Nothing beats a hot summer day than cracking a cold one with the boys. While most of you wouldn’t mind the occasional Corona (the beer, not the virus!), what if there was a way to unite your beer belly with your enthusiasm for CBD? Get ready for CBD Beer, a healthy option for all your hangover happenings!
The popularity of hemp-based CBD and other cannabis derivatives has been gaining momentum around the globe. Now, people have access to a wide variety of smoke-free and easy-to-use products, including tinctures, CBD-infused topicals, edible gummies, etc. Even so, cannabis brands are trying to innovate things by combining cannabinoids like CBD with beer.
This list contains all the latest information about CBD and Beer. We will be looking at how CBD works with beer, the brewing process, whether mixing CBD and alcohol is a good idea, and much more.
Let’s get started!
Cannabidiol – A Promise For The Wellness Industry
Cannabidiol or CBD is one of the many compounds found in the Cannabis Sativa plant. There are two main variants of this species, namely marijuana and hemp. As compared to the marijuana plant, the cannabinoid profile of hemp is a little different; it contains high concentrations of CBD. So, companies usually prefer using hemp-derived CBD in their products.
Cannabis shares quite a lot of similarities with hops – a different plant used to make beer. Both these species belong to the same family of flowering plants called Cannabacea. Some strains even look and smell like hops. So, I think it’s somewhat sensible to use cannabis in the making of beer.
What makes the difference between brewing with cannabis and hops is the presence of CBD. It is the primary therapeutic cannabinoid in hemp and produces calming effects on its user. Due to a lack of funding before, there is limited evidence about these benefits. However, recent studies have shown the potential CBD has for relieving pain, nausea, and anxiety, amongst other chronic conditions.
Keep The THC Content Low, and You Are Good To Go!
While exploring CBD for its health benefits, people new to this magic cannabinoid are a little hesitant due to its previous legal status. If you are one of those people, there is no need to worry. Consumption, distribution, and sales of hemp-derived CBD products that contain less than 0.3% THC are legal in the U.S under the Farm Bill of 2018. Laws concerning the legality of cannabis can vary depending on where you live.
We recommend checking with your local authorities to get the right information before you choose to try any of the CBD products mentioned on this website. If there are no restrictions on cannabis in your area, adding a little CBD to your favorite alcoholic beverage isn’t such a bad idea at all.
How CBD Beer Works and Why Should You Try it?
Consuming CBD with food and beverages provides a convenient way to add it to your daily routine. Edibles and CBD gummies are already very popular amongst people since they are easy to consume and dose. While CBD products come with tons of therapeutic benefits, not everyone likes the earthy taste of pure CBD. Hence, taking CBD with a beverage helps mask its taste.
Nonetheless, your CBD beer should consist of appropriate amounts of three different chemical compounds; CBD, THC, and terpenes. The absence of terpenes in your product will result in your beer tasting nothing like cannabis if you are okay with that. Moreover, the CBD for your beer should come from a professional extraction, containing a trace quantity of THC. If you throw hemp buds in your batch of beer, I can assure you not much will happen. It must follow a brewing process that ensures all the compounds needed are present in ideal ratios.
The presence of these different compounds helps you achieve the maximum therapeutic benefit from your CBD beer, a phenomenon known as the entourage effect.
Say Goodbye to Hangovers! – Is Mixing CBD With Alcohol A Good Idea?
Going out for a couple of drinks with your friends, especially after a lazy day, doesn’t do any harm. However, if you are using CBD and related products, you might wonder whether mixing the two is a good idea or not. Alcohol is a natural depressant that reduces brain activity, making you feel a lot more relaxed. However, enough scientific evidence suggests that alcohol can be harmful to your body in the long run.
So, the real question is:
Does that apply to CBD beer too?
Well, hemp is soluble in alcohol at an APV of 6% or higher. So, the amount of alcohol in your CBD beer will be quite normal. Furthermore, CBD has similar stress-relieving or calming effects on the body, which means that CBD and alcohol may work together to enhance them.
Anecdotal evidence suggests CBD might also reduce the feeling of being hangover after a long night of drinking. A couple of animal studies suggest that CBD may possess neuroprotective properties and prevent oxidative damage to your liver as well.
