Hemp and hops: Yukon brewery experiments with new ingredient

A Yukon company says it's working on something new:a beer made from hemp.

The plant, which is a non-narcotic relative of marijuana, is already used to make paper, textiles and soaps.

Yukon Brewing president Bob Baxter says thecompany has signed a deal with Province Brands of Canada to brew the beer commercially.

The Ontario-based companyis seeking to patent aprocess tocreate a mash out of food-grade hemp, from which sugars can be extracted to make alcohol. Ithas already brewed some batches of beer using the process.

The partners areaiming for a brew that is relatively strong at seven per cent alcohol.

'Something that has never been done'

Baxter says experiments could begin this winterwhen the first hemp sugar extract arrives in Yukonfrom Quebec.

He says the resulting beer wouldn't have any THC or effects of marijuana. However, it would be gluten-free.

That, and a unique flavour, could be a selling point in the crowded beer market."It's an opportunity to work with something that has never been done," says Baxter.

He says it's possible a great deal of beerwill go down the drainas the company refines the recipe.

The Ontario company says it's also working on another brand of drink, which would provide marijuana's intoxicating effects through THC. That product will not be made in Yukon and would only be availablein Canada once edibles are legalized next year.

Cambridge Bay Imperial Pilsner

While the new beer will be brewed in Yukon, it will carry branding designed by the Ontario company.

The name could lead to some questions.

Province Brands ofCanadahas already announced the name asCambridge Bay Imperial Pilsner, despite having no stated link to the community in Nunavut.

The brewery in Whitehorse is more than 1,600 kilometres away from Cambridge Bay.

"It always struck us as funny," says Baxter. "They talk about the exploratory nature of the far North... I don't know where they came up with the name,but that's what it's going to be."

Baxter says there arehempbeerson the market, but they are flavoured or infused with hemp rather than made from its fermented sugars.

When the recipe is finalized and the beer is bottled, Yukoners will be the first in Canada to give it a try.