Indeed Brewing Company will release two new offerings next month, diving head first into a new category outside of beverage alcohol: cannabis.
Scheduled to release August 1, Two Good Sparkling THC Seltzer will have 2 mg of THC and 2 mg of CBD, a “pretty low dosage,” equivalent to “a 4.5% or 5% ABV beer,” Indeed co-founder and CEO Tom Whisenand told Brewbound. Available in a 12 oz. can – individually or in a 6-pack, with in-development child-protective packaging – the seltzer will launch with a Lavender Lemon flavor, with more flavors planned for the future.
At first, Two Good will only be available through Indeed’s Minneapolis taproom for off-premise consumption, until further distribution regulations can be sorted. The company is also exploring a 5 mg can and crowler options.
“We’re trying to make something that is well-suited for people who just want to have a light, enjoyable time and control the amount that they consume,” Whisenand said. “So [we’re] just kind of leaving that space for people to experiment and to consume responsibly.”
Minnesota legislators caught some residents (and possibly fellow lawmakers) by surprise last month, legalizing edibles and beverages with up to 5 mg per serving of THC for consumers 21 and older, the Star Tribune reported. The THC must be derived from hemp (cannabis with less than 0.3% THC by dry weight) rather than marijuana (cannabis with more than 0.3% THC).
Whisenand heard through a CBD supplier that Minnesota lawmakers were working on new CBD legislation. He said the further inclusion of THC was a surprise.
“That was something we didn’t expect to happen,” Whisenand told Brewbound. “There seems to be some confusion amongst some of the legislators in Minnesota about exactly what they legalized.”
Sen. Jim Abeler (R-Anoka) told the Star Tribune that he didn’t realize the new law applied to all THC products, and was under the impression it would only regulate Delta-8 THC, a cannabinoid known for milder effects than the more common Delta-9 THC. He has suggested rolling the new law back, but other state lawmakers have called the idea “ridiculous,” the Tribune reported.
Who will be in charge of creating and policing THC regulations is still in question, Whisenand said. At the moment, the responsibility has been “thrown on the desk” of the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy, which has about 23 employees and has expressed it does not “have the resources” to police producers, and will “have to rely on consumer complaints” for enforcement, Whisenand said.
“I think even a lot of the actual regulators are confused,” Bob Galligan, Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild director of government and industry relations, told Brewbound. “We’ve advised our membership to tread lightly. And as we learn more, we’ll be able to give more guidance.”
The guild had been focused on passing a recent liquor omnibus that allows taprooms to sell 4- and 6-packs, when the THC bill “came screeching through, changing everything,” Galligan said.
“Our membership has a lot of questions – and rightfully so – and we have a lot of questions,” he continued. “So we’re reaching out and trying to get our bearings so that we can help better guide our membership. … It’s just kind of a slow process of who’s in charge of what and who can actually answer some of these questions, which again, I think a lot of the actual regulators are just starting to find answers themselves.”
Creating THC and CBD products is a natural next step for guild member Indeed, as its core consumers are already people who “may consume cannabis,” Whisenand said. This also isn’t the first time Indeed has created a cannabis product.
In 2019, the company released Lull, a non-alcoholic Key Lime seltzer with 10 mg of CBD – the compound that does not have hallucinogenic effects. Indeed made and sold Lull until early 2021, when the Minnesota Department of Agriculture notified the company that CBD was not an approved food ingredient for goods manufactured in the state (although some CBD products could be sold at the time).
“We still get a lot of questions, like ‘What happened to Lull, why don’t you make it or sell it anymore?’” Whisenand said.
With the new law, Lull will make its return, launching at the same time as Two Good.
Indeed always “had an eye towards” creating a THC beverage while creating Lull, Whisenand said. So while the legalization of THC so quickly was surprising, the brewery already had a head start on research and development.
“We’re super proactive in our development of this new product that will contain THC,” Whisenand said. “We’re not propping up a strip mall THC shop, we’re adding this to existing operations. So we’re going through a pretty robust series of internal checkboxes that need to be checked – everything from insurance and banking and payment acceptance and internal procedures and production procedures and cleaning procedures – essentially treating the THC [and] CBD stuff as an allergen in the production of our beer. We want to make sure we’re not cross contaminating things.
“Even the HR aspect,” he continued. “We don’t consume alcohol recreationally on the job at Indeed, but our brewers need to consume some alcohol on quality assurance and tasting, and all those things. So how are we going to handle this THC aspect?”
Indeed isn’t looking for “gray space or loopholes” with Minnesota’s law, and is looking at states such as Washington and California, where THC regulations already exist, to follow “best practices” and help predict what regulatory changes might be coming down the pipeline.
“We’re not anti-regulation,” Whisenand said. “We can’t be, we work in alcohol. We actually truly rely on regulation to limit our risk as a business.”
As alcohol is an “intoxicating substance,” just like THC, Whisenand believes breweries can act as a “positive example” of how “businesses can operate in this space.”
Cannabis also provides an opportunity for breweries to expand their consumer base.
“A lot of people who are turning 21 are drinking less alcohol,” Whisenand said. “But a lot of them are very curious about products that contain cannabis or hemp-derived things like CBD or THC. Just as we continue to evolve as a brand and a business, we’re always looking for ways to engage new customers or people who are not drinking, whether it be permanently or temporarily.”