It’s the year 2020 and to say things are changing in the world would be a dramatic understatement. One change that is happening, on the lighter side of things, is the way people view marijuana and marijuana products.  Leading the way on the marijuna charge are CBD products.  Personally I was never big into weed myself, it just didn’t do much for me. So if you’re like me and might have to google what exactly CBD is let me save you a step.  CBD is an abbreviation for cannabidiol, a chemical compound from the Cannabid sativa plant. It is a naturally occurring substance that’s used in products like oils and edibles and will often give people a feeling of relaxation and calm. It is not something that is intended to make you feel like you’re on a Grateful Dead tour bus housing funyuns at an alarming rate.  CBD products are all over the place right now. Soaps, oils, lotions, candies, and tablets are just some of the products available that you can purchase now that are enhanced with CBD.  Another product that is available is CBeerD, a small shot of hemp that is intended to enhance your beer, wine or cocktail. When a representative from CBeerD reached out to me about their product I was skeptical at first. However I was also curious about the product. Could this product actually improve my beer?  Hops are part of the cannabis family so in my head their seemed to be some logic to this concept. So without further adieu I decided to indulge my curiosity and give CBeerD a try. 

When my box of CBeerD arrived it contained a sample of each of the hemp shots offered on their website.  The shots come in three strengths; 30mg, 60mg, and 100mg. My wife was also curious about this product and wanted to partake. I figured having a second opinion would be a good way to see if people have different reactions to the CBeerD product.  We decided to try the single and double shots in individual glasses of Two Hearted Ale.  We chose Two Hearted because it was a beer that we were both extremely familiar with and would easily notice any differences in taste of the beer.  

The single shot was first on deck.  We decided to add the shot in the glass first and give it a swirl before introducing the beer.  The shot was visible but I wasn’t able to detect anything on the nose while it was in the glass.  Next we poured the beer making sure the CBeerD was mixed in and gave it a try.  For the single shot we really didn’t have much if any noticeable change in the beer. The beer still looked like a Two Hearted, smelled like a Two Hearted, and tasted like a Two Hearted. I was actually kind of impressed by the ability to introduce a substance to a beer and have it make no noticeable change to the beer we were enjoying. 

Next up was the Double, a 60mg shot of CBeerD.  Again we stuck with Two Hearted for this shot.  Just like the Single I put the shot in the glass first, swirled it a bit and tried to put a nose on it.  I still wasn’t picking anything up.  So we added the beer and mixed it in and this time we saw a noticeable change.  The nose on the beer was still the same as ever, good ol’ Two Hearted. However, the beer now looked like a NEIPA. Thanks to CBeerD, Two Hearted was now a hazy! We gave the beer a try and both my wife and I were really trying to find a difference in flavor at this point. Perhaps trying too hard.  The beer was still amazing, and still tasted like every bit of a Two Hearted.  At first I thought the beer might have been just a bit more dank than what it usually is, but as I went back and worked through the glass that note didn’t hang.  Honestly I’m not sure if the flavor actually changed from CBeerD or if this was just something in my head.  Regardless the beer still tasted great and was in no way negatively affected by CBeerD. 

After the first two shots we decided to hold off on the Triple until another night.  A few days later when I went back to it I decided to change things up with the Triple shot.  Since CBeerD says that they could go in any drink, including cocktails, I decided to add the Triple to an Old Fashioned.  The Old Fashioned is a simple cocktail which pretty much everyone has their own take on.  I am no exception to this, which is why I chose The Old Fashioned, it’s easy to make and I can make it taste the same routinely with minimal effort.  Right from the start the Triple shot made its presence known.  This shot had more of a hoppy characteristic on the nose and definitely was noticeable to the eye.  Normally I like to keep my hoppy drinks and my liquors separate, but I proceed on and finished mixing the drink.. for science!  This should come as no surprise since the dosage of CBD is dramatically higher than the first two shots, but the Triple definitely changes this drink.  The drink both looked and tasted like I had thrown a splash of NEIPA into an Old Fashioned. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, the CBD did not help the flavor of this cocktail at all. I still finished it gladly, we don’t waste Buffalo Trace in this house, but found myself making a fresh one immediately after to appease my palate.  This is in no way a knock on CBeerD. I honestly think that this would be an excellent addition to a lot of different cocktails, it just does not work in this cocktail. Or at least not to my liking.  When I try this product again I do intend on trying in another cocktail, but I think you really need to gear it toward a drink that is citrus forward to get the most out of it. Cocktails like a pina colada, sidecar, or even a whiskey sour would likely benefit from CBeerD more than the Old Fashioned.

So how does CBeerD affect you? Does it make you high, or feel more drunk? No, not at all.  The differences I felt from CBeerD were pretty mild but actually nice benefits.  I won’t go in depth but I have some aches and pains in my back and hands that have become something that I have just learned to live with over the years. Nothing that would be a serious issue but those annoyances were all dulled while I tried CBeerD.  Both my wife and I also noticed that the nights we tried CBeerD we slept extremely well and woke up feeling very rested.  Granted this is a small sample size but we both felt it made enough of a difference that we would like to have this product around on a regular basis.  

So is CBeerD worth trying? Absolutely.  The single shot is something that I really think you could add to just about any drink and have no negative effect. The Double and especially the Triple are both shots that might require a little more forethought as to what you add them to. But if you like drinking beer this is not at all hard to accommodate.  We all have days in which we feel more wound up than usual or maybe sore from the grind of day to day life.  Maybe you’re someone who struggles with getting a solid 8 hours of sleep at night or just want to feel more rested. Maybe you’re just curious about CBD.  All these are perfectly good reasons to check out this product. If you are interested in trying CBeerD for yourself we are fortunate enough to have a discount code for you to use! If you enter the code SOMMBEER at checkout you will get $10 off orders of $25 or more. This is a great value and well worth giving a try. Any of the links in this article will take you directly to CBeerD‘s site where you can get set up!