Using beer in cocktails

[spiritchild]

Does anyone know anything about using beer in cocktails as a main ingrediant, a supporting ingredient or even as a topper? I know this is a strange question. I've done some preliminary research and come up with nothing.

[cdh]

Well, beer in mixed drinks is a rarity, and in cocktails probably doesn't exist.

There are the Guinness drinks... Black Velvet and the Guinness and Port mixture whose name I don't recall.

There are the drop-a-shot-into-a-pint drinks with names like the Dr. Pepper and the Irish Car Bomb...

But it would be a rare beer that could stand up in cocktail proportions to 1.5 oz of gin or whisky and contribute any interesting flavor.

I've been thinking that maybe some of the belgian sour ales and/or lambics might prove interesting in mixology because of their aggressive tartness and lack of hoppy biterness... sub a Geuze for Champagne in a French 75 and you might end up with something palateable that you could call a Belgian 75... or use a Berliner Weisse in place of fizzy water and citrus in making Collins drinks...

In my thinking, the elements of a cocktail are strong sour and sweet. Most beers doesn't contribute any of them.

Edited November 11, 2005 by cdh (log)

[VoodooDog]

Though not really a cocktail....

Nor a mixed drink...

But rather an event...

A Boilermaker comes to mind.

[eje]

From recent reading, I know there are a bunch of old fashioned mulled ale drinks.

Usually, ale heated just to a bare simmer, spiced, sweetened, then enriched with whiskey or cognac and sometimes an egg yolk or two.

Some examples are, "Auld Man's Milk" (scotch), "Ye Olde Gossipe's Bowle" (wine), "Yard of Flannel" (cognac), and Dog's Nose (gin).

Along with the boilermaker, in Wisconsin at least, Bloody Marys are often served with a beer chaser. Unfortunately, usually PBR.

Edited November 11, 2005 by eje (log)

[Bill Miller]

I have heard of adding beer to tomato juice--Is that called a red eye or a red bull? I don't remember--college was too long ago. "When I was a child I drank as a child. When I became a man I put away childish things" Regards, Bill

[jsolomon]

I have heard of adding beer to tomato juice--Is that called a red eye or a red bull? I don't remember--college was too long ago.  "When I was a child I drank as a child. When I became a man I put away childish things"  Regards, Bill

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How about red beer?

I drink it all the time. Great stuff.

[phlip]

one thing ive tried and enjoy is topping a whiskey fizz with lindemanns lambic. the rasberry in particular. but i will have to agree beer in cocktails isnt the most practiced past time. but why not

[mbanu]

Most beer-based drinks aren't brought up that often because they're either antique curiosities from the Colonial era (rum, brown sugar, cream, and hot beer, for instance) or 1980s drinks that have no respectability because of their names, the era they were invented in, and/or the fact that the people who usually order them aren't the classiest bunch. A couple favorites of mine are the Skip & Go Naked, basically a Gimlet turned into a long drink with light beer, and the Flaming Dr. Pepper, amaretto topped with Bacardi 151, ignited and dropped into a pint of light beer.

A couple of exceptions that pop up every so often:

Black Velvet - equal parts Stout and Champagne. It has pedigree.

Irish Carbomb - Equal parts Irish cream and Irish whiskey dropped into a pint of stout. Would be a wonderful idea if it weren't for the fact that most Irish cream seems to curdle in stout. Popular on St. Patrick's Day.

High-quality light American lagers, like Bud Light, are arguably just as versatile as mixers as champagne is. The same thing that makes beer snobs dislike them, their mild flavor, makes them easier to mix with.

Other types of beer, having stronger flavors, tend to be harder to mix with.

Edited November 11, 2005 by mbanu (log)

[trillium]

High-quality light American lagers, like Bud Light, are arguably just as versatile as mixers as champagne is. The same thing that makes beer snobs dislike them, their mild flavor, makes them easier to mix with.

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Ok, I'll bite. What on earth would you consider a low-quality light American lager, if Bud Light is a high one?

Isn't there a drink with beer and Amer Picon?

regards,

trillium

[jsolomon]

High-quality light American lagers, like Bud Light, are arguably just as versatile as mixers as champagne is. The same thing that makes beer snobs dislike them, their mild flavor, makes them easier to mix with.

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Ok, I'll bite. What on earth would you consider a low-quality light American lager, if Bud Light is a high one?

