Non-alcoholic beer with THC-infused cannabis to launch in 2018

The man who invented Blue Moon for Coors in 1995 believes he has the magic touch to bring out yet another game-changing beverage. Keith Villa, 55, who retired from Molson Coors in January 2018 after working at the firm for 32 years, plans to market a cannabis-infused non-alcoholic craft beer.

To this end he has established a company, Ceria Beverages, together with his wife Jodie in the Denver suburb of Arvada, Colorado. The two will brew non-alcoholic beers infused with THC, a key psychoactive chemical compound found in cannabis, in a variety of strengths with a view to rolling the drinks out in legalised cannabis states by the end of the year.

The beers will be offered in at least three strengths – light, regular, and full-bodied – with the THC content clearly labelled, similar to how beer labels list alcohol content levels – and will be sold to consumers aged 21 and older. This means the beers promise to give drinkers a buzz, yet not from alcohol but from THC.

The new beer brand, which has yet to be named, will also be less calorific than traditional beer, due to the elimination of alcohol. As was reported, the beer will be brewed as an alcoholic craft beer to maintain its beer taste and aroma but will be de-alcoholised prior to the infusion of cannabis.

At the moment, beverages infused with THC are only legal in the state of Colorado.

In the US, recreational marijuana is currently legal in eight US states and 21 states allow it for medicinal purposes, while recreational use of cannabis was made legal in California on 1 January 2018.

However, Ceria will not be able to ship cannabis products made in Colorado to other states. Mr Villa was quoted as saying: “It’s a state-by-state operation, we can’t set up shop in one state and have a presence across the nation in the states where it’s legal. We almost literally have to set up shop in each state.”

It looks like the national roll-out could cause Mr Villa a little bother.