A state microbrewery seeking to unveil a new line of hemp beer for commercial distribution found federal officials less than enthusiastic. Representatives from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms recently told the brewery to stop making the beer because the agency was “concerned about the image it presents to young people.”
Tim O’Leary, who heads the Kettlehouse microbrewery, criticized the BATF’s decision to ban his product. “They’re trying to keep something (hemp seeds) that has no effect on people out of a product that can really have an effect on people if they use it unwisely,” he said. “That seems just a bit absurd.”
O’Leary wished to join at least half a dozen breweries nationwide that already manufacturing hemp beer. The beers substitute sterile hemp seeds for barley and hops at different parts of the brewing process. Hemp proponents maintain that the seeds give beer a creamier head and herbal flavoring.
For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751 or NORML board member Don Wirtshafter of The Ohio Hempery @ (740) 662-4367.