The perfect THC-infused craft beer includes our favorite dank marijuana aromas, gets us moderately high after one or two beers, and doesn’t have that chlorophyll (plant-y) flavor that dominates and overpowers the taste of a good beer. We wanted to create a beer that would accept and complement the infused THC, with significant hops to complement and harmonize with the earthier taste of marijuana and chose to start with Neil Fisher’s recipe of Weld-Werk’s Brewing Juicy Bits New England IPA because of the bright citrus hops aromas.
Andrew took the lead in selecting marijuana strains, choosing Strawberry Diesel and Lemon Jeffrey. Both strains have pungent aromas: Strawberry Diesel provides a strawberry and berry aroma; Lemon Jeffrey provides lemon and subtle grassy aromas. For those unfamiliar, cannabis is sold in a multitude of forms, from flower to concentrates, edibles, chews, candies, sprays, topical creams, even odorless tasteless powders that nearly instantly dissolve in any liquid.
“Flower” is the dried and cured plant you’re familiar with from popular culture and will be our focus. Flower is full of compounds—cannabinoids as well as terpenoids and flavonoids that give cannabis its distinct odor and flavor. The primary compounds we’re concerned with here are THCA (tetrahydrocannabinolic acid) and CBDA (cannabidiolic acid). Both compounds are cannabinoids, are unable to pass through the blood-brain barrier, and are therefore unavailable to be taken up by the body’s own endocannabinoid system because of that pesky A at the end of THC and CBD. It is THC (Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) that gets you high, and CBD (cannabidiol), which is non-psychoactive, but which has a myriad of potentially beneficial properties, such as reducing anxiety and inflammation.