Yes. Hops and cannabis belong to the botanical family Cannabaceae, although they are different plants and belong to different genera: Humulus and Cannabis. Brewing hops are known as Humulus lupulus; cannabis as Cannabis sativa. That is how Plants of the World Online, the botanical database of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, classifies them.
The relationship is real, but it does not mean hops are a variety of marijuana or that they add THC to beer. The most interesting similarity for someone drinking an IPA is aroma: both plants produce some of the same volatile compounds, although their chemical composition is not identical. Sharing part of the smell does not mean sharing all the effects.
Same family does not mean same plant
In botany, a family groups related genera; each genus, in turn, includes one or more species. That is why "they are in the same family" and "they are the same species" are not equivalent statements.
In this case, the classification distinguishes them clearly:
| Classification | Brewing hop | Cannabis |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Cannabaceae | Cannabaceae |
| Genus | Humulus | Cannabis |
| Species | Humulus lupulus | Cannabis sativa |
Kew includes both genera within Cannabaceae, alongside others such as Celtis, Trema and Aphananthe. The family is therefore not limited to the two plants that usually appear in this comparison. It is a classification of relationship, not a list of species with identical composition or identical uses.
Nor should the name of a hop variety be confused with a different species. Strata, for example, is a variety developed for brewing. Its aromatic description may mention cannabis without changing its botanical identity or meaning that it comes from a cross between the two plants.
Which part of the hop is used in beer?
The hop is a perennial climbing plant: the aerial part may dry at the end of the season, while its underground system remains and allows growth the following year. Male and female flowers appear on separate plants, a characteristic called dioecy in botany.
Beer uses the cones that develop from the female inflorescences. Although people often speak of "hop flowers", this is not a single flower with petals, but a structure made up of many overlapping parts. Inside are the yellow lupulin glands, which contain bitter substances and essential oils.
That yellow material should not be confused with pollen. What matters to the brewer are the glands and what they contain. Some concentrated hop products are made by separating part of the plant material to increase the proportion of lupulin. Hopsteiner describes its enriched pellets in this way: higher concentration of bitter acids and oils, with less accompanying plant matter.
Cannabis also has specialised glandular structures, called glandular trichomes, abundant on the surface of the female inflorescences. A resin rich in different compounds is produced and accumulated there. This similarity in the organisation of both plants helps explain the comparison, but it does not make their resins equivalent substances.
Do hops contain THC or CBD?
The hops normally used in brewing are not a natural source of THC or CBD. Scientific literature distinguishes hop extracts from cannabis extracts precisely because of that difference. In a 2023 study, for example, researchers used terpenes from Humulus lupulus as a non-cannabinoid source and explained that this choice avoided the possible residual presence of THC associated with cannabis extracts.
The explanation goes beyond one plant having "a lot" of a substance and the other "a little". Producing certain compounds requires specific biochemical pathways and enzymes. Relationship between plants does not guarantee both have all the same tools.
A 2026 study from Wageningen University & Research in Plant Biotechnology Journal examined the evolution of enzymes involved in cannabinoid synthesis. The researchers reconstructed ancestral versions of those enzymes and tested them in the laboratory. Their results place that capacity in an ancestor of the cannabis lineage, followed by later enzyme specialisation. It is therefore not a property that can simply be attributed to the entire Cannabaceae family.
The consequence for conventional beer is simple: containing hops does not mean containing cannabis. Increasing the amount of hops also does not turn an IPA into a drink with THC.
Why hops and cannabis can smell similar
Part of the answer lies in terpenes, a group of compounds that includes many plant aroma substances.
Cannabis can produce, among others, beta-myrcene, alpha-humulene and beta-caryophyllene. A study from the University of British Columbia identified enzymes responsible for producing these and other terpenes in a cannabis variety. They are not commercial names or added ingredients: they are molecules the plant itself can synthesise.
The same three compounds also appear in hops. Research published in BMC Plant Biology analysed mature cones from 21 varieties grown in New Zealand and found myrcene, humulene and caryophyllene in all of them, although in very different amounts. Sharing components does not mean sharing proportions.
This helps explain why two different plants can show aromatic similarities and, at the same time, why not all hops smell alike. The presence of a molecule is only part of the information: its concentration and the set of substances around it also matter. The New Zealand study found major differences between varieties, both in main compounds and in less widespread ones.
Still, reducing the smell of cannabis to "both plants have myrcene" leaves out an important part of the explanation.
