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Essence of marijuana flavors new Sweetwater ale

The new Sweetwater ale had to get approval from the Trump administration before it could go on sale.
Brewer Nick Nock holds a fermentation-tank version of Sweetwater Brewing Company's newest beer

ATLANTA -- There’s a new beer in town and it’s infused with the essence of marijuana.

The new Sweetwater ale had to get approval from the Trump administration before it could go on sale.

The messaging is almost as complicated as the flavor and the bouquet of the Sweetwater Brewing company’s newest beer.

"There is no weed in the beer," said an emphatic Nick Nock, head brewer at Sweetwater. "Just the aroma. Otherwise it’d be $20 a beer," he laughed.

The ingredients include hops and yeast in a formula Sweetwater calls "Strain G-13." And it includes a natural additive called the turpines of cannabis.

"There is no THC. There are no CBDs. There is nothing in this beer to make any effect like marijuana would," Nock explained. "It’s just aroma and flavor."

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Before Sweetwater started making G-13, it submitted its formula and labeling to a federal agency called the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Nock said there was weeks of back and forth with wary federal regulators "just to let people know that there is no marijuana in there. Because obviously it would be illegal."

"It's our Trump beer," he adds, halfway joking.

Approval came in time for a public unveiling this weekend.

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