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Special Ingredient: CBD

Commercial brewers are in the earliest days of figuring out how to legally get CBD into beer (and keep it there). For homebrewers, it presents an open—if legally vague—field of play and experimentation.

Joe Stange Dec 29, 2020 - 6 min read

Special Ingredient: CBD Primary Image

Photo: Open Range Stock/Shutterstock.com

So, you thought that last IPA you made was dank. Want to get danker?

CBD—that is, cannabidiol, one of the active ingredients in cannabis—has proliferated across North America in the past couple of years. Its advertised benefits include relaxation without marijuana’s THC high, plus a litany of reputed health benefits that are generally either unproven or unprovable. Still, considering its growing popularity, it may seem surprising that we haven’t seen more brewers put the stuff into beer.

On a commercial level, there’s a good reason why not: It’s not technically legal—yet. The issue lies between the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

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