Try These 4 CBD Beer Cocktails

These days, people are finding more ways than ever to enjoy CBD. They’re adding powdered CBD isolate to their morning smoothies. They’re drizzling CBD oil over their salads. They’re even buying whole CBD hemp flowers and smoking them. The one thing you won’t find, though, is a CBD-infused alcoholic beverage. That’s a serious no-no according to the FDA, as CBD isn’t permitted at this time as an additive for alcoholic drinks. That hasn’t stopped a few companies from making CBD-infused low-alcohol near beers, but those companies are treading questionable legal ground – and anyway, beer is a lot less fun when it’s incomplete.

We can do better than that. The next time you’re in the mood to get your daily dose of CBD in a different way, try adding a dropper to one of these classic beer-based cocktails. They pair wonderfully with flavored CBD oils such as those made by Crescent Canna, which are available in three tasty natural flavors: strawberry, peppermint and mandarin lime. Let’s get mixing!

CBD Michelada

If you enjoy a cocktail that’s full of savory ingredients and tastes almost like a meal in a glass, the michelada is a beer-based cocktail that’s probably going to be right up your alley. Originating during the 1960s, the michelada is a stone-cold classic in Mexican bars and is one of the flavors that people crave most after returning home from vacations in Mexico. If you enjoy the Bloody Mary cocktail, you’re going to find that the michelada has a very comparable flavor profile, not to mention a far lower alcohol content. This CBD beer cocktail is absolutely wonderful on a hot day.

Ingredients:

• Bottle of Mexican beer
• 1/2 to 1 cup tomato juice
• 1 lime
• Hot sauce
• Soy sauce
• Worcestershire sauce
• Salt
• CBD oil (suggested flavor: mandarin lime)

Directions:

• Pour some salt on a plate. Moisten the rim of a tall glass with lime juice and press the glass into the plate to create a salt rim.
• Add tomato juice until the glass is about one quarter full.
• Add 2-4 dashes each of hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce.
• Add the juice of one lime.
• Add one dropper of CBD oil.
• Fill the rest of the glass with beer and enjoy.

CBD Beer Shandy

The shandy is arguably the simplest beer cocktail that you can possibly make. Traditionally made from a half-and-half mixture of beer and lemonade, you will find that you can substitute the lemonade with just about any other fruit juice because beer pairs well with almost any juice you can imagine. Our CBD beer shandy takes its inspiration from the ever-popular cherry limeade.

Ingredients:

• Bottle of light beer (lager works well)
• Bottled limeade (or make your own from two parts lime juice, two parts sugar and one part water by volume)
• 1 teaspoon tart cherry juice concentrate
• CBD oil (suggested flavor: mint)
• Mint sprig (optional)

Directions:

• Pour beer into a tall glass until the glass is about half full.
• Top off the glass with limeade. Stir gently to combine.
• Top off with the cherry juice concentrate and CBD oil.
• Garnish with a mint sprig if desired.

CBD Ale Flip

The flip is one of the earliest known mixed drinks and was especially popular with English sailors in the 18th century. In those days, ale was a regular part of a sailor’s daily ration. Brewing standards weren’t what they are today, though, and refrigeration obviously wasn’t a possibility yet. The flip, therefore, was invented as an easy way to improve the flavor of lower-quality beer while also giving it a bit of a bump in nutrition.

Ingredients:

• Bottle of dark ale
• Shot of whiskey or bourbon
• 1 tablespoon of sugar or maple syrup
• Egg yolk
• CBD oil (suggested flavor: unflavored)
• Bitters
• Nutmeg

Directions:

• Separate the yolk from one egg and place the yolk in a heat-safe bowl.
• Whisk the egg yolk together with the whiskey, sugar and a dropper of CBD oil.
• Pour the ale into a saucepan and warm it until it just begins to simmer.
• Pour the ale into the egg mixture very slowly while whisking constantly. If you pour slowly, the egg mixture will thicken but will not cook.
• Pour the flip into a warmed mug. Garnish with two dashes of bitters and some grated nutmeg.

CBD Mulled Ale

Mulled wine is one of the classic holiday beverages, but you’re really missing out if you’ve never tried mulled ale. This version inspired by a recipe from Craft Beering ups the relaxation quotient with a dash of CBD oil and adds apple cider for a flavor profile evocative of the harvest season.

Ingredients:

• 2 bottles of ale or hefeweizen
• 1 cup of apple cider
• 2 shots of brandy or cognac
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar or maple syrup
• 4 cloves
• 1 star anise
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• Nutmeg
• Orange
• CBD oil (suggested flavor: strawberry)

Directions:

• Pour beer and apple cider into a saucepan and begin to heat. Your goal is to simmer the mixture as gently as possible without allowing it to come to a boil.
• Add the brown sugar and stir the mixture until the sugar dissolves. Continue stirring the mixture throughout preparation.
• Add the brandy, cloves, star anise, one cinnamon stick and grated nutmeg.
• Cut two round slices from the orange and reserve them for garnishing the finished mulled ale.
• Cut several strips of zest from the remaining orange, being careful to avoid the bitter pith under the skin. Add the orange zest to the mixture.
• Simmer the mulled ale as long as you like. A longer cooking time will cause more of the mixture’s alcohol content to boil away and will intensify the flavor of the spices.
• Prepare two mugs by filling them with hot water. Discard the water before serving the mulled ale.
• Add a dropper of CBD oil to each mug after discarding the water.
• Dispense the mulled ale into the two mugs by pouring the mixture through a mesh strainer to catch the spices and orange zest. Discard the used spices.
• Garnish each mug of mulled ale with an orange slice and a cinnamon stick.