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THC Beverages: Preparing Your Brewery for the Opportunity
As a brewer, you have experience in making delicious beverages, but hemp-derived THC drinks are not beer. Here’s what to know about production timelines, sales, staffing, and more.
As a brewer, you have experience in making delicious beverages, but hemp-derived THC drinks are not beer. Here’s what to know about production timelines, sales, staffing, and more. <a href="https://brewingindustryguide.com/thc-bevs-opportunities/">Continue reading.</a>
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By now, breweries in jurisdictions where hemp-derived THC can be sold are at least aware of the opportunity it offers.
As of July 2025, that includes about half of the 50 states, according to the Coalition for Adult Beverage Alternatives (CABA), a trade group of hemp and alcohol companies that advocate for the accessibility of hemp-derived THC beverages. In Minnesota—whose legislature legalized them in 2022—roughly half of all craft breweries currently produce them.
At industry conferences, proponents tout the upsides for small breweries: good margins, high demand, short tank time, and the opportunity to co-manufacture these drinks for other companies.
“I tell brewers all the time, you could take over this [hemp THC] space,” says Jason Pickle, president and cofounder of Volunteer Botanicals, a Tennessee-based biotech company that makes and sells botanical ingredients, including cannabinoids, for food and beverage applications.
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