Tropical Terps uses terpenes that mimick strains of marijuana

“I’ve always wanted to have the ability to marijuana-up my beer, but that’s a no-no,” beams Belching Beaver Brewmaster Troy Smith, discussing the motivation behind his latest beer, Tropical Terps IPA. “If you had to dry hop a beer with the same amounts of hops to get the aromatic compounds out of the marijuana, that would likely be too expensive to do… and illegal. So, when I started to see terpenes becoming more available with strain specifics, I was all about it.”

Terpenes are unsaturated hydrocarbons found in plants and herbs (including cannabis) that contribute to their aromas and flavors. Smith notes that they can be a valuable, but tricky, ingredient to add to a brew. “The terpenes add a stable aromatic and flavor compound that can’t be achieved with hops alone. Hops are also very volatile. and have degradation that can happen rapidly when exposed to oxygen and beer not properly stored. The terpenes help to minimize that. as they are a more stable compound. The challenges I’ve found when using terpenes is to not just hammer it with flavor. Terpenes can easily overpower the entire beer and ruin it. It almost gets to the point of perfume, and that’s not what you want when cracking open a cold one.” Further, “there are thousands of variances of terpenes and finding the right ones can be challenging.”

Smith hoped to find terpenes that would produce a dankness, flavor, and bouquet reminiscent of marijuana. However, it took a bit of innovation to achieve those qualities without running afoul of the law. “The terpenes that we are using are all plant-based, and use many different plant extracts and aroma compounds. Some of the terps we are using are mimicking strains of marijuana, but they do not contain any of the marijuana plant,” he explains. “The federal government won’t allow things like that to happen since you can’t mix THC and alcohol. They take strains of marijuana and put them through chromatography to figure out how to duplicate the aromatic/flavor compounds that make up that strain using plant-based terpenes that are legal for extraction.”

A 6.5% ABV hazy IPA, Tropical Terps is an updated take on the brewery’s tenth anniversary IPA, Dam Good Decade, released last year. Whereas the anniversary ale was more of a straightforward IPA, Tropical Terps boasts notes of pineapple, melon, and papaya. It also has a stronger mouthfeel, thanks to an altered malt bill while maintaining a very hop-forward flavor profile. Smith concludes, “People really liked our Dam Good Decade Anniversary IPA, so I figured this might be a way to be at the head of the pack. Trends come and go, but I’m hoping this becomes something we can create excitement with as a brand. Beer folks are always wanting something out of the ordinary, and if it’s got some traction, then that’s a win for Belching Beaver. Being at the front of something innovative is the true art of creativity.”