Black Hammer Brewing ordered to stop making cannabis beer
(San Francisco's) Black Hammer Brewing in SoMa debuted a very special beer for the 4/20 holiday in 2017: Toke Back Mountain, an IPA brewed with cannabidiol, the hemp-derived compound better known as CBD. The brewery said it was California’s first cannabis beer.
Since then, Black Hammer has done brisk business in the cannabis beer category, releasing eight brews containing CBD. “They’ve been extremely well received,” says owner Jim Furman. “Our line of CBD beers has been our most popular line.”
But a few weeks ago, the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau ordered Black Hammer to cease production of all its CBD beers.
Why? It’s not because of any federal laws around cannabis. Rather, it’s because the bureau requires special approval for any non-standard beer ingredients. Plenty of materials that are food-safe aren’t on that list, so breweries will often apply for special approval of their formula when they want to use one. Hemp is not on the list.
Full story at:
https://www.sfchronicle.com/wine/article/S-F-s-Black-Hammer-Brewing-ordered-to-stop-12937399.php