Hemp-derived THC products, including beverages, have exploded on the market in recent years as producers take advantage of a federal legal loophole that leaves the products legal—or at least not-illegal—in many states. Much of this nascent beverage market is focused on seltzer-style minimalism or sweet, fruit-forward drinks, but Connecticut’s Float House is making the case for beer aroma and flavor as the category develops.
In this episode, cofounders Gordon Whelpley and Jared Emerling—alumni of Connecticut and New York breweries that include Two Roads, Sixpoint, Twelve Percent Beer Project, and Stony Creek—discuss their approach to making hop-driven THC beverages that drink like nonalcoholic beers. Along the way, they touch on:
- launching a THC beverage brand in an uncertain environment
- the current regulatory framework for producing and selling hemp-derived beverages
- creatively designing beer-focused beverages in a space with infinite possibility
- building balanced flavor and mouthfeel in hopp-forward NA brews
- creating body using novel hop products
- the difference between nonconverted and converted hemp-derived THC
- how CBD modulates the body’s uptake of THC
- the benefits of beverage-sipping as a slow ingestion mode for THC
And more.
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