Source: news-press.com
Point Ybel Brewing was one of several breweries throughout Florida told to stop brewing cannabis-infused beers last week. But for fans, there remains hope.
Days before their 4/20 party last week, the owners of Point Ybel Brewing got a letter in the mail.
It was, you could say, a buzzkill.
"It came from the TTB," Point Ybel founder Walt Costello said, referencing the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, the federal agency responsible for regulating alcohol production and labeling.
"It basically said we had to stop production of any beers containing cannabis terpenes."
Like we said: buzzkill.
The south Fort Myers-based Point Ybel wasn't the only Florida brewery told to stop infusing its crafts with marijuana-derived ingredients. Devour Brewing in Boynton Beach and Invasive Species Brewing in Fort Lauderdale received similar letters from the TTB last week, according to southflorida.com.
The letters mark a regulatory backlash to an increasingly popular trend: flavoring beers with cannabis compounds such as terpenes and cannabidiols, two of the THC-free components of the plant.
The problem isn't that the ingredients are illegal or necessarily harmful, it's that they, like so many things commonly infused into craft beers these days, are not specifically regulated by the TTB.
"They have a list of approved ingredients, and they’ve added a lot of stuff on there in recent years, but there’s still a lot of stuff we’ve always used that are not specifically approved," Costello said.
That list ranges from agave to yuzu, more than 80 add-ins in total. The list does not, however, include jackfruit, a key ingredient in one of Point Ybel's award-winning sours. Nor does it mention Key limes, another common add-on at the brewery.
But jackfruit and citrus never caught the attention of the feds the way cannabis terpenes, the sticky oils that give the plant its signature aromas, have.
"The terpenes thing got a lot of attention," Costello said. "I'm sure that got to them and made them want to check into it."
While the TTB's letter required Point Ybel to stop brewing cannabis-infused beers, it did not prohibit them from selling beers that had already been made. Point Ybel did just that on 4/20, the unofficial holiday for all things marijuana. Costello wasn't sure what the public's response would be, but in 30 minutes every single can of their terpenes-finished Sowflo IPA was gone.
So what's next?
Costello hopes it's just a little paperwork and some waiting.
He and his head brewer, Jordan Weisberg, have another terpenes-infused craft planned for the brewery's sold-out G. Love concert May 15. That one's an imperial sour infused with Meyer lemons, then finished with cannabis terpenes for a piny-citrus kick.
But first they need the TTB's approval.
"We sent in some of the actual beer," Costello said, "and then we had to send the exact recipe Jordan uses, exact amounts of grain, what types of grain, what type of honey, the exact hops, the exact terpenes."
Per Costello, the TTB's approval process should take two weeks. He has reasons to be hopeful — and worried.
The Colorado-based New Belgium Brewing Co. recently started distributing its hemp-infused Hemporer HPA throughout most of the country. The beer skirts federal regulations by using hemp hearts, a part of the plant legalized by the 2014 Farm Bill. New Belgium's proprietary process also uses compounds from noncannabis ingredients that simulate the aromas and flavors of terpenes.
TTB spokesman Thomas Hogue told southflorida.com that terpenes are legal, so long as they test negative for compounds such as THC. Still, the beers must be tested and approved to show they aren't being spiked with illicit chemicals.
“If you’ve used an ingredient, like (cannabis) terpenes oil, you would need to come to us for formula approval first, since that product isn’t recognized as a traditional beer ingredient,” Hogue told southflorida.com reporter Phillip Valys.
“We will not approve labels or formulas for products that contain a controlled substance.”
And that's where Point Ybel has cause to worry.
The DEA's Controlled Substances Act prohibits the use of products derived from hemp or cannabis, both of which are classified as Schedule 1 controlled substances, in consumable products — like beer.
"If we don't get approval, then we'd just have an imperial sour," Costello said of the G. Love collaboration his brewer has planned for the sold-out show.
"We'd figure out something cool to do with it, I'm sure, but it'd be a bummer."
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