TANNINS & TERPENES ISSUE oregonlEAF.COM
58
Coalition Brewing 2705 SE Ankeny St, Portland CoalitionBrewing.com
CBD-infused beer It
came out of nowhere, as it must have for so many Portland craft beer drinkers. There I stood, craning up at the chalkboard at a north Portland pub, scoping the selections in search of the evening’s first pint. The pub had a stellar list, I’m sure. There was probably a pilsner on draft. Two or three hazy milkshake IPAs. Maybe even an imperial bourbon barrel-aged stout and a sour. But I can’t remember what was on tap that night, because I forgot about the other taps as soon as the beertender suggested something new: “Try the Coalition Two Flowers IPA,” she said. “It has CBD in it!” It was early 2017. I was about to decide to leave the beer industry for a career in Cannabis, but at that point, I still had reservations of a regulatory nature. That pint helped tip the scale. I deplaned from the beer industry and boarded rocketship Cannabis. All because Phil Boyle and the crew at Coalition Brewing decided to brew a new beer.
“I think bridging the gap is an important thing,” Boyle said. “Especially in Oregon. I think the identity of Oregon is craft Cannabis and craft beer. There really is a natural synergy to the overlap.” He worked with his team to carve out a new niche in the competitive Portland beer market, while at the same time helping destigmatize the concept of Cannabis for the average consumer. “The response was really phenomenal,” he said. Since the initial launch of Two Flowers IPA, Boyle says the beer has become the runaway sales leader of the Coalition lineup. It has gone well beyond a few niche taps at Cannabis friendly brewpubs, and now comes in bottles that claim real estate on the shelves at New Seasons Markets and retailers around the state - riding the CBD wave headfirst into the mainstream. FINDING CONFIDENCE IN NUMBERS
Common wisdom in the market suggests that one of the biggest hurdles standing in the way of the growing Cannabis landscape is a lack of knowledge and PLANTING THE SEED awareness about the plant, its compounds, and its benefits. The industry currently Coalition became one of the first companies in the world to craft serves only a small fraction of its total potential customer base, in part because and distribute a CBD-infused beer when the brewery many people lack the product knowledge to confidently select launched Two Flowers CBD IPA as part of Portland’s the appropriate entry point to consumption. inaugural Weed Week in December 2016. In the years With a mellow, low-dose CBD beer such as Two Flowers, CoWith a mellow, since, they’ve taken steps toward building a bridge bealition provides an easy introduction for cannabinoid curious low-dose CBD beer tween two similar but separate industries - craft beer craft beer fans. Now, Boyle’s goal is to collaborate with others such as Two Flowers, and craft Cannabis - and capturing a sizable share of and continue to drain the moat between the industries. Coalition Brewing both markets’ customer bases in Oregon. “The big thing with Cannabis is education and normalization, provides an easy Boyle, the co-owner and General Manager of the and the best way to do that is through collaboration,” he said. southeast Portland brewery, has since made a name Earlier this year for 4/20, Coalition brewing launched Certiintroduction for for himself as a chief scale-tipper and familiar charfied Hazy IPA, a new CBD-infused collaboration beer with East cannabinoid curious acter in the Portland beer and CBD realms. But it all Fork Cultivars and True Terpenes. For those new to the scene, craft beer fans. started with a common quandary: How does a brewEast Fork Cultivars has become a household name in CBD-rich ery compete in the modern Portland craft beer scene? craft Cannabis and hemp in Oregon, and True Terpenes is an “To be honest, it first came about like, ‘How do we industry leader in the plant-derived, bottled terpene market. make a beer that sells?’ We’re a business, and Portland is a very innoCertified is a juicy, hazy IPA with a hefty dose of Citra hops to complement vative beer market,” he said. Tangie terps from True Terpenes, and is infused with CBD extracted from East The craft beer industry has always been known for innovation, parFork’s craft hemp. This newer beer hasn’t overtaken Two Flowers in terms of sales ticularly in Oregon. But in 2016, the beer industry had begun slowing numbers, but Boyle says it’s the second best-seller in the brewery’s lineup. compared to the preceding decade. At the same time, the emerging legal Cannabis industry was rocketing into the mainstream. The crew CULTIVATING THE FUTURE at Coalition Brewing heard about Dad & Dude’s, the small Colorado The success of Two Flowers and Certified has been so great that Coalition brewery that became the first in the U.S. to gain approval to produce a Brewing has significantly expanded its CBD beer offerings. The brewery currently CBD beer from the Federal Tax and Trade Bureau. Here, the seed of an pours a number of CBD beer taps exclusively at the taproom, including Mahalo, idea started to germinate. a dry-hopped pineapple sour, the Dandy Shandy, a beer and lemonade mixture infused with CBD, and the Circus Hour Strawberry Lemonade Sour. BLAZING THE TRAIL With the buzz around the infused beverage market, you can bet people in both As with any emerging regulated market, especially one pulling itself industries are watching Coalition’s CBD beer program closely. Boyle says that as out of the mire of prohibition, those first disruptive trailblazers often long as he has something to say about it, he’s going to keep finding those synerbear the brunt of the risk, taking chances with new regulatory territory gies between the two markets. that’s rife with gray areas and room for interpretation. But Boyle, a “We respect both industries, and we understand the responsibility we have, pilongtime appreciator of both craft beer and craft Cannabis, saw the oneering CBD beer,” he said, adding that the brewery has an increasing number writing on the wall. And the native Irishman knew that his adopted home of new customers who come in for Two Flowers. of Portland was a perfect place to launch a CBD beer brand. “It’s not allowed to be a gimmick beer,” he said.
SEPT. 2019