Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

7 Best CBD and Cannabis-Infused Beers for a Different Buzz

Pat Evans
By
Three different kinds of cbd beers on marijuana leef background.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

With CBD legalized across much of the U.S. (though not at the federal level) and marijuana legalization slowly — or quickly — sweeping its way across the country, breweries don’t want to be left behind. CBD or cannabidiol has found its way into pretty much every product, whether it makes sense or not. Some of the best examples are the CBD creams and muscle balms for athletes, like those from Beam, and mellow smoking products like Dad Grass. Even a sports drink company, BioSteel, is starting to push products infused with CBD. It’s no surprise the laidback beer industry, which is often associated with marijuana, wants a piece of the industry it’s so close to.

There’s a natural connection, too, when it comes to beer and CBD. Cannabis and hops both belong to the same Cannabaceae plant family. That’s why there are so many beers a novice IPA lover might take a big whiff of and say, “Whoa, that smells like weed.” Don’t be surprised if, as weed becomes more normalized in the world, more beers start to utilize the herb to further enhance its beers. Breweries are combining booze and weed, or booze and THC. But they’re also hopping on the health crazes and mixing CBD oil with non-alcoholic brews. Here are our favorite hemp, CBD, and cannabis beers.

Recommended Videos

Related Guides

Best Hemp Beer By A Beer Giant: The Hemperor

Image used with permission by copyright holder

If New Belgium, one of the nation’s largest brewers, can jump on the hemp-derived bandwagon (earlier than most at that), then it’s likely only a matter of time more breweries make beers infused with hemp, CBD and THC. Unlike many of the beers on this list, The Hemperor is wildly distributed. For those who’ve purchased the beer, whether for true enjoyment or pure curiosity, you’ll remember how pungent the weed-like smell was when you cracked open the cap. Really, though, all the hemp in The Hemperor does is amplify the hoppy flavors of the “Hemp Pale Ale.”

Related

Best Non-IPA For A Hemp-Inspired Beer: Humboldt Brown

Bottle of Humboldt hemp beer on white background.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Unlike a lot of hemp- or cannabis-derived beers, the long-time brewery Humboldt decided to stray away from the hop-heavy IPA and pale ale style for its hemp beer. Thankfully, Humboldt took a creative route with its beer. The Humboldt Hemp Ale is brewed with toasted hemp seeds to give off the earthy-dank herbal notes. The best part about a well-brewed brown ale is how a well-hopped schedule can actually improve it. That’s the case here, as well.

Best Cannabis Beer By A Brewing Legend: Ceria Brewing Co.

Ceria Brewing Company beer can on white background.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Keith Villa created a beer that transformed many light beer drinkers into craft beer drinkers: Blue Moon. The two nationwide flagships of his new endeavor, Ceria Brewing Co., are not cannabis or CBD-infused, but non-alcoholic beers. Still, part of the reason Villa retired from MillerCoors and the Blue Moon empire he built was to pursue brewing with cannabis. And he now makes those beers for dispensaries in Colorado and, soon, California.  He recently went on a big PR tour supporting a new book: “Brewing with Cannabis: Using THC and CBD in Beer.”

Best THC-infused Beer By An In-Your-Face Brewery: Hop Chronic

Can of Hop Chronic THC Infused IPA on white background.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Flying Dog Brewing Co.’s labels are, on their own, plenty eye-popping. The beers, like its infamous Raging Bitch Belgian IPA and Doggie Style Pale Ale are fabulous beers. So Flying Dog’s partnership with Leaf Medical Cannabis provides a delicious example of what a cannabis beer can be. The beer was non-alcoholic, but really, when you’re sipping on a weed drink, what’s the need for booze?

Learn More

Best Cannabis-Infused Beverage By A Brewery Known For Weed: Hi-Fi Hops

Lagunitas Hi-Fi Hops bottle beer on white background.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Lagunitas has had its fair share of run-ins with weed, so why not keep it rolling? The Hi-Fi Hops Cannabis-Infused Hoppy Sparkling Water hits all the high notes. First, it capitalizes on the THC craze, building on top of the non-alcoholic buzz with the sparkling water hype. Three separate brands carry a variety of different THC and CBD levels, keeping it all cool with zero alcohol.

