There’s something uniquely summery about mixing up a beer cocktail. Pairing fizzy beer with something harder not only results in a larger-than-average drink that you can keep sip on for a spell, but a bit of extra booze will get you buzzed before you get bloated.
Photos by Claire Lower.
Though there’s nothing wrong with a simple shandy, each beertail below has a little something extra and they range from cheap and simple to complex and (slightly) sophisticated.
Pineapple Pisco Pale
There is something about pisco that just sings “summer” to me and, when paired with tropical pineapple juice and a grassy, slightly bitter India Pale Ale, you get a mixture of flavours that dance across your tongue, balancing each other out and keeping you coming back for more.
Ingredients:
- 40mL Pisco
- 30mL pineapple juice
- 60mL IPA of choice
- A strip of lemon zest
Shake pisco and juice in a shaker filled with ice. Strain into a lowball, pour in beer and gently stir to mix. Garnish with a lemon zest, expressing the oils from the peel before setting it in the glass.
A Spicier Shandy
Shandies are usually made with lemonade, but there’s no reason that particular beverage should have all the fun. Not only does ginger beer give this cocktail a spicy edge, but it keeps the carbonation levels high, which is very important.
Ingredients:
- The juice of one lime
- 100mL of very cold, good ginger beer
- 100mL very cold, shitty beer
- 1 lime round
- A pinch of salt
Fill a pint glass with ice and let it chill for a few minutes. Dump out the ice add the lime juice, ginger beer and regular beer to the glass and gently stir with a long spoon. Sprinkle a little salt on a lime round and float it on top of your fizzy masterpiece. (If this is a little weak in the ABV department for you, you can always add a shot of vodka or gin.)
The Sour Dog
If you are familiar with 3-Ingredient Happy Hour, you are most likely aware of my love for Campari. Campari and beer might not seem like a happy marriage, but treating the situation like an Italian Greyhound yields some delicious results, especially if you grab a fruity sour beer.
Ingredients:
- 40mL gin
- 30mL Campari
- 85mL fresh ruby red grapefruit juice
- Fruity sour beer to top
Scoop a bunch of ice into a pint glass and let it chill. Add gin, Campari and grapefruit juice to an ice-filled shaker and shake, shake, shake for about 15 seconds. Strain into your chilled paint glass, top with sour beer and garnish with grapefruit peel.
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