Special Ingredient: CBD

As CBD has grown in popularity, so have various products associated or infused with it. These include hemp flowers and hemp teas (made from hemp buds, leaves, and/ or seeds), which have varying amounts of CBD in them. Unlike tinctures and the like, hemp teas also have small amounts of THC in them. The solubility might be less of an issue here: Obviously, teas are meant to be infused in water.

Two years ago, in central Berlin, the BRLO brewery requested and received an exemption from the Reinheitsgebot to produce a beer with hemp flowers. That beer, released on April 20, 2018 (yeah, 4/20), was called Legend Has It. This hop- and hemp-forward “Cbd-infused” pilsner was a collaboration with Atlanta-based hip-hop group Run the Jewels.

The technique employed by BRLO brewer Michael Lembke and his team was simple: Make an infusion of organic CBD hemp tea, sourced from nearby Brandenburg, and add it to the secondary.

“Back then, it was really pre-pre-cbd hype in Germany,” says Katharina Kurz, BRLO cofounder and managing director. “The reason we didn’t use the tea before fermentation was to keep the hemp flavor. We also dry-hopped with Columbus to get that extra dankness.”

However, it’s still not clear how much CBD remains in suspension or winds up in packaged beer. “We weren’t able to determine the exact CBD level in the beer,” Kurz says. “I’m not sure how it is now in Germany, but back then it was still a grey zone to use pure CBD in food or beverages.”

For whatever it’s worth: I drank a tasty half-liter of Legend Has It at BRLO’S taproom in Berlin. Did I notice any special relaxation effects? No. I was already enjoying the widely accepted relaxation benefits of having had a few lagers. However, I distinctly remember its lovely, herbal-dank hop flavor. Now I know why: Check out the recipe—featuring a mix of fine German aroma hops in the whirlpool—at right.

Besides relaxation, there is another possible benefit to consider with hemp products: their aroma. CBD flowers retain plenty of aromatic terpenes—hops have some of them, too, and there is a reason why some IPAS wind up “dank.”

However, aroma is not the most obvious potential benefit. So, a reasonable question: If you brew this, and you drink this, will you actually feel the effects of the CBD?

Honest answer: We have no idea. As with other CBD products, the opinions of people who have had something like this vary quite a bit. Yes, CBD is supposed to be relaxing; it’s supposed to take the edge off. You know what else does that? Beer.

—Joe Stange