Bartenders hop up cocktail flavors with beer
Decisions can be difficult: aisle or window? Scallops or chicken? Go to law school and buy a condo or join a nomadic tribe of goatherds and wander the distant plains? When ordering a drink, the decision is usually straightforward: beer or a cocktail (we'll conveniently ignore wine for now) but in a number of bars and restaurants, the decision is getting easier as bartenders blur the lines between beer and spirits by serving drinks that combine the two.
Of course, it doesn't hurt that beer has plenty to offer adventurous bartenders. "Very simply, (beer is) another flavor, and it's a diverse flavor at that," says Stephen Beaumont, a Toronto beer writer. "I see bartenders get excited all the time about new ingredients that come their way - new spirits, new liqueurs, new flavors - and beer has a multitude of different flavors. It's probably the most diverse alcoholic beverage in terms of its flavor profiles, so it offers opportunity."
Typically when beer shows up in the company of spirits, it's either as an accompaniment for the stronger stuff - as with a classic "beer and a shot" boilermaker - or as a vehicle, as in the boilermaker's rougher cousin, the depth charge, in which the shot of spirits (usually whiskey) is plunked directly into the beer. But beer-centric drinks aren't all about maximum impact - they do have an elegant side. For the late-winter menu at Bacar, bar manager Carlos Yturria prepares a Black Sails by muddling preserved cherries in Venezuelan rum and topping the mixture with a robust doppelbock. Beaumont has his own drink called the Green Devil, which spikes the silky Belgian beer Duvel with gin and a trace of absinthe.
While these drinks feature beer as the star of the show (in terms of volume if not necessarily horsepower), another class of drinks incorporates smaller amounts of beer, making it part of an ensemble cast. These drinks place beer on a more-or-less even footing with spirits, to add more subtle flavor notes to a cocktail and bring additional characteristics that other ingredients just can't provide.
"There was a Champagne cocktail craze a few years ago, where everybody was making French 75s and Old Cubans, and I think this is an extension of that," says Eben Freeman, bar manager at Tailor in New York. Freeman says that just as Champagne lends a way to add effervescence to a drink without watering it down, beer contributes many of the same properties, with the added benefit of a world of new flavor options. "If you're versed and happy with the effects you get with Champagne, there's a wider palette of flavors you have if you use beer to the same effect," he says.
At Tailor, Freeman prepares a beer-inflected variation on the classic Scotch-based Blood and Sand. In lieu of the cocktail's typical utilization of Cherry Heering liqueur to add a sweet, fruity flavor, Freeman uses a cherry ale; after working with beers such as Redbach from Belgium and Quelque Chose from the Canadian brewer Unibroue, Freeman settled on Echt Kriek, a Belgian brown ale brewed with cherries. The beer adds a subtle bitter note and greater depth to what could otherwise be a semisweet cocktail; this effect is further enhanced by topping the drink with a head of orange-juice foam.
The preference for Belgian beer among bartenders is no coincidence. Frequently cited for their depth of flavor and gentle aromas, Belgian beers also typically have an acidity that helps the beer complement, rather than clash with, other ingredients in the glass. "White ales and Belgian beers are going to bring a more floral quality that you can use and pair with (spirits such as) gin and tequila," Yturria says. "Pilsners and lagers, not so much, because you're watering your drink down, and they're bitter; it'll taste like flat beer. I like to use beers that have a little more structure, more weight and viscosity."
While harder to work with, there's also room in the mixing glass for the bitter flavors and pungent aromatics of crisper, hoppier beers - such as the India pale ales that enjoy a certain popularity among West Coast microbrewers. "Hoppy beers do present a great opportunity, but it's something that takes a lot of getting used to," Beaumont says. "Bitterness is a very difficult flavor profile to work with. I think that things like IPAs and double IPAs pose a great challenge, as well as a great opportunity."
Bartenders at Range seize this opportunity with a drink called the Strange Brew. Composed of gin, lemon juice and elderflower liqueur that have been mixed with fresh pineapple, the drink is topped with an ounce of India pale ale, creating a crisp and slightly bitter, though well-balanced combination.
"Two of our previous bartenders, Thomas Waugh and Mike La Freniere, created this cocktail as one of our cocktails of the day in hopes of blowing out one of the kegs for a beer change," says bar manager Brooke Arthur. "It was so popular that night that we put it on the menu." While not featured on the restaurant's current cocktail menu, the Strange Brew is still served at Range. "It's kind of my go-to (drink) when someone wants something cool and different," Arthur says.