Isn't there a drink with beer and Amer Picon?

regards,

trillium

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Hmm... Busch would be one. Keystone... pretty much anything you'll find the Hash House Harriers drinking is going to be one. MGD...

Edit to add OLD STYLE!!!

Edited November 11, 2005 by jsolomon (log)

[lostmyshape]

mmm... irish car bomb... i want to go all highbrow and say that any drink that you're supposed to chug isn't worth drinking, but this is drink is like a candy bar to me. get it down quick and gimme another. so tasty... and who cares if the irish cream curdles? who leaves enough time for this to happen anyway? just drop and drink!

i would guess that any champagne drink would do well with a fizzy carbonated belgian style ale (any abbey or lambic). i rather prefer belgian beers to champagne anyway. they're not the same drink, but i think they can be used pretty interchangably. might want to give this a test.

BTW, my wife and i used Unibroue's Ephemere in place of the champagne for the toast at our wedding. people were blown away by it. everyone i talked to said how much they preferred this to champagne. actually, many of unibroue's belgian-style beers could make an interesting substitution for champagne in such cocktail, i would think.

might try it tonight!

edit to link to unibroue's english web address, not french (those silly canadians).

Edited November 11, 2005 by lostmyshape (log)

[evilhomer]

they don't seem to have it on their websites anymore, but the beer bistro here in toronto had a number of beer cocktails when they first opened.

there was a porter and bourbon concoction and four or five others.

[OPJK]

When I was in college, the choral society used to make its "secret" version of Rocket Fuel (for those who don't know, more of a catch-all name than based on any one or two alcohols or themes) with vodka, beer, and, if I remember correctly, pineapple and orange juice. It was both remarkably tasty and potent. Those consuming it used to assume it contained grain alcohol, due to its results (which were probably as much psychological as physiological).

[kvltrede]

Ah, geez. Erik's dissing Pabst and Mbanu's praising Bud Light? Have I somehow stumbled upon the Bizarro World eGullet?

I think most of the beer/ale/stout cocktails at Cocktaildb.com have been mentioned above but following the link will take you to the beer-as-an-ingredient page. From there, those inclined can do some clicking and check out a couple dozen recipes.

I picked up a cocktail book from the '50s called "Here's How" a couple weeks ago and I think there might be a few drinks in it that haven't been mentioned above so I may be able to provide a few others but I'll have to do it from home later. IIRC most of the "beer & booze" drinks in "Here's How" are hot drinks and as I'm not particularly inclined towards mixing beer and booze together whether hot or cold I only skimmed that section but I'll take another look and report back.

Kurt

[mbanu]

Ah, geez.  Erik's dissing Pabst and Mbanu's praising Bud Light?  Have I somehow stumbled upon the Bizarro World eGullet?  

←

Bud Light isn't really the best that light beer can do, but it's a solid mid-range example of what a light American lager tastes like. A lot of the putdowns light beer get are because of misunderstandings. For one, if you view it from the context of traditional beer, it seems bland, kinda like vodka to a whiskey-lover. To appreciate light beer you have to look at it as its own category with its own goals. Another problem is that a lot of people mix up the drink with the sort of people who prefer to drink it.

Don't knock it till you've tried one mixed properly. Mix up a good Skip & Go Naked, a Flaming Dr. Pepper, or one of those other declasse 80s drinks that everyone always stereotypes. You might be surprised.

Here, I'll even get you started.

"Skip & Go Naked"

2 ounces gin

1 ounce Rose's lime juice

12 ounces Bud Light

Combine in a pint glass and serve.

Edited November 12, 2005 by mbanu (log)

[mumkin]

I tried making a yard of flannel about a month ago. I chose the wrong ale, I think, so I'm reserving final judgment on whether there's merit in hot beer drinks as a category; the problem is that now the thought of drinking another really isn't tempting, so I've never investigated further. Anyone care to speak in defense of a well-made yard of flannel or hot ale flip?

[lesfen]

Ah, geez.  Erik's dissing Pabst and Mbanu's praising Bud Light?  Have I somehow stumbled upon the Bizarro World eGullet?  

←

Bud Light isn't really the best that light beer can do, but it's a solid mid-range example of what a light American lager tastes like. A lot of the putdowns light beer get are because of misunderstandings. For one, if you view it from the context of traditional beer, it seems bland, kinda like vodka to a whiskey-lover. To appreciate light beer you have to look at it as its own category with its own goals. Another problem is that a lot of people mix up the drink with the sort of people who prefer to drink it.

