A Few Beer Cocktails…..
A beer cocktail sounds like the sort of drink that should be consumed in the summer, perhaps a cool, refreshing blend of a pale beer and a fruity addition of some sort. Well maybe from now in it can be. If you think a beer cocktail starts and finishes with a Boilermaker (a shot of whisky in a pint for the uninitiated) then we can put you on the right track today.
One of the most popular centres of the beer cocktail is Northern France. Personally France was the first place I ever tried the bottled concoction called Desperados, beer with added Tequila – it tastes just like a lager and lime but you probably shouldn’t drink too many. That was some years ago now so maybe it was the forerunner of today’s beer cocktails.
This is something of a fledgling industry but we can break the cocktails down into three styles
- beer blends: beer mixed with another type of beer
- beer mixed with something else: a fruit juice or similar to lessen the alcohol content
- beer mixed with an existing cocktail
So, in order, let’s take a look at one recipe from each category:
Beer Blends
This is the most well known and probably the easiest to mix up when half-cut. Good examples are the Black and Tan (equal parts Stout and Ale), the Irish Setter (Stout with a dash of IPA) and a Half and Half (equal parts Stout and Lager). These drinks will garner you horrified looks from locals and purists (and local purists) but don’t let that put you off.
The Black & Tan
Beer Mixed With Something Else
There’s loads of these but you can try something like the Boiling Sunrise, which is six parts beer, six parts tequila, four parts orange juice and one part grenadine. Or perhaps the Lunch Bucket – twelve parts beer, 1 part orange juice and 1 part amaretto. It’s not hard really and there’s loads of scope to mix your own stuff up.
Beer With an Existing Cocktail
The Brewer’s Bramble is a current favourite and definitely a summer drink – it alters the traditional Bramble cocktail by replacing the lemon and syrup with a sour, pale beer. Add the original ingredients – gin and blackberry liqueur and you have a beer cocktail!