Hemp Beer

[pilkinga]

This might be a delicate subject but thought I would throw it out there to stir the home brew pot a little. Has anyone ever made a hemp beer before? and by hemp beer I mean......you know!

 

[rightwingnut]

No, I don't know...please explain...wait...you don't mean....
I wonder if a "hemp" beer would have any effect...or would it just be a flavor thing....

 

[homebrewer_99]

I had it in Holland....just like making tea....

 

[uglygoat]

really? i'd be hard pressed to toss my 'hemp' into a boiling kettle....

 

[Uncle Fat]

I haven't tried this, but I've toyed with the idea. From what I understand, THC (the active ingredient in ".....you know") is alcohol soluable. So boiling it might get you a little of the flavor you want, but not any of the.... you know... effect. What' you'd have to do is make a high alcohol beer, then "dry-hemp" it in the secondary. The question is: if you're making a high alcohol beer in the first place, do you really need the... you know?? Also, how much would you need per gallon in order to notice???
A friend of mine has been asking me to make a hemp-e-weizen.... Maybe one of these days....

Here's a book I found on the subject: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...102-3709525-1123368?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

 

[OSUmoney83]

I haven't tried this, but I've toyed with the idea. From what I understand, THC (the active ingredient in ".....you know") is alcohol soluable. So boiling it might get you a little of the flavor you want, but not any of the.... you know... effect. What' you'd have to do is make a high alcohol beer, then "dry-hemp" it in the secondary. The question is: if you're making a high alcohol beer in the first place, do you really need the... you know?? Also, how much would you need per gallon in order to notice???
A friend of mine has been asking me to make a hemp-e-weizen.... Maybe one of these days....

Here's a book I found on the subject: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...102-3709525-1123368?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

THC is fat soluble for sure, I don't know about alcohol and THC interaction....well, kind of...but anyways, I was thinking about how people add chococate or other fruity, sugary, fatty syrups to beer for flavor. The hemp would have to be incorporated into one these is what I'm thinking, by simmering for about 30 min. I have no idea as to how the boil would affect anything, or if it should be done after the boil then added to the wort, but who knows. Crazy that theres a book about this, but then again, I'm not too surprised.

 

[OSUmoney83]

Ok, maybe its partly because I have a nice homebrew buzz going (my beer works!) or whatever, I'll admit that in earlier years, "I knew some friends who experimented with "hemp brownies"......but they didn't inhale.... I just know it has to be simmered in a fatty substance for about 30-45 min to extract the "flavor"

 

[homebrewer_99]

You'd that you have to make a "tea" first then add it like you would flavoring.

 

[seven77]

Aren't hops the closest relitive to "you know"? The first thing I noticed when I opened my first bag of hops was how much it smelled like "you know". You'd think it'd add bittering qualities and flavor like hops.

I also tried some of that special brew in Maastrict. It didn't taste all that spectacular, nor did I get any special effects from drinking it.

 

[pilkinga]

Wow, surprised with all the posts! and the Book, who knew those stoners could get it together enough to write a book on the subject.

I to, have the 'friends' who have done the brownie experiment, by simmering the 'hemp' in butter then adding it to the brownie mix. I figured that the heat extracted the desired qualites into the butter so that it would work by boiling as well. But it seems that the concensus is that the THC is fat soluble rather than heat soluble.......anyone know??

 

[Janx]

THC is definitely fat and alcohol soluble. It is not soluble in water. Fats wouldn't work in beer, so you'd make an alcohol extract. Say, soak a bunch of cannabis in grain alcohol for a few months and then add that to your beer. I can't imagine why you wouldn't just roll up a joint and have it with your beer instead, but hey, whatever. Eating cannabis is a tricky thing to judge dosage so be careful.

Also, this all assumes you want to make cannabis beer. Hemp, on the other hand, is not illegal. It's illegal to grow because this country is fighting a misguided idiotic war on drugs, and apparently a war on useful fiber plants. Hemp refers to the fiber-producing strains of cannabis. Hemp beer is made legally by several breweries, one of which is my local, The Humboldt Brewing Company. They use hemp seeds in the brew, which would be a flavor-only thing. They add the seeds to the mash. I've never thought of it as much more than a gimmick. Humboldt County, for those that don't know, is one of the centers of marijuana-growing activity in the country.

