No, Thorn Brewing Was Not Sold to a Cannabis Company

Next Green Wave Holdings, a vertically integrated California cannabis company, issued a press release Tuesday erroneously indicating that San Diego’s Thorn Brewing had been sold.

Speaking to Brewbound, Thorn Brewing co-founder Dennis O’Connor confirmed the brewery was not a part of Next Green Wave’s $27 million transaction, which included the acquisition of more than 45 CBD and THC products.

“I don’t know what went awry there, but it was news to me,” he said.

Next Wave Holdings actually purchased SD Cannabis, a company O’Connor said he has been working with independently on the development of water soluble THC and CBD products.

“Through SD Cannabis, we have a prototype that we think will work,” he said.

The relationship with SD Cannabis developed after Thorn Brewing released a 4.20 percent ABV session IPA called OG HighPA, which was brewed with cannabis-derived terpenes. That product, which contained no THC or CBD, was released in 2016 and was made in collaboration with Jetty Extracts.

“Pretty quickly we were reminded by the TTB that we can’t brew with anything that is derived from cannabis, even if it doesn’t have THC of CBD,” O’Connor said.

But O’Connor was still interested in creating a cannabis supplement that could be added to various beverages, so he teamed up with SD Cannabis to research and develop a new product.

“I was pushing for it, trying to scratch an itch for what we were trying to do with our beer,” he said.

Together, SD Cannabis and O’Connor have created multiple products – effervescent tablets, water-soluble drops and a drink mist – that contain THC, CBD and cannabis-derived terpenes.

Next Green Wave acquired the intellectual property for those products, O’Connor said, noting that he anticipates receiving royalties on future sales.

O’Connor also confirmed that SD Cannabis did not own any part of Thorn Brewing, nor did Thorn Brewing own any of the “Brew Bomb” products that have been developed.

Similar to the Nuun electrolyte-enhanced hydration tablets that endurance athletes add to water and use as a recovery aid, O’Connor said the Brew Bomb products are intended to be dropped into all types of beverages, including alcoholic offerings.

“You’d buy it at a local dispensary, and mix it with your beer or your whiskey,” he said, noting that the company plans to launch the products next month, on April 20 (4/20).

When asked about a commercial application, O’Connor said he believes companies could potentially use the effervescent technology on a larger scale to infuse CBD and THC into other beverages.

He also envisions mixologists experimenting with the THC and CBD mists.