Don't knock it till you've tried one mixed properly. Mix up a good Skip & Go Naked, a Flaming Dr. Pepper, or one of those other declasse 80s drinks that everyone always stereotypes. You might be surprised.

Here, I'll even get you started.

"Skip & Go Naked"

2 ounces gin

1 ounce Rose's lime juice

12 ounces Bud Light

Combine in a pint glass and serve.

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Our version of "Strip & Go Naked" involved a can of lemonaid concentrate, the same can of vodka, and six beers... altho it has been disputed on many, many occasions. Nasty. It was good 10 years ago.

[mbanu]

Our version of "Strip & Go Naked" involved a can of lemonaid concentrate, the same can of vodka, and six beers... altho it has been disputed on many, many occasions.  Nasty.  It was good 10 years ago.  

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Well, it's kinda like having a properly-made Margarita compared to having cheap tequila and margarita mix; same name, but a big difference in taste. Going so far as to use fresh strained citrus and sugar syrup would probably be gilding the lily with this drink, but using Rose's instead of cheap sour mix and Bud Light or something of similar quality instead of Natural Light are steps in the right direction.

If you use vodka instead of gin, it's the same recipe as above, but it's called a "Hop, Skip & Go Naked".

Edited November 14, 2005 by mbanu (log)

[AzianBrewer]

One of the hippest or nastiest drink in NYC's club scene is "Red Corona".

Add red granedine syrup and rose lime syrup to the bottle of Corona top it off with a wedge of lime. Yuck!

[kvltrede]

...I think most of the beer/ale/stout cocktails at  Cocktaildb.com have been mentioned above but following the link will take you to the beer-as-an-ingredient page....

...I picked up a cocktail book from the '50s called "Here's How" a couple weeks ago and I think there might be a few drinks in it that haven't been mentioned above . . . I'll take another look and report back.

Okay, so I checked "Here's How!" and found only a few beer’n’booze drinks that can’t be found via the above link to Cocktaildb.com. They're hot drinks, which, I think, is not what the original poster was looking for but here they are:

[Note: I had very little luck searching for more info regarding "Here's How!" so I think it’s safe to assume that the copyright wasn’t renewed in 1985 and, as such, the book may be excerpted here. For more info on the book see below.]

Glasgow Hot Pint

(for six)

4 cups ale

1 egg, beaten

4 tbsp sugar

4 cups Scotch

While the ale is coming to a boil in a saucepan, combine the Scotch with the sugar and egg, mixing well. Add the mixture gradually to the boiling ale, stirring constantly to prevent the egg curdling. Pour into mugs from a height to generate froth. Drink while foaming. (If you must use glasses, don’t forget to leave a spoon in each while pouring the hot mixture.)

The knowledge that a Hot Pint would be available at Grosvenor bar has shortened many a winter night’s ride from the Prestwick air field to Glasgow.

Andy Rooney [Yes, CBS’ Andy Rooney], who certainly ranks among the ten best writers ever fired by Arthur Godfrey, did a wartime stint with Stars and Stripes in England which not only equipped him to write The Story of Stars and Stripes but exposed him to a hot ale recipe:

Hot Ale Flip

1 quart ale

½ tsp mace

3 fresh eggs

½ cup moist sugar

Put the ale on to boil in a saucepan and beat the egg whites and yolks separately in two heat-resistant bowls. When the whites are stiff, combine with the sugar and mace, then stir in the yolks. Pour the boiling ale into the mixture slowly, stirring constantly. Then pour the mixture from one bowl to the other several times until you get a smooth blend and a fine froth. Serves four or five.

Not only is the Hot Ale Flip nourishing and warming, but it is reputed to keep off colds, coughs, megrims, and other ills occasioned by London winter fogs.

Chapter 9 nuzzled us with the Yorkshire–or cold–Dog’s Nose. The time has now come to speak of the warm, or Pickwickian, Dog’s Nose. In Chapter XXXII of Pickwick Papers we find the following phrase: “Dog’s nose, which your committee find . . . to be compounded of warm porter, moist sugar, gin and nutmeg (a groan, ‘and so it is,’ from an elderly female).” Our own Dickens Committee has come up with the following recipe, suggesting that in case you cannot get porter at your supermarket, you use beer or ale instead:

Pickwickian Dog’s Nose

(for two)

1 pint porter

2 tsp brown sugar

2 jiggers dry gin [3 oz.]