And yes, hops are the closest cousin to cannabis. You can graft the two plants to one another successfully. Back in the day, people tried grafting hop plants to cannabis rootstock in hopes that they could grow hops with THC and avoid detection by law enforcement. This procedure does not work. The hops have no THC in them no matter how you graft them.

So, to sum up, adding cannabis buds/leaves to your boil or mash will not extract any THC at all. "Hemp" beer usually refers to adding toasted hemp seeds to the mash as a flavor element. If you want to make stoney beer, be careful testing it out, and make an alcohol extract to add at bottling time.

 

[OSUmoney83]

"I can't imagine why you wouldn't just roll up a joint and have it with your beer instead, but hey, whatever."


LMAO

 

[homebrewer_99]

"I can't imagine why you wouldn't just roll up a joint and have it with your beer instead, but hey, whatever."


LMAO

It would be quicker...


BTW, I've been to Maastricht also.

 

[rightwingnut]

It's illegal to grow because this country is fighting a misguided idiotic war on drugs, and apparently a war on useful fiber plants.

Amen. I am quite politically conservative (well, duh!), but I think maryjane should be completely legalized...There are people doing hard time (my girlfriend's cousin among them) for growing some natural plants...ridiculous. I don't smoke it anymore, but think it's a shame...The government needs to get out of people's business.

 

[homebrewer_99]

And yes, hops are the closest cousin to cannabis

Have you ever made a "hop pillow"?

You take about a pound of hops and stuff it in a little pillow and sleep on it.
Talk about dreams.........

 

[Janx]

I made a few for some Christmas presents one year. My sister had to quit using hers because she was having such crazy dreams. They sure smell nice. There's another crucial herb besides hops you have to add called the dream herb...forgot the name of it.

 

[D-brewmeister]

Also, this all assumes you want to make cannabis beer. Hemp, on the other hand, is not illegal. It's illegal to grow because this country is fighting a misguided idiotic war on drugs, and apparently a war on useful fiber plants.

Did any of you all get hit by ASScrofts "Operation Pipe Dreams"? Here in Podunk Idaho, they went completely mad, raided the few little head shops we had, threw the owners in jail or fined them heavily, fined any employees who sold paraphanalia, and confiscated thousands of pipes. All of this without any warning, since all these shopkeepers thought they were engaging in completely legal buisness. Kinda takes you back to the days of the "noble experiment" doesn't it? And that sure worked well right? I know that this current exercise in prohibition has convinced me of the dangers of cannabis, and I now urge all my friends to "stay off the pot" Yea RIGHT!

If you want to make stoney beer, be careful testing it out, and make an alcohol extract to add at bottling time.

Would doing an alchohol excraction and then adding that at bottling impart much by way of flavor, bitternes, color, or aroma?

 

[Dark_Ale]

Wow, surprised with all the posts! and the Book, who knew those stoners could get it together enough to write a book on the subject.

I to, have the 'friends' who have done the brownie experiment, by simmering the 'hemp' in butter then adding it to the brownie mix. I figured that the heat extracted the desired qualites into the butter so that it would work by boiling as well. But it seems that the concensus is that the THC is fat soluble rather than heat soluble.......anyone know??

I dont know about THC but Mushrooms......Shroons can be boiled and the tea added at bottleing time. about 1 inch of tea in a 12oz bottle. The effects seem to be milder, and the bottle still carbonates. The taste is not that bad either. I guess you could boil the tea till its more concentrated???? Anyway this probably deserves a differant thread, but what the heck.......Brew on

 

[jeffrideal]

My brother actually brewed one up. He soaked it vodka for a couple of weeks and that stripped all of the THC into the vodka. He pitched it in with the priming sugar before bottling. He said that he gave a 22 oz bottle to a guy. The guy called him and said that he was driving west when he should have been driving east and he missed his flight. Apparently it really worked. He said they dried the left over and tried to smoke it and they got nothing. It seemed the vodka did absorb the THC.