It's legal in WA and CO now

[Brazil]

I live in Washington state, and with the recent legalize it legislation, I got to thinking about the possibility of a marijuana infused beer.
Cannabis and Hops are surprisingly similar genetically. They share the same Family and have very similar genus.
So, my thought is to take an IPA recipe and replace the hops with some buds.
I don't want to overpower the beer flavor and end up with a brew that tastes like licking a skunk's buttwhole, but I want to use enough to get a little extra kick after drinking a couple. My plan is to do a mini batch first - like a half gallon or so.

I can't believe that I'm the first person to want to try this (stoners are crafty people by nature - those guys can make a bong out of anything)...
Does anyone here have any experience with this, or a recipe, or their two cents to interject?

 

[kcmobrewer]

I would love to try that. I can't because of my job. But definitely when I retire lol. I would be luring if I said I hadn't thought about it.

My thought would be to whirlpool it at a low-ish temp to try not to lose any thc. Make sure all the bud material makes it into the fermentor too.

Also, I would think dry hopping with it might work. Maybe some of the thc would get dissolved into solution?

All if this is purely guessing of course.


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[JonM]

Shutdown in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ...

 

[Brazil]

JonM, My understanding is that the rules changed on this topic this year, and it is no longer taboo as long as you're not posting about grow operations and stuff like that.

 

[haberdasher]

Not even a consumer here....


but the only way I believe you'd get any carryover of thc in there is through a tincture added at bottling. Dry hopping is perhaps an option as well, but any heat applied would neutralize the thc without a fat present (lipids) the lipids protect it (as the butter in brownies for instance.

 

[Hobanon]

I have thought about it before, and I only see two real "problems" with it:

1. Cost. From what I've been told, marijuana whose quality would be on par with the purpose-grown hops we use would cost upwards of $20/gram. Taking into consideration that hop usage runs between .5-5 ounces in a 5 gallon batch, you might end up spending more than it's worth to achieve any noticeable contributions from the weed.

2. Usable numbers. I haven't been to any retail locations myself, but something makes me doubt that they would have details about chemical content aside from THC and other cannabinoids - I don't even know what the "bittering" chemical would be. Does marijuana contain alpha acids and stuff like myrcene, etc?

That said, try it and let us know how it goes
:fro:

 

[JonM]

JonM, My understanding is that the rules changed on this topic this year, and it is no longer taboo as long as you're not posting about grow operations and stuff like that.

I'll be darned. I did not know that. Carry on!

 

[Dstreetbrew]

I have a friend that was a grower in CO for a wile. the depencery that he grew for made a weed ginger beer. from what he told me you need to make a oil base with you bud first and then had when its time to force carb. I don't think dry hopping with weed will give you any more of "buzz". I would make a oil then add to the finished product when carbonating.

 

[chocotaco]

Don't worry, you are not the first person to think about or try this. There have been many.

The fact is (from what I have heard) the "goods" don't readily dissolve in beer. It ends up just being a huge waste of expensive herb.

You can use water (or beer) to separate the waxy good stuff from the herb to some degree (this is how hash is made) but it doesn't just dissolve into the beer; it sinks to the bottom and ends up with the trub.

 

[haberdasher]

so dstreetbrew and I agree..

It's settled
It needs to be in an oil based tincture added at time of kegging.

For effect, it should probably added to a Rauchbier made with about 50% smoked malt....

 

[GluStick]

I believe that there is a book on this very subject. How to make your own high brew beer or something along those lines. If you google it, then it will pop right up. I have friends that will put buds into their vodka because alcohol will also break down thc. It takes a little while for the alcohol to break it down though. I'm no expert in the matter. I was thinking of doing the same thing

 

[GluStick]

I was thinking of going with an IPA and adding buds to the boil, as well as hops for flavor, and then dry hopping with buds as well for effect

 

[Brazil]

My understanding was that releasing the THC requires hitting a certain temperature range (like they do when mixing it with butter). I hadn't thought about a tincture or dry hopping it.
Would mixing a tincture with a high alcohol concentration cause damage to yeast if it were added at a dry hopping stage? I would assume a couple ounces of tincture would dilute quickly enough to be harmless to the brew(?)

