A new kind of experience for beer enthusiasts is right around the corner. A new company is developing a marijuana-infused beer that has no alcohol, offering craft beer fans a different kind of buzz.

Based outside Denver, Ceria Beverages promises to deliver a beer that is different than any that have come before.

Marijuana-Infused Beer Comparison

The difference between Ceria and other marijuana-infused beer & alcoholic drinks is that Ceria will be designed to “deliver a consistent user experience with the same onset time as alcohol,” according to a news release from the company.

There’s reason to have faith. Ceria is led by Keith Villa, the creator of the wildly popular Blue Moon beer.

How It Works

Villa left Molson, where he worked for three decades and created Blue Moon, to form Ceria with his wife, Jodi Villa. The company is named after the university in Belgium where Villa earned his doctorate in brew science.

Villa earned that doctorate with a dissertation on biochemical reactions in beer. He and his wife are taking that level of sophistication in craft beer to the Ceria product.

The pair have partnered with Colorado-based ebbu, a company that specializes in cannabinoid research. Essentially, they are taking molecules of THC – the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana – and putting it in a water-soluble form.

The upshot for the cannabis curious? You will be able to get the “high” feeling from smoking marijuana by drinking a Ceria beer.

In the news release, Villa said, “Today, the opportunity and the demand are here, inviting Americans to enjoy a more social way of consuming cannabis – by drinking rather than by smoking it or through ingestion of edibles.”

Part of the attraction is that THC-infused, non-alcoholic beer wouldn’t leave drinkers with a hangover the next day. It also will deliver a buzz that is more associated with cannabis rather than the one from alcohol.

2019 Goal

The company’s goal is to have the first marijuana-infused beer on the market by late 2018 or early 2019. Villa plans to have the beer available in light, regular and “full-bodied” form. The product will be canned or bottled by licensed marijuana companies, then sold chilled at dispensaries.

The company will start selling the beer first in Colorado, but plan to expand to other states where recreational marijuana is legal.

Villa’s approach may be different, but other companies also are moving quickly into cannabis-infused alcoholic beverages. For consumers, it offers yet another way to enjoy marijuana without smoking it.

For the beer industry, it remains to be seen what the impact will be. Many already are predicting that the global marijuana industry will be as big as the alcohol industry within decades. There also have been studies that show consumption of beer has dropped in states where cannabis is legal, indicating that more people are seeing marijuana as a new way to relax and socialize with friends.