Pre-order

Nug Jug Beer Collaboration: Dockside Cannabis x Varietal Brewing

Announcing the 2026 Nug Jug: Gelato Hazy IPA!

6.3% ABV – IPA with terpenes added

Touching on the creamy fruit profile, Gelato (Hazy IPA) was inspired by the flavors of the Gelato cannabis strain; Sweet berries, tropical fruit salad & mild floral character of cannabis. To hit these notes we built a custom hop blend and finished the beer with Abstrax BrewGas Gelato terpene blend, boosting the bright & floral profile that takes this IPA out of the norm.

Join us at the launch party this Saturday, April 25, 2026, from 6-9 pm at Hounds Tooth Public House in Greenwood.

What is “Nug Jug”? 

Every April, Dockside Cannabis and Varietal Brewing team up to create a limited edition beer called the Nug Jug. Each year starts with a strain, chosen for its distinct aroma and character, to serve as the inspiration.

From there, the teams gather around a table, passing samples back and forth, taking in the scent and talking through what stands out. Those notes become the blueprint, guiding everything from hop varietals to flavor and texture, and ultimately shaping a one-of-a-kind craft beer.

Beer and Cannabis — how did this happen? 

Back in the late ’90s, Oscar, one of Dockside’s founders, and Chris, now Owner and Head Brewer of Varietal, were working together in the giant Sequoia forests of the Sierra Nevada, just outside Fresno. They were running the day-to-day operations of a summer camp set on a sun-dappled, 80-acre lake.

Over the next couple of years, that job turned into a friendship built on shared adventures — road trips up the coast, exploring new places, and saying yes to whatever came next. Like most real friendships, there were stretches where they didn’t see each other, but their feeling of connection always remained.

In the years that followed, both found their way into building something of their own. Chris started down the path toward opening a brewery, while Oscar teamed up with a few like-minded partners to open Dockside Cannabis.

Living in Yakima, WA, the largest hop-growing region in the world, Chris was deep in sensory work, exploring the nuance of different hop varietals, while building out his business plan.  He called up his old friend Oscar to help consult and advise, and somewhere along the way floated an idea: a weed-inspired beer that didn’t actually contain cannabis.

If that was the goal, the best collaborators would be the people who know those profiles best — the ones who smell and talk about them every day. Together, Chris and Oscar set out to see if they could recreate the aroma and character of a cannabis strain using hops alone. The first Nug Jug was born, and the rest is history.

Nug Jug Gelato IPA Beer Can

This brew is intended to be enjoyed while calling that friend that you haven’t heard from in a while. To friends near and far – Call them! Make some plans! Go have fun! Drink some beer, smoke some weed, and get back to basics! Dockside and Varietal Brewing hope that this drink will appeal to both cannabis enthusiasts and beer lovers alike and that this collaboration is a testament to the growing acceptance of cannabis in mainstream culture.

Where you can find the limited edition 2026 Nug Jug: