Lagunitas Jumps on the THC/Cannabis Beverage Train With New Hoppy Sparkling Waters
Photos via Lagunitas
As the specter of national pot legalization seems like more and more of a certainty in the years to come, companies are increasingly trying to get a foot in the door of the lucrative cannabis market. That includes beer companies, many of which have reason to be nervous—studies have repeatedly shown that states and cities with legal weed see a significant decrease in alcohol consumption as a result. As a result, some prominent beer industry figures have actually jumped ship from one industry to the other, such as Blue Moon creator Keith Villa, who is now selling non-alcoholic, THC-infused beverages that mimic craft beer styles.
Not to be left behind is Lagunitas, a brewery long associated with cannabis imagery and pop culture. In fact, much of the company’s story revolves around weed in a tangential sort of way—such as the much-ballyhooed time when the brewery’s weekly “4:20 party” was raided by the feds in 2005, causing the brewery to be temporarily shut down. The Lagunitas beer Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale is named after the incident.
Now, with pot legal in California, the company can finally embrace what they probably always wanted to do from the beginning—actually put cannabis into their beverages. They won’t be doing it via beer, though—instead, Lagunitas is latching on to another nascent trend among brewers, which is hopped sparkling water.
