It’s certainly been a busy week for me. In addition to the recent coverage in Pulse Magazine, and the Niagara Falls Review, my most recent article for Taps Magazine just hit shelves here in Ontario. For those of you not familiar, Taps is the Canadian authority on beer, and the magazine gets published countrywide four times per year. For the summer issue, Taps wanted to take a refereshing look at what we could do with beer on the patios this year, and I recommended Beer Cocktails.
Putting together this article was a bit of a challenge for me, as I hadn’t really worked in depth with beer as an ingredient in cocktails before. In the end, I came up with a few accessible, easy to make at home cocktails using some of my favourite beers, and the reception has been incredible. Without further adieu, I present to you Taps Magazine’s Cool (Beer) Cocktails for a Hot Summer.
Innis & Gunn Hibiscus Manhattan
Nick Nemeth
Taps Magazine, Summer 2009
Summer’s here, and patios across Canada have already started to rock. In previous years, pomegranate cocktails were all the rage, citing their “anti-oxidant” benefits, and more recently, the Mojito has made it’s way to becoming the king of patio cocktails. Unfortunately for many of us beer lovers, spirits, liqueurs, and juices thus far have dominated the summer cocktail movement. It’s time to shake things up a little.
This year, why not throw a little beer into the mix? For years, the “Shandy” has dominated the beer cocktail market. It’s tangy, refreshing, albeit simple, mixture was served initially as a means of masking the quality of poor beer. By adding ginger ale, ginger beer, or lemonade to your lager, bartenders created an instant classic, and today, the possibilities for beer cocktails stretch about as far as the bartender’s imagination.
In recent years, the “Michelada”, and blend of beer, lime juice, and hot sauce, served in a salt-rimmed glass over ice has become another new favourite, alongside contemporary efforts like the Beer Margarita. Today we’re going to try something a little different. I’m proud to present to you my top five cocktails for beating the heat this summer. Be warned, though, these cocktails pack quite the punch! Cheers!
Nickelbrook Green Apple Pilsner – Green Apple Smash
Maple syrup in a cocktail? I know how weird it sounds, but for the longest time, this has been one of my favourite “secret ingredients”, and it lends a smoothness and unique flavour to cocktails which help round them out very nicely.
Pair that with apple, and you have a sure-fire winner. Nickelbrook Green Apple Pilsner blends natural apple juice with a hint of lemon to a light pilsner, making it a great beer to enjoy on a hot day, on its own, or in the Green Apple Smash.
Ingredients / Method
0.50oz Forty Creek Whiskey
0.50oz Galliano
0.50oz Maple Syrup
Build ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker, shake hard, and pour into pilsner glass. Fill with Nickelbrook Green Apple Pilsner.
Creemore Springs Premium Lager – The Creemore Caipirissima
For those not familiar with the term, muddling is the process of crushing the limes in the glass to express their juices and essential oils. This cocktail, an offshoot of the Mojito, adds elderflower cordial to sweeten it, and add a tropical depth which rounds out the drink very nicely. Creemore has long been a beer synonymous with summer to me, and this cocktail will surely be one I’ll be enjoying on the patio this year.
Ingredients / Method
1.00oz White Rum
0.50oz Elderflower Cordial (Available in most grocery stores)
½ lime, cut into quarters, muddled
1 teaspoon Raw Sugar
Fill with ice, top with Creemore Springs Premium Lager.
Alexander Keith’s Premium White – Keith’s Premium Punch
With the weather warming up, the “white” beers are already starting to dominate bars and restaurants everywhere. Traditionally served with citrus, the addition of Limoncello and pomegranate juice delivers a new depth of fruitiness to an already light and refreshing beer.
Ingredients / Method
1.00oz Limoncello
0.50oz Pomegranate Juice
Juice of ½ Lemon
Build ingredients in large pilsner glass, fill with Alexander Keith’s Premium White.
Innis & Gunn Original – The Innis & Gunn Hibiscus Manhattan
One properly made Manhattan is a cocktail I can sip on all night long, and when I tasted Innis & Gunn for the first time, I was instantly reminded of my favourite drink. Blending the two, with their smooth, oaky, and vanilla flavours was a no brainer, and finishing it with my “shock and awe” garnish, a candied hibiscus flower makes one pretty great cocktail.
Ingredients / Method
1.00oz Bourbon, preferably Makers Mark (I use a vanilla-infused bottle at home)
1.00oz Sweet Vermouth
0.50oz Hibiscus Syrup, substitute cherry juice if not available.
Build ingredients over ice in a large mixing glass. Fill with beer, and stir until mixed thoroughly.
Black Oak Nut Brown Ale – The Double Black
Kahlua is a liqueur that confuses many people, because most aren’t able to see past the overwhelming coffee flavour. Search a little deeper, and you’ll discover a deep chocolate, and vanilla flavour which pairs incredibly with fruit, such as the black currant found in Cassis. Follow that with a smooth, malty beer like Black Oak Nut Brown Ale, and you have a beer cocktail you can sip on all day.
Ingredients / Method
0.75oz Kahlua
0.25oz Cassis
Juice of 1 full lime
Build ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker, shake hard and strain into a chilled martini glass. Top with Black Oak Nut Brown Ale.
View photos of all these cocktails, and more at the Cocktails and Cordials Flickr photostream
To find a copy of Taps Magazine near you, click here (Canada Only).
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Keep up the amazing work!! I love how you wrote this and I also like the colors here on this site. did you create this yourself or did you outsource it to a coder??