How 'dank' became a compliment for both beer and marijuana

A funny, little word for high-quality strains of marijuana and hoppy beer is becoming more popular: "Dank."

Merriam-Webster's "disagreeably damp, musty, and typically cold" definition, perhaps describing your basement, does not apply here.

"It's sticky, juicy, very pungent and of a high level," said Bobby Vedder, a certified Cicerone (professional beer taster) with Powers Distributing. "Maybe 'dank' is the hippie way of 'grand cru.'"

The best wines and vineyards are classified as grand cru. "Dank" for years has been slang for potent, highly aromatic buds of cannabis sativa. Its cousin, humulus lupulus (the hop plant), can exhibit similar traits – in aroma, but obviously not in psychoactive effects. Both plants are in the Cannabinaceae family, Popular Science reports.

The steady increase of heavily hopped beer styles and varieties in the United States appears to be growing parallel to the acceptance of recreational marijuana – which is legalized in nine states and Washington, D.C., and could be a ballot issue for Michigan (now among 30 states permitting some medical use) voters this fall.

The juice-like, hazy New England IPA style that became popular the past few years puts the hops' aromatics – along a spectrum of flavors described as piney, resinous, grapefruit, blueberry, pineapple, grassy and more – at center-stage, with loads of dank, hoppy notes, but with less noticeable bitterness than the more mainstream American IPAs. M-43 from Old Nation Brewing Co. in Williamston is probably Michigan's most well-known New England-style IPA.

Vedder said Wheezin' The Juice (6.5% ABV) IPA from Grand Armory Brewing Co. in Grand Haven is "in my mind the quintessential dank IPA."

"The way that these brewers have been able to mirror the smell (of cannabis) is just, really great," Vedder said. "Your olfactory nerve is directly connected to a couple different parts with your brain. But most interestingly, it plays with memory: Nice, dank beer, it takes you back to maybe when you were in college, you know."

In time for the "420" marijuana holiday today, Founders Brewing Co. just released Dankwood (12.2% ABV), a bourbon barrel-aged imperial red IPA. It's based on reDANKulous (9.5% ABV), which is loaded with Chinook, Mosaic and Simcoe hops, and won a gold medal in 2015 at the Great American Beer Festival.

Hopcat, the gastropub known for its wide selection of craft-beer taps, today is among numerous businesses marking the holiday with pot-themed events. Its "Super Dank 4/20" celebration at its Midtown Detroit location includes "the headiest beers we could find," according to its Facebook page.

A few of my recommendations for dank beer: Smells Like a Safety Meeting (8.5% ABV) from Dark Horse Brewing Co. in Marshall, Psychedelic Cat Grass (7.6% ABV) from Short's Brewing Co. in Bellaire and the Enjoy By series from Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, Calif.

The fresher the better, generally. In the fall, numerous breweries release wet-hopped harvest ales, with hops rushed from the vine to beer without the traditional drying process in between. Hoodoo Midwest Wet Hop IPA (8% alcohol by volume) by North Peak Brewing Co. in Traverse City is a good one.

Note: For beer, "dank" should not be confused with "skunky," a generally positive term for marijuana that, incidentally, describes a non-appealing, off flavor you'll notice if you drink Corona from a clear glass bottle in the sunshine. The musty, skunk-like aroma results from a reaction of a precursor in hop-bittering compounds to blue light, and it can happen to beer in seconds, according to Randy Mosher in his book, "Tasting Beer: An Insider's Guide to the World's Greatest Drink."

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Spirits of Detroit columnist Robert Allen covers craft alcohol for the Free Press. Contact him: rallen@freepress.com or on Untappd, raDetroit and Twitter, @rallenMI.