The missing detail: it is not all terpenes
In 2021, a team led by Iain Oswald published research in ACS Omega on the origin of the penetrating smell, described in English as skunky, of certain cannabis varieties.
The researchers identified a family of volatile sulphur compounds. Among them, 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol stood out. When they added it to a mixture of other cannabis aroma components, the smell became much closer to that of the plant sample studied. The result showed that this character could not be explained only by the most abundant terpenes.
The distinction matters: a substance does not need to be the majority compound to have a strong impact on what we perceive. The American Chemical Society, presenting the work, stressed precisely that terpenoids were not enough to explain the characteristic smell investigated.
This does not allow us to attribute the aroma of any beer to a specific molecule without analysing it. The study was carried out on cannabis; it helps us understand its smell, not turn an IPA tasting note into a laboratory result.
What does it mean when an IPA is "dank"?
In beer language, dank usually describes an intense, resinous and penetrating aromatic character that can sometimes recall cannabis. It does not identify an ingredient called "dank" or a specific amount of THC.
The way brewers use the term helps place it. Sierra Nevada describes Dank Little Thing through a combination of floral, tropical and resinous hops. The recipe includes Amarillo, Chinook, CTZ and Mosaic: the beer's name and aromatic references describe the profile the brewery is looking for.
Strata: an example documented by the hop developer
The Strata sheet published by Indie Hops includes notes of passion fruit, melon, strawberry and grapefruit alongside the phrase "rock concert cannabis". It is a sensory description of the hop, not a declaration that it contains cannabis.
The example is useful because it avoids a false opposition: a beer does not have to be exclusively tropical or exclusively resinous. One variety can combine both types of notes. In Strata, that coexistence appears explicitly in the developer's description.
Nor does dank necessarily mean West Coast IPA. Sierra Nevada uses that language both in Dankful, presented as a West Coast-style IPA, and in Dank Little Thing, which is a Hazy IPA. The term describes an aromatic character; by itself it does not determine haze, body or the complete style of the beer.
Hop aroma and lightstruck defect: two things not to confuse
There is another reason a beer can develop an aroma reminiscent of cannabis, and it has nothing to do with a brewer choosing an especially resinous hop variety.
The 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol identified in the cannabis study is also related to the defect known as lightstruck in beer: an alteration caused by exposure to light. This chemical overlap is one of the most interesting points in the comparison between both plants and the drink.
In beer, light can trigger reactions involving riboflavin and bitter compounds derived from hops. Research published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry studied how that degradation generates precursors of the compound responsible for the smell. There does not need to be cannabis in the recipe for it to appear.
It is therefore worth separating two situations. A beer can have a resinous character deliberately created through hop selection. Another can have suffered light damage. Describing both with a similar word does not mean their origin is the same. Brewery sheets document the former; photochemistry studies explain the latter.
This does not allow anyone to diagnose a beer solely because someone says it "smells like marijuana". To interpret it, consider the intended profile, storage and the whole aroma. The verbal comparison alone proves neither an added ingredient nor a defect.
A lot of aroma does not necessarily mean a lot of bitterness
The relationship with cannabis usually draws attention because of aroma, but hops perform several different functions in beer.
Their alpha acids can be transformed during the boil into compounds that contribute bitterness. Oils and other aromatic components, by contrast, affect what we perceive on the nose. It is therefore unhelpful to treat "bitter" and "aromatic" as two names for the same characteristic.
The moment of addition also matters. Hopsteiner distinguishes between early kettle additions, aimed at using bittering potential, and later additions, which preserve more aromatic character. Its technical sheets also include use during secondary fermentation or maturation, within dry hopping practices.
A beer that smells intensely of hops therefore does not have to be the most bitter in a selection. Aromatic intensity also does not reveal ABV. These are characteristics to read and evaluate separately, not a single scale that rises every time more hops are added.
How to read these notes when choosing a beer
When a description mentions resin, cannabis or dank character, read it first as an aromatic reference. Strata shows that a hop developer itself can use those words to explain a profile without describing an additional ingredient.
To choose with more criteria, look for the complete description: which hops it uses, what other aromas are expected and how bitterness is presented. "Resinous and citrusy" gives different information from "tropical and soft", even if both beers share a hop variety. The formulation and the way that ingredient is used also change the result.
The botanical relationship answers the initial question. To understand what is in the glass, take one step further: distinguish the plant, its compounds, the ingredients in the recipe and the words we use to describe them.
