Beer that Tastes Like Weed: What’s that About?
Beer that taste like weed can mean a couple of things. And if you’ve spent any time in the beer world, you’ve likely heard about this phenomenon. If you’re really unlucky, you might have tasted it.
That is, unless the weed taste and smell were intentional.
It’s tricky.
Skunk Beer
The first instance in which you might have tasted or heard of beer that taste like weed would be skunked beer.
Skunked beer occurs when beer has been sitting usually in a glass bottle in the sun for at least a couple of hours.
Interestingly, the skunk smell is the result of a relationship between hops and marijuana. The two plants seem to have much in common. You won’t know about this at first, until the hops in beer are exposed to the sunlight.
When beer is brewed, grain is roasted, cracked or ground, steeped in hot water, and fermented. Then, hops are added.
On the surface, hops are added simply to cut the sweetness that comes from the sugars in the grain. Hops adds a level of bitterness.
But, below the surface, a chemical reaction takes place when those hops are added. That chemical reaction is a result of something called iso alpha acids from the hops being brought forth into the beer, adding that sought after hoppy flavor.
It’s a good thing. That is, until exposed to the sun.
When beer is bottled in glass, and then left in the sun, yet another chemical reaction occurs with those iso alpha acids. They are converted to something known as 3-methyl-2butene-1-thiol, also known as skunk.
Hence, the all too familiar smell for people who spend time around marijuana will be instantly recognizable as a “weed smell.” Highly desirable in actual marijuana, not so desirable when it’s an accident in your beer.
Weed Infused Beer
Interestingly, weed infused beer is an entirely different concept. Marijuana growers and brewers have been trying to find a way to bring the two together, weed and beer, for years.
For a long time, this combination seemed impossible because marijuana is still federally illegal in United States. But as state by state has come around to legalizing marijuana, craft brewers have been able to introduce THC and CBD, compounds from the marijuana plant, into beer, and even into their own beverages.
Indeed, reports so far show that in areas where marijuana has become legal, beer drinking has gone down. So it makes sense the brewers would want to get in on the cannabis market.
The goal, for both marijuana growers and advocates and brewers, is to eliminate the taboo around the use of weed.
Weed infused beer is brewed as beer is normally brewed and then is infused with either THC or CBD. Small breweries spent decades trying to get this process down. The problem has always been that we can’t know the full extent of what marijuana is contributing when it is added at the end of the brewing process, after fermentation, in the same way hops are added.
And we can’t know exactly how much THC is going into the beer.
In an attempt to resolve this problem, brewers have instead made tinctures or concentrated liquors out of THC and CBD. Effectively, they’ll infuse the liquor with the marijuana, and then add that liquor in specific amounts to the beer. This gives at least a bit more control for the brewer.
That is how weed infused beer is made today, and it will absolutely smell like weed in varying degrees, depending on the brewer.
Weed Beverage
Weed infused beer, however, is not the same as cannabis beer. That’s a whole different animal.
Cannabis beer is not beer at all, and it’s not alcoholic.
Technically, beer is a beverage made from malted grains that are cracked, steeped in water, and fermented.
To make cannabis beer, the same process is followed, but with the roots and stocks of the marijuana plant rather than with barley.
Cannabis beer arose from the desire for many people to find a different way to get a high you would get from marijuana without having to smoke. Edibles were the first answer, which usually come in the form of chocolate, gummies, or baked goods, using THC.
The question that usually revolves around weed beverages is whether or not you actually get high. The answer is: it depends.
THC is the chemical compound in marijuana that gets you high. So if you’re looking to get either a body high, where your whole body starts to feel relaxed, and you feel a bit lethargic, or a head high, which is where you get the mood altering, energetic effects, you’ll need the THC.
Today’s brewers of cannabis beers are seeking to offer drinkers the head high as it’s the one that hits faster. The biggest complaint around edibles is that you get that body high that usually takes an hour or two to kick in because the THC has to be converted by your liver before it gets to your brain.
However, there are also plenty of CBD beverages on the market that don’t get you high at all. CBD, or cannabidiol, is a different kind of chemical compound, and the common affect is to lower anxiety and act as a sleep aid. Typically CBD has medicinal purposes, including pain relief.
In any event, cannabis beer, whether it has CBD or THC very well may smell like weed when you first open it.
So now you know, whether you’re seeking beer that tastes like weed, or trying to avoid it, what the different reasons are.
In the end, the trick is to check your label.
Cheers!
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Sources:
- https://www.mensjournal.com/food-drink/best-beers-weed-lovers/
- https://www.gentside.co.uk/lifestyle/why-does-beer-sometimes-smell-like-weed-its-all-down-to-science_art8015.html
- https://brewingindustryguide.com/dazed-infused-thc-in-the-brewery/
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