded in holistic circles for its relaxing and anti-inflammatory effects, is available in a variety of products these days, but when Dad and Dude\u2019s started selling beer made with it in 2017 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2018\/04\/03\/new-belgium-hemperor-hemp-beer-kansas\/102915\/\">the feds cracked down<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This July, the Breweria started up again, calling the beer George Washington\u2019s Secret Stash in honor of the first U.S. president\u2019s practice of growing hemp. It was a gamble, company president and co-founder Mason Hembree admits, but no federal agencies have come knocking. And with a farm bill that legalizes hemp awaiting President Donald Trump\u2019s signature, he doesn\u2019t expect they will. The IPA is available in six packs and on tap when Dad and Dude can keep it in stock.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<span>There are a lot of people going for it,\u201d Hembree said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<p>Hembree aims to obtain a permanent patent for the brewing method used to make his infused beer. He already holds a provisional patent. He believes that will slow down competitors including \u201cbig beer\u201d brands. Molson Coors has already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/11\/10\/colorado-cannabis-infused-beverage\/\">announced a joint venture in Canada<\/a> aimed at infused drinks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<span>I do believe this is an emerging market<\/span>\u00a0that is going to be a much larger market than already anticipated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>After months of chatter, a booze-free beer promising a different kind of buzz will hit pot shop shelves this week just in time to be a stocking stuffer for select folks age 21 and up. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5062,52,6811,6908,55,7618,6813,77,5577,6858,9,7515,6882,5019,6845,1,3,18,61,1736],"tags":[5063,2632,6816,6910,2635,7619,6818,2655,5580,6860,7517,6883,5022,6846,2622],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8590"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8590\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}