Province Brands of Canada to Use Lake of the Woods Brewing Company’s Technologies Label to Launch Cannabis Beer
22 July 2019
Lake of the Woods Brewing Company has entered into a contract with Province Brands of Canada. Province Brands, the developers of beers brewed from the cannabis plant will use Lake woods technologies label to make beer.
“Our beer crafting heritage can be traced more than 120 years back, and our commitment to quality, blazing new trails, and natural ingredients makes us the best brewer in Northern Ontario,” said Taras Manzie, CEO and President of Lake of the Woods. “The new partnership with Province Brands of Canada puts us in a prime position to deliver innovation and most importantly quality, natural ingredients to our clients as we approach the next phase of legalization of cannabis in Canada.”
In October 2018, the use of recreational cannabis, which includes oil, seeds, plants, and fresh cannabis, was legalized. The Canadian government is now expected to extend this legalization by this October to food, drinks as well as other edibles that contain cannabis.
The announcement by Province Brands of Canada’s developers allows them to use Lake of the Woods technology to mash and ferment cannabis rather than using traditional barley. This will enable the company to brew beer in Grimsby, Ontario (in their 123,000-square-foot facility, which is under construction). According to the CEO, the manufacture and sale of their products will start once the Canadian government legalizes such products.
With the agreement, Province Brands and Lake of the Woods will partner to introduce a non-alcoholic beer that is brewed purely from cannabis. Once the sale of such products is legal under the Cannabis Act, the beer will be available for their customers in Canada.
Although the sale of products containing cannabis is yet to be legalized, Province Brands of Canada has a patent-pending process for cannabis beer brewing. However, specialized technology and equipment will be required in the first steps of this process as compared to what is used in a traditional brewery. The first steps include the brewing process, mashing, and milling to extract fermentable sugars from the plant.
Consequently, master brewer Rob Kevwitch (Province Brand) will closely work with the Lake of the Woods to develop a beer that is brewed from cannabis instead of barley. The cannabis-brewed craft beers will be low in sugar and calories as well as naturally gluten-free as they will be consistent with Lake of the Woods traditions. Lake of the Woods mainly focuses on customer satisfaction and commits to delivering products made from quality, natural ingredients.
The CEO and co-founder of Province Brands, Dooma Wendaschuh expressed his excitement seeing their plan come together. “Most people thought that we were crazy when we started the company in 2016 as none of them believed that cannabis beverages would ever be legal in Canada,” said Dooma. With almost three years of hard work, we have constructed an incredible facility, perfected our brewing process, and built a team of best brewers and researchers. This has earned trust from a significant player in the industry like Lake of the Woods.