2 pinches nutmeg

While the porter (or ale or beer) is heating, dissolve a spoonful of sugar in each of two 12-ounce mugs (or glasses with the spooins left in) with a little hot water. Then add the gin and nutmeg. Pour in the porter just before it reaches the boiling point.

That's a pretty fair representation of the book but as long as I'm at it I'll add a couple more examples of the non-recipe writing. Here's what Blochman has to say about the Shanghai Buck:

In the days before the Communists abolished joie de vivre from Shanghai as detrimental to the political philosophy of a People's China, the Taipans used to knock off work about 11.am.m and sidle up to the mile-long bar at the Shangahi Club for a little stimulant to get them through the last hour until tiffin-time. A favorite, according to Bruno Shaw, an old China hand, who was editor of the Hankow Herald last time your editor was in the then Celestial Kingdom, was the Shanghai Buck...

And apparently he's not a big fan of the Zombie or Trader Vic:

The Zombie has a Haitian name, pretends to come from the South Seas, and probably originated in one of those California restaurants called Trader So-and-So's, where monotonously complex rum drinks and Chinese food are supposed to complement the atmosphere created by Hawaiian music, bamboo screens, and tapa tableclothes. It is typical of the long rum drinks synthetized [sic] in these popular cafes...

Kinda cool, ain’a? It reminds me a lot of Charles Baker's book. Blochman and his journalist pals aren't nearly as colorful as Baker and his pals and the stories are more perfunctory and less exotic in general but the drink recipes strike me as solid and the approach is similar. For a cheapo paperback that cost 35¢ new it's a substantially better "poor man's" version of Baker than one would expect. There's no need to go on a time-consuming search for it or to pay more than a couple bucks if you stumble across a copy but I like the book a lot.

Kurt

For those of you interested to know more, though, here's what little I was able to find out (which is pretty skimpy even including what can be learned from the book itself): The full title is "Here's How! A Round-the-World Bar Guide" The author is Lawrence Blochman–-probably Lawrence G[oldtree] Blochman the mystery writer but I’m not sure. The book contains nearly 400 recipes "From America's most famous foreign correspondents- members of the Overseas Press Club". The publisher was New American Library and the 1957 copyright holder is the Overseas Press Club. The purchase price of the original Signet Key paperback was 35 cents. I was happy to pay Half-Price Books 18¢ asking price.

[Alchemist]

I've heard teel of a cocktail called "The Beard"

It's named after Castro. Make your best Mojito the top with beer. I don't know what Cuban beer is like but I tried it with Corona and Presendete with not unhappy results.

[eje]

It was a bit chilly today, so I decided to give an Ale Flip a try. Executed thusly, I am relatively pleased with the result. It is certainly warming.

1 bottle Fuller's London Pride

1 oz Wild Turkey Boubon

1 egg separated

1 TBSP brown sugar

strip of orange zest

sprinkle nutmeg

Warm ale on stove to nearly simmering with peel. While that is going on beat your egg white to soft peaks in a big mug, and fork the brown sugar and yolk together until it lightens.

Add a couple tablespoons warm beer to egg yolk and sugar mix to temper (we're making custard, right?), and then add yolk to beer. Pour beer mixture into foamy mug and back and forth to pan for a bit. Add whiskey, and top with a sprinkle of nutmeg.

It's not the prettiest drink. Kind of like a boozy beer pudding.

thought of improved description.

Edited December 15, 2005 by eje (log)

[eje]

Ale flip 30 minutes later...

It really is kind of gross when it cools off, and you sort of wonder what you were thinking, so drink it hot.

Not to mention some complaints about the beery smell in the kitchen...good thing I'm not a home brewer!

added comments to clarify.

Edited December 15, 2005 by eje (log)

[sadistick]

We used to mix Beer and Coke...not bad really.

[Moto]

One of the hippest or nastiest drink in NYC's club scene is "Red Corona". 

Add red granedine syrup and rose lime syrup to the bottle of Corona top it off with a wedge of lime.  Yuck!

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Yeah that was all the rage in NC the last 12 months or so. I have seen it a lot less in 2005 than 2004. I think that is for people who don't like beer. I tried it once, took one sip and ordered another beer