Long Trail to release CBD honey beer

Want to try beer brewed with CBD honey? Head to Long Trail Brewing Company's tasting room this Labor Day weekend, when the brewery will be tapping a small batch of yet-to-be-named beer created in collaboration with nearby Luce Farm. 

CBD is an acronym for "cannabidiol," a cannabis-derived substance that is abundant in hemp. Unlike marijuana, hemp has less than 0.3 percent of the psychoactive substance THC. 

Joe Pimental, who runs Luce Farm with his wife, Rebecca, said he approached Long Trail after a successful test harvest last year. The Pimentals have been selling their CBD-infused honey at their local farmers' market in Stockbridge and in local stores, and thought selling the honey on the shelves at the well-known brewery would be a good way to spread their brand.

More CBD coverage:

CBD: What you should know about the cannabis-derived substance

Burlington bakery-bar branches into CBD oil confections

They infuse coconut oil with CBD, but Pimental said the CBD-coconut oil doesn't taste great. Mixing it with honey was his wife's idea, he said. 

"It tastes fantastic," he said. 

The beer is a test batch, Pimental said. They plan to test it when they first tap it on Friday night to see how many miligrams of CBD are in the final product, or if it ends up being a hemp-honey flavored beer. 

In a news release announcing the collaboration, Ian Harbage, one of the head brewmasters, said he wasn't concerned about the perception of brewing with CBD. 

“There might be a bit of a public learning curve, but we think that a lot of people will be as excited as we are about the beer.

The Pimentals will be at the tasting room for the event, answering questions about their CBD honey.

If you don't want to drive down to Bridgewater Corners, Pimental said they'll be distributing CBD honey in Burlington as well. 

Contact Jess Aloe at 802-660-1874 or jaloe@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @jess_aloe