Learn More

Best Cannabis-infused Beer Portfolio: Two Roots Brewing Co.

Two Roots Cannabis Brewing Co. Enough Said bottle on white background.

Two Roots has a great array of cannabis-infused beers, all registering below 0.5% alcohol. The IPA-spired New West and the new take on a hefeweizen, Tropical Infamy both offer up 5MG of THC with a burst of beer flavor. Grapefruit Fight, Mango Dango and Straight Dank can punch up the fruity hoppiness with 10MG of THC. Shadow Monk drops the THC back down but allows the Dubbel-inspired non-alcoholic beer, perfect for an after-dinner treat.

Learn More

Best CBD Beer Brewed With A Punny Name: Green Times Brewing

Cans of Green Times Brewing CBD IPA beer on white background.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The labels of Green Times Brewing beers read like a mouth-watering IPA. Take Five, the New England IPA pictured above, is brewed with a tempting hop bill of Citra, Columbus, Mosaic, and Simcoe hops. But add in a little bit of CBD and there’s a nice added mental relief to the buzz from its 5% ABV. The beer will have you believe you’re drinking a great beer, because you are! Unfortunately, you’ll have to fly to the United Kingdom to get a taste.

Learn More

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Pat Evans
Pat Evans
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Pat Evans is a writer based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, focusing on food and beer, spirits, business, and sports. His full…
Beer 101: What’s the difference between an ale and a lager?
Both are great - but not the same thing
Beer

Even if you have only the most basic knowledge of beer, you probably know the simple ingredients that you need to have to brew it (even if you’ll never brew any yourself). They are grain (barley, corn, rice, etc.), yeast, hops, and water. If you enjoy drinking beer and like talking about it with any authority, it’s a good idea to have this kind of base information because beer gets more complicated after this.

There are countless styles and offshoots, including IPAs, stouts, sour ales, barleywines, and everything in between. Including well-known beer styles and their various offshoots, there are currently more than 100 defined types of beer. And while we could spend a dozen (or more) articles explaining all the styles (don’t tempt us), today, we’re most interested in sticking with the basics—specifically, the age-old questions of the differences between lagers and ales.

Read more
Stout vs. porter: The real differences between the beers
Do you know how to tell them apart?
Schlafly Beer Nitro Irish Stout

It's easy to lump beer styles together, especially when we're talking about a stout vs. porter. But the two are distinctive genres in craft and it pays to know what makes each of them unique to truly enjoy their singularity in the glass. Porter beers and stout beers are perfect for fall and winter, just as they are for the summer. Basically, they're year-round beers but are sometimes enjoyed more at certain times of the year.

So, before you start confusing West Coast IPAs with hazy IPAs and smoothie sours with standard sours, let's offer a little wisdom on porter vs. stout. In fact, a little context is especially welcome when it comes to porters and stouts, as even brewers can't always agree on how the two are different. They have more in common than not, so it can be a little hard to know what you're sipping and to answer the question, "What is stout beer?"

Read more
The best imperial stout beer to drink this winter
Enjoy these rich, robust drinks
Stout

When the weather turns cold and the days continue to get shorter and shorter, while we still imbibe lighter beers like pilsners and pale ales from time to time, we mostly turn our attention to stouts. We love these robust, wintry beers’ roasted malts, chocolate, and coffee flavors.

For those unaware, imperial stouts are richer, more robust, fuller versions of the classic stout beer with more roasted malts, dark chocolate, coffee, and sometimes smoky aromas and flavors. On top of that, imperial stouts get an extra kick by being higher in alcohol than their classic counterparts. We’re talking 8-10% ABV in general. If that doesn’t warm you up on a frigid fall or winter day, nothing will.

Read more