A Colorado company says it has cleared a major hurdle to distribute cannabis-infused beer nationwide, and that it's developed the business relationships necessary to rapidly scale up production to meet what could be enormous demand.

The company, Aurora-based Dad and Dude's Breweria, says it has received federal formula approval for an extract-infused beer variety from the Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which acts as gatekeeper for interstate beer sales.

The bureau still must approve a label for the beer, but that is seen as a lower hurdle. Once label approval is given, the company can begin sales beyond Colorado state lines.

Mason Hembree, president and co-owner of Dad and Dude's, says the small, family owned company is ready for potentially explosive growth.

The company initially is partnering with a Colorado brewer that can make 10,000 barrels annually, he says, and has teamed up with a national brewer group with excess capacity, expanding potential production to at least 100,000 barrels (31 gallons each) – enough for more than 5 million six-packs of 12-ounce bottles.

"We are actually prepared to get this product out to everyone who wants it within the first year," Hembree says. "We have bars and liquor stores – not to mention distributors – across the country just clamoring to have the opportunity to distribute this because they see the future as well."

What makes the company's beer unique from hemp beers that have been on the national market for years, Hembree says, is that it's made with an extract from the stalk and stem of cannabis plants, and explicitly contains various cannabis compounds.

The cannabinoids in the brew include cannabidiol (CBD), a substance used by some as a treatment for epilepsy but with a broader potential benefit portfolio; smaller amounts of cannabinol (CBN), an analgesic that can induce drowsiness; cannabigerol (CBG), known as an anti-inflammatory; and various terpenes, aromatic compounds whose effects are receiving increasing attention.

Hemp seeds, long approved for inclusion in beer making, generally contain just trace amounts of cannabinoids and terpenes.

Hembree says the extract he's adding to beer is legal across the U.S. and does not contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary high-inducing compound in cannabis. He told Men's Journal each pint will contain about 4 milligrams of cannabinoids, and that the extract is added late enough in the brewing process that it won't become denatured.

Tom Hogue, a spokesman for the TTB, says generally once a brewer gets formula and label approval, it can sell across state lines pursuant to local laws. But Hogue declined to confirm that the Colorado company has received formula approval or that it is the first to win approval for use of a non-seed cannabis extract, citing strict disclosure rules.

Hogue also declined to provide the number of brewers that have formula approval for beers containing cannabis, citing disclosure rules and his personal workload.

This reported screenshot of a non-public TTB webpage shows the bureau has given formula approval to a cannabis extract-infused beer, Dad and Dude's Breweria says. (Courtesy of Dad and Dude's)

Several brewers currently do sell beer made using cannabis seeds across state lines, including California's Humboldt Brewing Co., Utah's Uinta Brewing Co. and Missouri's O'Fallon Brewery.

SweetWater Brewing Co. – which makes the widely available 420 Extra Pale Ale and hosts an annual music festival around April 20 – does not currently use cannabis in its brewing, but company spokeswoman Tucker Berta Sarkisian says adding a hemp extract has been discussed internally.

Sarkisian says concern about TTB approval has kept legal cannabis extracts from being added to date, but that "the brewers are looking for cool new ingredients and progressive styles to try" and "hemp is part of that discussion."

Eric Steenstra, executive director of the Hemp Industries Association, says it's his understanding that the former Frederick Brewing Co. in Maryland was the first to receive TTB approval in 1997 for beer made using cannabis seeds, which at the time had to be imported as the U.S. did not allow farmers to grow hemp until a partial 2014 rollback.

Steenstra says he hasn't heard of federal formula approval for other beers that include cannabinoids extracted from the stalk and stem of plants, rather than the more conventional seed product.

"It sounds like it might be unique," he says.

Hemp is a term for low-THC cannabis plants grown for food, clothing, rope and even BMW car doors, distinguishing it from marijuana, which is rich in THC and grown primarily for medical or recreational use.

For years, however, talk of hemp triggered titters.

In a 1999 special report, the Drudge Report relayed that the Frederick Brewing Co.'s hemp seed beer had been served on Air Force One. President Bill Clinton "tasted, but did not swallow," a journalist reportedly joked, mocking Clinton's claim he had smoked pot but not inhaled.

The TTB issued a hemp policy in 2000 requiring that beers made with hemp contain no federally controlled substances and that their labels include no designs, slang or "puffery" implying the presence of marijuana or psychoactive potential.

Hembree says he has little patience for using the term "hemp" rather than "cannabis." He would like his beer labels to say "Cannabis Sativa," as he feels it's important for consumers to know there's not a taxonomic distinction between hemp and marijuana. But he's willing to use "hemp" if he must.

Once the beer hits shelves, consumers may surprised to notice it doesn't taste or smell like cannabis. The first variety to get approval, Hembree says, is an English-inspired India pale ale with an American influence – a "malt-forward" brew with a caramel taste that is heavily dry-hopped to add herbaceous and citrus flavors. The extract, he says, is tasteless.

The beer and future varieties will appear under the name George Washington's Secret Stash, a nod to the first U.S. president's cultivation of hemp in the 1700s. But for now, the extract will be imported from Europe, with the company intending to have "as many federal agencies as possible" declare the product to be legal hemp.

Hembree says it took 10 months to receive TTB formula approval, which he says he received in mid-June before reaping a windfall of recent press coverage. He says he's been waiting more than two months for label approval, which he hopes will come soon.

Though he sells alcohol, Hembree says he's sympathetic to pot legalization advocates who say smoking weed is safer than drinking alcohol.

"I think they're not wrong," Hembree says. "Nobody wants to be force-fed religion or science or anything else. But if they're given proper information, they can come to their own conclusion."