Legal cannabis continues to merge into other longstanding industries, craft spirits and beer included. For companies like SweetWater Brewing, having a connection to cannabis has been an inventive way to grow their brand while also embracing two things Americans seem to really enjoy on their own: cannabis and booze.
The Atlanta, Georgia-based brewery was purchased last year by the global cannabis company, Tilray, which only helped to increase their connection with cannabis, and also brought SweetWater Brewing, also the nation’s 10th-largest craft beer maker, to open a second brewery location in Colorado.
The storefront brought along a branded taproom at Denver International Airport (DIA), though there is a possibility that the brewery will not be able to serve its 420 Extra Pale Ale, or make any reference to cannabis, because of the airport’s longtime policy which prohibits the sale of cannabis-adjacent souvenirs, according to Westword.
“It all has to be family-friendly,” DIA Spokeswoman Stacey Stegman told Westword. “SweetWater won’t be able to promote their 420 or pot-themed materials or products.”
The policy was first implemented in late 2014 following a complaint from a businesswoman who said DIA officials would not allow her to sell flip-flops and boxer shorts to a souvenir store with cannabis leaf print. The rule says vendors cannot “sell, display or advertise any product bearing the image, likeness, description, or name of marijuana or marijuana-themed paraphernalia; and advertise a marijuana-related business or establishment” at the airport.
The 420 Extra Pale Ale initially got its name because SweetWater brewed their first beer on April 20, 1997, the first year they opened. Through the years, as the brand grew, so did their relationship with environmentalism, outdoor activities, and cannabis.
SweetWater’s 420 brew is more conceptual, though many brewers and distillers have already been testing the waters to make cannabis-infused beverages. Of course, cannabis beers and booze are only available in the select states where cannabis is legal, but the no- and low-alcoholic market is projected to keep growing.
A recent market study projected that category to account for a third of the total global alcoholic market by 2024.
These beverages obviously won’t have a place at DIA anytime soon, though it brings up an additional conversation: As cannabis legalization continues to spread throughout the country, the practices of other airports in states with legal cannabis are approaching the boom differently.
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) famously announced in 2018 that they would follow state law in regard to cannabis possession, in that “APD officers, who are California Peace Officers, have no jurisdiction to arrest individuals if they are complying with state law. However, airport guests should be aware that Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening stations are under federal jurisdiction.”
The policy continues, clarifying that passengers should know the laws in the destinations they are flying before all else. And while policies like this bring to mind how a cannabis-infused beer might fit in the mix going forward, DIA told Westword after LAX’s announcement that they won’t be moving in a new direction around cannabis possession in the airport any time soon, either.
“Because marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, we do not have plans to revisit our policy at this time, nor has it changed,” DIA Communications Manager Emily Williams said in an email.
There’s no indication that DIA plans to amend their policy on cannabis-adjacent souvenirs, either, a policy that came as new information to SweetWater Co-founder and CEO Freddy Bensch. He spoke regarding the sale of the brewery’s cannabis pale ale, “As of now, we intend to [sell it]. In this day and age, with legalization [in so many states], we feel like we will be serving some 420.”
SweetWater recently bought the equipment and building belonging to Red Truck Brewing in Fort Collins, and the new space, including a 32,450-square-foot production facility, taproom, and restaurant, will allow the brewery to “pursue major expansion plans across the U.S. and into the West Coast,” according to the company.
That same announcement said that SweetWater was on its way to the B Concourse at DIA, alongside local breweries like Great Divide and New Belgium. Stegman said the SweetWater location is set to open within the next few weeks.