Will CBD Beer Make You High?
People new to cannabis products usually assume that everything cannabis-related will make them high. I only have one answer to this assumption, and that is no. CBD is the therapeutic compound found in the hemp plant. While it may be psychoactive and promote a sense of calmness in the user, it does not produce any intoxicating effects on the body.
The compound that produces that feeling of being high is THC instead – the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana. If you want to get high anyway, you can always opt for a THC beer. However, the legal status of THC and its derivatives is in a constant state of flux. So, you should always research state laws before consuming any of these products.
What Does CBD Beer Taste Like?
The taste of your CBD beer usually depends on its origin. Some companies tend to add a CBD tincture (virtually tasteless if pure) to their product before final packaging, which gives them a lot of liberty in deciding its taste. You will come across tons of products with distinctive flavors of their own, based on the terpene profile of the hemp plant used.
CBD beer should have a strong flavor that is slightly savory and less sweet than regular beer. It should also have an oily consistency, something that I have heard a lot from people who have used it.
Making CBD Beer – The Brewing Process
As I mentioned before, there is always an easy way to infuse CBD into beer, and some companies like to add an appropriate dose of a CBD tincture to their final product. However, I believe that adding it this way ruins the quality – another reason why brewing is much more suitable.
The basics of brewing have not changed much in the past. In other words, you need a source of starch, which is mostly a cereal grain such as wheat or barley. These grains have to go through a malting process where enzymes convert the starch into a brown, sugary liquid called wort.
After all the starch converts into necessary sugar ( or wort), the liquid must go through extensive boiling to make it more concentrated and remove residual enzymes from the malting process. You can add decarboxylated cannabis flowers at this stage as a flavoring or antibacterial agent. Both hops and cannabis possess antibacterial properties that help the yeast in the fermentation process.
As the fermentation reaches its final stages, adding more sugar helps any remaining yeast react with the mixture – a process known as priming or conditioning. After this stage, your CBD beer is ready for bottling. Pretty simple, right? Well, if you want to home-brew CBD beer, check out this recipe here.
Tips For High-Quality Brewing With CBD
While brewing with cannabis might be fairly easy, there are a few things you need to keep in mind before you get on with the process. Here are a few tips that will help you get the most out of your CBD beer.
- Prepare your cannabis first! Soak it into distilled water to remove natural impurities and toxins.
- Decarboxylating your cannabis flower is necessary for CBD and other cannabinoids to get active.
- Try not to add your cannabis to the wort while it’s boiling. It may lose terpenes in the process, and you may lose the entourage effect as well
- Choose styles that have higher alcohol content in them, including barley wines, stouts, ales, and Imperial IPAs. 6.5-8% ABV is perfect for getting all those cannabinoids out.
Is There A Non-Alcoholic CBD Beer For Me Out There?
Want a CBD beer minus the alcohol? Coming right up! CBD-infused beers with less than 0.5% ABV are available in the market. It is uncertain when they add the CBD to non-alcoholic beers, but I think it’s when all the alcohol is removed, usually after the fermentation process.
Final Thoughts
CBD beer can be perfect for your wellness routine, especially if you want a safe alternative to your drinking habits. Furthermore, the presence of CBD comes with tons of therapeutic benefits that can help you manage several chronic conditions. While there are a lot of legal considerations to keep in mind when exploring CBD beer, it is safe to say that the future looks bright for cannabis and its derivatives.
FAQs About CBD beer
Question: Can you drink beer with CBD?
Answer: Yes, adding a CBD tincture or oil to a regular beer is an easy way to do it. However, there are CBD beers available in the market right now, which use cannabis as a flavoring agent instead of hops.
Question: Can CBD beer make you high?
Answer: No, CBD beer will not make you high as it does not exhibit any intoxicating effects. THC is the psychoactive compound in marijuana that causes the high.
Question: What does CBD beer taste like?
Answer: CBD beer has a stronger and savory flavor than regular beer. You may get hints of the earthiness of cannabis. It also has an oily consistency.
Question: Is there any alcohol in CBD beer?
Answer: CBD beer brewed with the cannabis plant contains at least 6.5% ABV. There are non-alcoholic CBD beers too that contain less than 0.5% ABV.
