Beer as a mixer?

[tak29813]

I am quite fond of a float of Jameson in a pint of Guinness. Also, I have extended that theory to adding a splash of Scotch to a pint of Boddingtons Ale. My wife swears by Shantys. What other drinks do you make by using beer as a mixer? