Heineken is betting on a brew made with marijuana instead of alcohol, and it could help give a boost to the struggling beer industry

Erin Brodwin / Business Insider

• Heineken's new brew, from California beer brand Lagunitas, is made with marijuana instead of alcohol.
• Hi-Fi Hops is currently only available in a select number of dispensaries in California, where cannabis is legal.
  
• It's part of a growing trend of established companies diving into the marijuana industry.

Lagunitas, Heineken's fast-growing California beer label, bills its new brew as "hoppy sparkling water."

That's because these cans of brew contain zero alcohol. Instead of booze, the beer is made with THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Called Hi-Fi Hops, Lagunitas' new cannabis drink is the latest wave of a larger move by established companies diving into the marijuana industry. In addition to a brew made with THC, the ingredient in marijuana that causes a high, Lagunitas' new beer is also available with CBD, the non-psychoactive cannabis component that's thought to be responsible for many of its therapeutic effects.

Having only launched on July 30, the brew is currently available in a handful of marijuana dispensaries in California, where the drug is legal. So we visited Oakland's Harborside dispensary, located on the East Bay peninsula between the neighborhoods of Fruitvale and Downtown Oakland, to check out the new $8 drink.

On a Friday afternoon, Oakland cannabis dispensary Harborside was packed. After waiting in line for roughly 30 minutes, we got a look at a display case where Hi-Fi Hops was featured beside some other edible cannabis treats.

At $8 a can, the drink wasn't cheap — but the price point brought it roughly in line with other canned beers. We snagged the last cans that were available. An employee at Harborside said they were selling like hotcakes.

There's one big drawback compared with other beers: You can't drink it at a bar.

The drink is made in special cans that require a little finagling to get right — you pop the tab at the top, then slide to open.

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