ganja beer feedback

[red fury]

So I've been brewing beer for a little while now, pretty recreationally. I've had the idea of making a beer that can give u 2 buzzes in one, ganja beer. I've looked up some recipes on google and what not and have found some interesting methods. Not sure which i'll try, but im prob gonna be putting at least 2 oz in a 5 gal brew.

Any other brewers on here that have tried/succeed with this idea?

 

[homebrewer]

You want to dry hop with your nugs after you've racked to a secondary since THC is alcohol soluble. I've made it once and used 1/4 ounce in 2 litres of beer. I wasn't using my best bud but after 2 weeks of 'dry hopping', that imparted enough THC to give you a buzz.

 

[r7o2d6]

I'd suggest you just add it to some EverClear, Let it ferment for a month, drain the liquid substance, Store it in another bottle that doesn't have the buds in it, And have a shot now and then. Of course that's just my personal input, I'd try some green beer if it was given to me, But I wouldn't go out of my way to get my hands on it.

 

[budzee]

This is such a great idea. I can't wait to see this in stores. BudBeer. GanjaAle...

 

[Drc]

I too am looking for a recipe. I dont want something that is too strong to enjoy. I know from my brownie days, that a little goes a long way when cooked. Guess I'll have to do a small side batch to test it, before doing 5 gallons

 

[Drc]

found this


This is assuming you've already got a homebrew setup going and you're producing your own beer.

Cannabis can be added to the beer at the same time the hops is added. THC is oil/alcohol soluble and some will dissolve in the brew as it ferments. Before adding it to the brew there are a few things you must do. Make sure the cannabis is dried until crispy. This removes all water molecules from it thus activating the THC. Soak the cannabis in cold water for several hours. This removes some of the water soluble tars and chlorophyll that are associated with that "plant" taste. General rule is one ounce shade leaves per gallon brew. Higher quality plant, use less cannabis.

 

[homebrewer]

found this


This is assuming you've already got a homebrew setup going and you're producing your own beer.

Cannabis can be added to the beer at the same time the hops is added. THC is oil/alcohol soluble and some will dissolve in the brew as it ferments. Before adding it to the brew there are a few things you must do. Make sure the cannabis is dried until crispy. This removes all water molecules from it thus activating the THC. Soak the cannabis in cold water for several hours. This removes some of the water soluble tars and chlorophyll that are associated with that "plant" taste. General rule is one ounce shade leaves per gallon brew. Higher quality plant, use less cannabis.

Hops are added during the boil unless dry hopping. I don't think that is a good time to add herb to your beer.

To improve on a previous idea, a vodka and herb solution could be made where the vodka would act as the solvent. The herb could be strained from the vodka and the vodka added to the beer after fermentation. This is a common method of adding controlled spice flavor to certain styles.

 

[akgrown]

Why not add hash instead this would hide away the smell and ganja flavor.

 

[dankillerbs]

Im a beer brewer and have been thinking of a way to do this for a while... You wont find any recipes online but plenty

of debate on weather or weather not it can be done... I think if I were to try this, I would do it this way...

Brew a HIGH GRAVITY beer... in order to get some THC infused your gonna need a strong beer! I would try a

STRONG ALE or even a BARLEY WINE style brew... something that has a 10% ABV or more(if you havent tried brewing a

high gravity brew make sure and read up on it, it will be a little tricky). Brew as normal and let primary fermentation

complete... Now I was thinking you could either rack your beer onto your buds in the secondary like the "dry hopping

method", or just add some hash to each bottle when your ready for bottling. The "dry hopping method" I think may be

more ineffective as the bud would probably sink to the bottom with the trub and may not get fully extracted... not to

mention the grassy flavor from straight bud may make the drink undesireable. To help, I would rinse the bud your

starting with by soaking in water for a few days and changing the water a few times to get some of the nasty flavor

out... Also if your going that route I would imagine you would need to let it age in the secondary for quite some time for

it to extract anything(probably 60 days or so).

The other route that I think would be better is adding hash straight to the bottles when your ready to bottle, this way

you wouldnt have to sacrifice a whole batch of beer for the experiment, and it would probably taste less grassy...

either way it will be like making a tincture and you will have to play the waiting game while the alcohol extracts the

good stuff. I imagine with the "hash bottling method" you would still need to wait a few months to drink it so the

alcohol has its time to dizzolve the THC...