 

[RachmaelBenApplebaum]

If you plan on having more than one, be INCREDIBLY judicious with the tincture addition, I would recommend to go so far as doing bench trials with measured amounts in measured samples. Also note that while Marijuana is legal on a state level (not Federal) in those places, it's not legal to "manufacture", as the legislation goes, concentrated marijuana products without the proper licensing/paperwork/jibber-jabber and can have a whole bevy of legal consequences even though you're a cardholder/live in a legal state etc. Ain't free legal advice handy?

 

[haberdasher]

That temperature is hit during the manufacture of the tincture. I would add it in a true secondary, absent any yeast (i.e. cold crash primary) or my personal preference would be straight to the keg.
I can't imagine any harm caused.

 

[GluStick]

My understanding was that releasing the THC requires hitting a certain temperature range (like they do when mixing it with butter). I hadn't thought about a tincture or dry hopping it.
Would mixing a tincture with a high alcohol concentration cause damage to yeast if it were added at a dry hopping stage? I would assume a couple ounces of tincture would dilute quickly enough to be harmless to the brew(?)

Im honestly not sure, again im no expert. I have a gameplan formulated myself. I am going to get a bunch of hops and throw those in the boil to get a nice hoppy brew, and i will add some finely ground buds to the boil as well. Then put it in the first fermenter, then when i rack it into the secondary it will be racked with finely ground up buds. From what ive read online about it, boiling it will just wreck the thc and there will be no effect, but you will get some flavor from it. But adding it to the secondary, there will be plenty enough alcohol in there to break down the thc and not destroy it. I may need to do more research though.

 

[Yooper]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f22/our-policy-marijuana-cannabis-471585/#post6078214

Please read the rule, in post #1.

We will not have off topic chatter on MJ. We will discuss it strictly as a brewing ingredient. OT posts have been removed, and so will any other OT discussion other than using it as a brewing ingredient.

 

[RachmaelBenApplebaum]

Also, this discussion has come up a few times with various friends that brew and I've seen the process plenty but at the end of the day, even to the one who made the brew, the overarching banner statement seemed to be "you can, but why?"

 

[GluStick]

Also, this discussion has come up a few times with various friends that brew and I've seen the process plenty but at the end of the day, even to the one who made the brew, the overarching banner statement seemed to be "you can, but why?"

I want to do it for that very reason, because i can. I have never had the means to do it before, because i wasnt a brewer until recently. I have always thought it was a cool idea and you dont often get a chance to try something like it. So why not? Brew on, i say

 

[j1n]

Adding bud to the boil or any part of the process is a giant waste of money. What you need to do is infuse the THC without adding much flavor. Cause lets be real, Weed taste like sht. What you need to do is first make BHO, than after you make the BHO turn it into a tincture with the highest grain alcohol you can find (everclear). then take a syringe and when you bottle your beer, measure the amount you want to add with the syringe and add it to the bottle before you fill and cap with beer.

Now you have THC infused beer. I would also suggest using a very hoppy IPA as the beer to infuse since it will hide the THC flavor better.

 

[RachmaelBenApplebaum]

I want to do it for that very reason, because i can. I have never had the means to do it before, because i wasnt a brewer until recently. I have always thought it was a cool idea and you dont often get a chance to try something like it. So why not? Brew on, i say

Just sayin, perhaps you'll gain a different perspective. Heed the advice of the fellow who says to add at bottling, I say go further and do bench trials because of the nature of what you're making e.g. mLs per 12ozs or whatever you're bottling in, but that's just me. As with many things, if you intend on having people try it, make sure you know personally how strong it is and use good judgement. Incidentally, brewing is about more than just getting as twisted as possible, but hey, Brew On.

 

[theheadonthedoor]

Many brewers have done it. And from what I've read, would decent results.

Weed is not for me though, but I support any brewer experimenting.

I live in WA state too, and I guess if weed beer should really get a footing anywhere, it might as well be here.

Also from what I read, IPAs and wheat beers are the best choices, although a pale would save you some money so the hops could come through but still have some complimentary hop flavors.