Intoxicating Hemp

Editor’s Note: The below news items were initially reported in the Brewbound Insider Newsletter December 22-26. Not an Insider? Become one today to get earlier access to what’s going on in the industry. CGA: 40% Consumers Plan to Take Part in Dry January; Half of Gen Z to Participate Two-in-five consumers plan to take part… Read more »

As alcohol sales have remained strained for years on end, the emergence of mainstream, legal hemp-based beverages has been a major boon for adult beverage retailers. Jon Halper, owner and CEO of retail chain Top Ten Liquors, is one of them.

Tobacco crops used to stretch to the horizon in the farmland of Kentucky, but now, many of those fields grow hemp plants. It might not last.

The past year saw some major M&A deals, and day one of BevNET Live Winter 2025 in Marina Del Rey, Calif., served as the perfect platform to sit down with the leaders of Poppi and Health-Ade Kombucha to learn how they steered their businesses to an exit. The annual beverage industry conference also featured no shortage of panels covering investment trends, startup strategy and the ongoing issues in the space from a looming hemp ban to rising costs.

The Senate advanced a spending package Monday that includes language that would effectively ban all hemp products. The package now moves to the House, which could pass it through to President Trump as early as today. Industry members for and against the ban have been vocalizing their stance online and in D.C. Below are some of the latest updates.

Intoxicating hemp beverages could be sacrificed in a deal to reopen the federal government. As political factions in Washington, D.C., spar over how to end the longest-ever federal government shutdown in U.S. history, legislators – led by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) – are attempting to use the situation to shape the future of hemp and intoxicating THC products and restrict the market created by the 2018 Farm Bill.

Bev-alc industry members have been more vocal than ever this week about their stances on intoxicating hemp beverages, and the Beer Institute (BI) was no exception at the trade group’s annual Membership Meeting held Wednesday in Washington, D.C. BI president and CEO Brian Crawford dedicated the majority of his remarks to intoxicating hemp, and the BI’s desire for regulation.

High Rise Beverage co-founder Matt Skinner has built a coastal-themed brand in the Southeast but his ambitions extend across the nation.

After eight months in market, available through direct-to-consumer (DTC) shipping and at live music venues, JuneShine is ready to bring Willie’s Remedy+ and its lineup of THC-infused beverages to retailers.

Tattersall Distilling has added its name to a growing list of craft distillers expanding into THC-infused beverages. The Wisconsin-based distiller announced today the launch of Tattersall Functional Beverages, two THC-infused drinks blended with adaptogens and electrolytes.

As major retailers Target, Circle K, Total Wine & More and others add intoxicating hemp beverages to their shelves, attorneys general from 37 states and two U.S. territories are asking Congress to ban the sale of unregulated, intoxicating THC products and “shut down this industry before it metastasizes further.”

As one joint is lit, another one is extinguished. I think that’s how the saying goes.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has announced an executive order to ban all intoxicating hemp products in the state, effective Tuesday October 14.

Hemp-derived THC seltzer brand Delta Beverages recently unveiled a new visual identity and a marketing campaign that seek to “humanize” the brand while eliminating the stigma often associated with cannabis use.