Canadian Startup Company Brews The World's First Cannabis Beer

It wasn't long ago that Canada legalised the recreational use of cannabis and it looks like some people couldn't wait for the change in the law - because a startup has already developed the first ever cannabis beer.

Yes, cannabis beer - it's supposed to be an alternative to alcohol. Just one question: who needs an alternative to alcohol?

CEO Dooma Wendschuh clearly thinks some people do because his company, Province Brands, have created the brand new bev.

Facebook/Province Brands

According to the MailOnline, there are already beers on the market brewed with barley and infused with cannabis oil, but none have used the plant itself in the process of brewing.

Wendschuh told the Guardian that the creation tastes 'dry, savoury' and 'less sweet than a typical beer'.

He added: "The beer hits you very quickly, which is not common for a marijuana edible."

Facebook/Province Brands

He went on to explain the technique that is used in their small Ontario lab, saying: "Our beer is brewed from the stalks, stem and roots of the cannabis plant."

Wendschuh, who is from Miami, moved to Toronto in 2016 to capitalise on Canada's pending plans for legalisation and to create an alternative to alcohol, the Guardian reports.

He continued: "The idea came from thinking, can we create something that can serve the role that alcohol serves in our society, and can we do that using this monumental sea change that is happening in our world right now?

"I don't think there was anywhere else in the world where we could do this business. Canada is already leading the world in creating an industry around medical cannabis and we expect them to continue to lead the world in trading and industry around adult-use cannabis."

Facebook/Province Brands

And by the sounds of things, it was a lot of trial and error to begin with. "The things that we would come up with just tasted horrible," he said. "They tasted like rotten broccoli." Sounds delicious...

Any alcohol produced during the processed is removed, resulting in a non-alcoholic, gluten-free beer that also offers a cannabis high.

Wendschuh wants the company to be the world's first cannabis brewery, with plans to roll out a variety of beers using different flavours and strains of cannabis.

But even though he believes his product will be safer and healthier than alcohol, he acknowledged that it comes with risks.

"Marijuana is not good for you and our beers are not good for you," he said. "You should not drink them five times a day, you should not drink them first thing when you wake up in the morning. We're not saying that.

"If I could create an alternative to alcohol, that's something that would change the world. That's something I'm very passionate about."

Last month, Canada passed a bill to legalise the drug in terms of recreational use - which spanned nationally.

The bill was passed by a vote of 52-29 in June, which ended a 90-year prohibition - but it won't come into effect until 17 October. Plenty of time to perfect the brew, then.

The law makes Canada only the second country to have a nationwide, legal marijuana market - after Uruguay.

Topics: Food, World News, Interesting, Cannabis, Drugs, Beer, Canada

Rebecca Shepherd

I'm Becky - a journalist at LADbible. I graduated with a First Class BA in Journalism before going on to cover criminal court cases, medical tribunals and breaking news for the national media - which inevitably and eventually became as glum as it sounds. Can often be found rocking a bag for life - which I made a 'thing' way before Rihanna. You can contact me at [email protected]

@RJShepherd94