Other cocktail menus around the city and the country are acknowledging beer's role as a cocktail ingredient. At Alembic on Haight Street, the Vice Grip is a mixture of a rum-based liqueur and Italian frizzante wine topped with a porter foam. At PDT in New York, the autumn bar menu regularly features the Great Pumpkin, a rye and apple brandy drink given seasonal resonance with Southampton Pumpkin Ale. In Seattle, Vessel bartender Zane Harris makes unique liqueurs by condensing, sweetening and fortifying beers ranging from fruity Belgian lambics to ultra-hoppy IPAs; the lambic liqueurs are used as creative substitutes for other fruit liqueurs, and the IPA liqueur adds an engaging floral bitterness to the Strike Anywhere, a margarita offshoot made with reposado Tequila.
While short of a full-fledged trend, beer is starting to expand beyond the stein and into the mixing glass. For beer lovers such as Beaumont, such a shift can't come too soon.
"I think it's just a matter of bartenders getting their brains around a new flavor that can be used," Beaumont says. "I think the barrier between us seeing more good beer cocktails and not is simply one of perception."
Strange Brew
Makes 1 drink
From Range in San Francisco.
* 2 medium chunks fresh pineapple
* 1 1/2 ounces Tanqueray 10 gin
* 3/4 ounce St. Germain Elderflower liqueur
* 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
* 1 ounce India pale ale
* -- Sprig of fresh mint
Instructions: In a cocktail shaker, muddle the pineapple then add gin, elderflower liqueur and lemon juice. Shake well with ice and strain into a pilsner glass filled with crushed ice. Top off with India pale ale. Garnish with a sprig of mint.
The Great Pumpkin
Makes 1 drink
From PDT in New York.
* 1 ounce 100-proof rye whiskey
* 1 ounce Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
* 1/2 ounce Grade B Maple Syrup
* 2 ounces pumpkin ale (such as Southampton)
* 1 whole egg
* -- Ground nutmeg
Instructions: Combine all ingredients except the nutmeg in a cocktail shaker and shake without ice to aerate the egg. Add ice and shake well; strain into a fizz or small collins glass. Garnish with ground nutmeg.
Decisions can be difficult: aisle or window? Scallops or chicken? Go to law school and buy a condo or join a nomadic tribe of goatherds and wander the distant plains? When ordering a drink, the decision is usually straightforward: beer or a cocktail (we'll conveniently ignore wine for now) but in a number of bars and restaurants, the decision is getting easier as bartenders blur the lines between beer and spirits by serving drinks that combine the two.
Of course, it doesn't hurt that beer has plenty to offer adventurous bartenders. "Very simply, (beer is) another flavor, and it's a diverse flavor at that," says Stephen Beaumont, a Toronto beer writer. "I see bartenders get excited all the time about new ingredients that come their way - new spirits, new liqueurs, new flavors - and beer has a multitude of different flavors. It's probably the most diverse alcoholic beverage in terms of its flavor profiles, so it offers opportunity."
Typically when beer shows up in the company of spirits, it's either as an accompaniment for the stronger stuff - as with a classic "beer and a shot" boilermaker - or as a vehicle, as in the boilermaker's rougher cousin, the depth charge, in which the shot of spirits (usually whiskey) is plunked directly into the beer. But beer-centric drinks aren't all about maximum impact - they do have an elegant side. For the late-winter menu at Bacar, bar manager Carlos Yturria prepares a Black Sails by muddling preserved cherries in Venezuelan rum and topping the mixture with a robust doppelbock. Beaumont has his own drink called the Green Devil, which spikes the silky Belgian beer Duvel with gin and a trace of absinthe.
While these drinks feature beer as the star of the show (in terms of volume if not necessarily horsepower), another class of drinks incorporates smaller amounts of beer, making it part of an ensemble cast. These drinks place beer on a more-or-less even footing with spirits, to add more subtle flavor notes to a cocktail and bring additional characteristics that other ingredients just can't provide.
"There was a Champagne cocktail craze a few years ago, where everybody was making French 75s and Old Cubans, and I think this is an extension of that," says Eben Freeman, bar manager at Tailor in New York. Freeman says that just as Champagne lends a way to add effervescence to a drink without watering it down, beer contributes many of the same properties, with the added benefit of a world of new flavor options. "If you're versed and happy with the effects you get with Champagne, there's a wider palette of flavors you have if you use beer to the same effect," he says.
