Boston Beer to explore opportunities in alcoholic cannabis beverages

Boston Beer Co. is establishing an R&D center in Canada for non-alcoholic cannabis products.

Dave Burwick, CEO at Boston Beer, the brewer of Samuel Adams beer, said they want to be ready for future opportunities that alcoholic cannabis beverages could present in the US, adding that it could be a new frontier of innovation. 

The new division has not yet announced a location, although observers say Canada is a possibility due to its laxer and more uniform cannabis laws than the US.

The new subsidiary will be headed by Paul Weaver, a former director of innovation at Canopy Growth Corp., a major cannabis processor based in Ontario.

Weaver will have the title “head of cannabis.”