 

[homebrewer]

With all due respect dankiller, you don't need high ABV to extract thc from bud. How many barleywines can you drink before you're hammered? Maybe 3 or 4? Who would want to ruin the beautiful complexity of that beer with herb? Would you even notice an herb buzz over being sloppy drunk? I've made ganja beer with a month long dry hop in a beer about 5% abv. It worked and it imparted no taste or aroma to the beer, just enough thc to mimic taking a few hits off a joint. Just as with dry hopping, bud floats at the top as do hops. Even if it sunk, it's still in the beer. Hash would work too but I certainly wouldn't want that floating around in a beer bottle.

Here is my recipe for 5 gallons:

6 lbs Pils malt
4 lbs wheat malt

14 grams magnum 14% AA @ 60 mins
1 oz Cascade 5% AA @ 15 mins
Wyeast 1056 or White labs 001 or Safale US05
90 minute boil

Ferment to completion and rack to secondary.
1/4 ounce of high grade product per gallon will be enough to impart a THC buzz
Ideally, the bud should be ground up and soaked in vodka for 12 hours for extraction and sanitation purposes. Use enough vodka to cover herb completely and add both herb and vodka to your secondary fermenter after 12 hours. Don't worry about adding too much vodka as 750mls of vodka into 5 gallons of beer only raises the alcohol by 1.8% (though 750mls is overkill). Allow herb to sit in beer for 30 days, then rack and bottle.

 

[dankillerbs]

Cool Homebrewer!

Like I said I have not attempted this yet and have been unable to find much info on the subject so I was just simply brainstorming ways of doing it... that method sounds pretty good. Does the small amount of vodka effect the taste at all? Normal tincture recipes usually have the bud sitting in high proof alcohol for a month long to extract everything, do you think you are getting all the goodies in 30 days in such a low gravity brew? Also, the bud must attribute to some flavor after sitting in there for a month, right?

 

[homebrewer]

Cool Homebrewer!

Like I said I have not attempted this yet and have been unable to find much info on the subject so I was just simply brainstorming ways of doing it... that method sounds pretty good. Does the small amount of vodka effect the taste at all? Normal tincture recipes usually have the bud sitting in high proof alcohol for a month long to extract everything, do you think you are getting all the goodies in 30 days in such a low gravity brew? Also, the bud must attribute to some flavor after sitting in there for a month, right?

The herb may contribute flavor but that's why I used cascade hops to cover any potential herb flavor as to me, cascade is kind of grassy and citrusy anyways. So the herb flavor didn't cut through the flavoring hops. Again, think about dry hopping with 1 ounce of hops. It's not a huge difference in flavor and you'll notice it mostly in the aroma, which fades with times. Hops are also much more aromatic than herb.

The vodka wont affect the taste as you shouldn't need more than a few hundred mls of it. Good vodka shouldn't have a flavor anyways and when you're adding less than 1% abv to the beer, I wouldn't worry about it.

Letting the herb sit in vodka for longer could only help, but when you're making ISO hash, don't you only soak for 60 seconds? I was using that as a reference point.

 

[dankillerbs]

Nice, thanks for the info homebrewer! After seeing your grow journal I can see you know your shit! I have a 5gal batch of pale ale ready to transfer soon that I may try it on! What do you think of adding a small amount of bud to a sterilized tea bag and stuffing it in a bottle? That way you could just spice up a few bottles rather than the whole batch... I dunno, I may try it.

 

[homebrewer]

Nice, thanks for the info homebrewer! After seeing your grow journal I can see you know your shit! I have a 5gal batch of pale ale ready to transfer soon that I may try it on! What do you think of adding a small amount of bud to a sterilized tea bag and stuffing it in a bottle? That way you could just spice up a few bottles rather than the whole batch... I dunno, I may try it.

A 1 gallon or half gallon glass jug (growler) is easy to find at homebrew shops or at brewpubs. Just sanitize with some starsan or whatever you use and that can be the size that you doctor with herb.

 

[T0key]

Red fury, give me a message about this when all said and done

 

[T0key]

Wow should have read a bit further, great info HB

Will be trying with the mates so I can serve at my barbe parties (H)