At Tailor, Freeman prepares a beer-inflected variation on the classic Scotch-based Blood and Sand. In lieu of the cocktail's typical utilization of Cherry Heering liqueur to add a sweet, fruity flavor, Freeman uses a cherry ale; after working with beers such as Redbach from Belgium and Quelque Chose from the Canadian brewer Unibroue, Freeman settled on Echt Kriek, a Belgian brown ale brewed with cherries. The beer adds a subtle bitter note and greater depth to what could otherwise be a semisweet cocktail; this effect is further enhanced by topping the drink with a head of orange-juice foam.
The preference for Belgian beer among bartenders is no coincidence. Frequently cited for their depth of flavor and gentle aromas, Belgian beers also typically have an acidity that helps the beer complement, rather than clash with, other ingredients in the glass. "White ales and Belgian beers are going to bring a more floral quality that you can use and pair with (spirits such as) gin and tequila," Yturria says. "Pilsners and lagers, not so much, because you're watering your drink down, and they're bitter; it'll taste like flat beer. I like to use beers that have a little more structure, more weight and viscosity."
While harder to work with, there's also room in the mixing glass for the bitter flavors and pungent aromatics of crisper, hoppier beers - such as the India pale ales that enjoy a certain popularity among West Coast microbrewers. "Hoppy beers do present a great opportunity, but it's something that takes a lot of getting used to," Beaumont says. "Bitterness is a very difficult flavor profile to work with. I think that things like IPAs and double IPAs pose a great challenge, as well as a great opportunity."
Bartenders at Range seize this opportunity with a drink called the Strange Brew. Composed of gin, lemon juice and elderflower liqueur that have been mixed with fresh pineapple, the drink is topped with an ounce of India pale ale, creating a crisp and slightly bitter, though well-balanced combination.
"Two of our previous bartenders, Thomas Waugh and Mike La Freniere, created this cocktail as one of our cocktails of the day in hopes of blowing out one of the kegs for a beer change," says bar manager Brooke Arthur. "It was so popular that night that we put it on the menu." While not featured on the restaurant's current cocktail menu, the Strange Brew is still served at Range. "It's kind of my go-to (drink) when someone wants something cool and different," Arthur says.
Other cocktail menus around the city and the country are acknowledging beer's role as a cocktail ingredient. At Alembic on Haight Street, the Vice Grip is a mixture of a rum-based liqueur and Italian frizzante wine topped with a porter foam. At PDT in New York, the autumn bar menu regularly features the Great Pumpkin, a rye and apple brandy drink given seasonal resonance with Southampton Pumpkin Ale. In Seattle, Vessel bartender Zane Harris makes unique liqueurs by condensing, sweetening and fortifying beers ranging from fruity Belgian lambics to ultra-hoppy IPAs; the lambic liqueurs are used as creative substitutes for other fruit liqueurs, and the IPA liqueur adds an engaging floral bitterness to the Strike Anywhere, a margarita offshoot made with reposado Tequila.
While short of a full-fledged trend, beer is starting to expand beyond the stein and into the mixing glass. For beer lovers such as Beaumont, such a shift can't come too soon.
"I think it's just a matter of bartenders getting their brains around a new flavor that can be used," Beaumont says. "I think the barrier between us seeing more good beer cocktails and not is simply one of perception."
Strange Brew
Makes 1 drink
From Range in San Francisco.
* 2 medium chunks fresh pineapple
* 1 1/2 ounces Tanqueray 10 gin
* 3/4 ounce St. Germain Elderflower liqueur
* 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
* 1 ounce India pale ale
* -- Sprig of fresh mint
Instructions: In a cocktail shaker, muddle the pineapple then add gin, elderflower liqueur and lemon juice. Shake well with ice and strain into a pilsner glass filled with crushed ice. Top off with India pale ale. Garnish with a sprig of mint.
The Great Pumpkin
Makes 1 drink
From PDT in New York.
* 1 ounce 100-proof rye whiskey
* 1 ounce Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
* 1/2 ounce Grade B Maple Syrup
* 2 ounces pumpkin ale (such as Southampton)
* 1 whole egg
* -- Ground nutmeg
Instructions: Combine all ingredients except the nutmeg in a cocktail shaker and shake without ice to aerate the egg. Add ice and shake well; strain into a fizz or small collins glass. Garnish with ground nutmeg.
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Labels: Alcohol
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