It’s an idea brewed from a meeting near Vancouver’s waterfront, in the shadow of the Alberta Wheat Pool grain terminal. Three people met at a tiny brewery last April and the idea to mix hemp and beer in the same bottle was born.
Brewed by microbrewery Bowen Island Brewing of Vancouver, the new beer is scheduled to be released April 8 as Hemp Cream Ale, just after federal regulations prohibiting the use of industrial hemp are lifted.
A North American prohibition against cultivation of hemp has been in place since the 1930s. Attempts to eliminate hemp plants from North America shut out the industrial market as well. While Canadian and American farmers have been prohibited from growing hemp as a crop, European farmers increased production.
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Les Patterson, brewery sales manager, takes careful steps to avoid making any link between the beer and hemp’s cousin marijuana.
He said the brewery only uses industrial hemp seed that has been steam treated to eliminate any remaining THC, which is the intoxicating component.
” It tested at less than 10 parts per million, as low as the testing equipment could go (for THC),” said Patterson.
Hemp has become popular for more than just rope in recent years and promoters are suggesting a myriad of uses from clothing to interior car panels, food products and oil.
The first three batches of the beer, to be released as draft beer only, are sold out in advance and the company hopes Hemp Cream Ale will form the basis for expansion.
Testing over the past year by the British Columbia Liquor Control Board has led to official approval pending the release of the newly amended federal legislation expected this spring.
“So far our hemp seed, now imported, comes to us through a broker in Saskatchewan and starting this season we will be using Saskatchewan grown hemp seed,” said Patterson.
Dave Hutchinson, of Western Grower Seed in Saskatoon, says it is exciting to have Saskatchewan grown products finding their way into new products and new markets, including beer.
The seeds are used to enhance flavor, as hops are in other beers. In the future a defatted hemp meal will probably be used instead of seeds, which will reduce cost.
The beer will also be randomly tested to ensure it contains no THC.
