Alright, let’s face it: wherever you are in the US, there’s a decent chance snow’s coming. That means spending your days layered up, trying to make sure that ski mask stays on the right way, and perhaps shoveling snow while considering just how much beer you have in the house. Even worse, your beer is just as cold as you are! Whatever shall you do when you get back inside? Never fear, because the beer cocktail scene has quite a few helpful recipes to warm you right up all season long.
Beer cocktails come in many different shapes and kinds, but are traditionally known for summer cool-off drinks like the Michelada and the part beer, part soda ‘Shandy’. However, it’s foolish not to consider that adding craft beer to a number of your favorite cocktails is equally as grand in the winter months. Here are three excellent ideas I’ve been trying out along with some tasting notes:
Wassail:
3 small Gala or Fuji apples, cored, halved, spiced to taste, and roasted
2 bottles Cigar City Warmer Winter Winter Warmer (any toasty holiday ale will do)
2 3-inch cinnamon sticks
3 cloves
1 cup dry sherry
¾ cup of brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
zest from half a lemon, in long strips
Laraine Perri’s recipe from Draft Magazine may seem complicated, but is completely worth it compared to some of the more mysterious, or more punch-esque versions of a typical Beer Wassail recipe. You’ll be cooking the beer down a bit, yes, but the malt of the holiday ale combined with the spices of the apples, sherry and sugary goodness is more than enough to make up for it. It is by far an ideal reward for spending hours outside attempting not to lose your fingers.
(By the way, if you’re expecting to use a wassail recipe that features rum, remember to switch your beer over to a lager, or else the malt in the holiday ale will confront the rum’s top notes head on.)
Liquid French Toast:
½ pint Harpoon Winter Warmer
½ pint Guinness Draught
This is a great take on an old school black and tan recipe, and now that Guinness is shipping Foreign Extra, this sounds like an even more excellent idea. The spice of the Harpoon really pierces through the smooth chocolatey taste of the guinness. If you wanted to get real fancy with this treat, you could easily rim the glass with some maple syrup and cinnamon sugar, pour the Harpoon in and then use the back of a bar/black and tan spoon and some patience to pour in the Guinness to give it that layered look. If you’ve got a softer imperial stout, it might even hold up better to the Harpoon’s hop value than the Guinness does.
Beer and a Smoke:
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
1 tablespoon celery salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 ounce Sombra mezcal
¾ ounce lime juice
3 dashes hot sauce
1 dash celery bitters
1 bottle Victory Pilsner beer
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 teaspoon lime zest
Jim Meehan of Manhattan’s PDT delivers a warmer that has nothing to do with winter in his ‘Beer and a Smoke’. The beauty of this drink however, is in the earthy complexity of the mezcal and whichever hot sauce you’ve got laying around. Victory’s Pilsner provides an excellent clean base to the rest of this drink’s citrusy enthusiasm. While I did skip the celery bitters on this one, I used a Habanero Tabasco, which lit everything up and made sure I didn’t miss it. The blast of heat and smokiness was totally a treat all its own. A real surprise for anyone who isn’t really into winter spice.
And there you have it, a few ideas for what to do with odds and ends of six packs. As the nature of all cocktail creation is experimental, don’t forget to follow your own taste! I know over the holidays I’ll be experimenting with other types of mulled beer during the holidays, and will be back around new years to offer a few beer cocktail alternatives for your NYE toast.
What’s your favorite drink to warm up with after a long day outside in the cold?
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)You need to be a registered member to rate this post.
Loading ...
More Interesting Articles
Loading…
