TDN: Beer Wrap-Up!

On Thursday in the Mixoloseum chat room, the theme was beer cocktails and the energy level was rather high. Perhaps because beer is such a fun cocktail ingredient to play with as it imparts a wide variety of malt, roast, floral, bitter, sour, and funky notes depending on what style is utilized. And perhaps because this Thursday Drink Night was a few days before the Mixology Monday: Beer event and some of the participants wanted to craft a recipe for that. Here are some fine examples of the drinks that were made last week:

KeithP of the Speakista started things off with the Mambo No. 5 using a stout float for both carbonating and adding a rich malty note to complement the sherry and Meletti amaro. I found it interesting that Keith utilized a double gin style base akin to what is often done in the rum world, and their botanicals probably complement most stouts’ hops rather well.
Mambo No.5
• 1 1/2 oz Old Tom Gin
• 1 oz London Dry Gin
• 1/2 oz Solera Sherry
• 1/2 oz Meletti
• 1 tsp Rich Simple Syrup (2:1)
Prepare the drink Julep-style with crushed ice, top with 2 oz of stout, and add a straw.

Ed of the Wordsmithing Pantagruel blog contributed a few good recipes to this event. The one I liked the most was the Bruges Sling that complemented a cherry Lambic beer with fruit notes from lemon juice, Grand Marnier, and orange bitters and spice notes from Bénédictine, Angostura, and gin. While your garden might not have pineapple sage and pineapple mint like Ed’s, perhaps a nice regular mint sprig would do the job in a pinch! Read about his other drinks of the night on his post.

Bruges Sling
• 2 oz Gin
• 1/2 oz Bénédictine
• 1/4 oz Grand Marnier
• 1 oz Lemon Juice
• 2 dash Regan’s Orange Bitters
• 2 dash Angostura Bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a tall glass. Top with 2 1/2 oz Kriek Lambic. Garnish with a sprig each of pineapple sage and pineapple mint and add a lemon wedge.

Dan Chadwick of Kindred Cocktails brought together the magical combination of Scotch and Cynar and lightened the drink with a bit of pale ale. Between the malt notes of the beer working with the Scotch and the hops complementing the Cynar botanical notes, the pale ale far exceeds what soda water could have done to this recipe.
Choke Let Malt
• 1 oz Scotch
• 1 oz Cynar
• 1 dash Aromatic Bitters
Build on ice in a rocks or highball glass. Top with 2 oz dry pale ale.

A Drinker’s Peace was another multiple drink contributor that night. My favorite was his Rosehops which couples floral notes from hibiscus syrup and Bittermens Burlesque Bitters with hops notes from hopped bitters and Indian Pale Ale. The aroma of the grapefruit garnish does a fine job preparing the tongue for the IPA and other ingredients. Perhaps using Hendrick’s, Berkshire’s Ethereal, or North Shore for the gin might even tie in some bonus floral elements.
Rosehops
• 1 oz Gin
• 1 oz Lillet
• 1 tsp Hibiscus Syrup
• 6 drop Bittermens Burlesque Bitters
• 1 tsp Aromatic Hop Bitters (sub Bittermens Grapefruit)
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with IPA beer and garnish with a grapefruit slice.

Sunny and Rummy also used the funky and fruit notes of a Lambic, except that he chose an apple instead of a cherry one. Spice notes from ginger liqueur and rich ones from Cognac and maple syrup round out his take on the classic French 75 champagne cocktail.
Flemish 75
• 1 1/2 oz Cognac
• 1/2 oz Domaine de Canton
• 1/4 oz Maple Syrup
Shake with ice and strain into a champagne flute. Top Lindeman’s Pomme Lambic.

Finally, Zach Pearson presented a few drinks. The one I liked the best was the Black and Mild that utilized Compass Box’s Orangerie for some smoke, malt, and fruit peel flavors to tie together the orange juice and dark beer elements in the drink. A little richness and strength from Cognac and spice from Boker’s Bitters, and the Black and Mild seems like a tasty treat!
The Black and Mild
• 1 oz Cognac
• 3/4 oz Compass Box Orangerie
• 1/2 oz Orange Juice
• 1 dash Boker’s Bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a highball glass. Top with 4oz Jester King Commercial Suicide (or another dark, English mild).

Go see the rest of the drinks on the Mixoloseum Twitter including recipes from TDN alums Dr. Bamboo, SeanMike (a/k/a HighwayStar), and myself (Frederic of CocktailVirgin). And check the Mixology Monday: Beer wrap up post later in the week (perhaps by Wednesday night or Thursday) on CocktailVirgin.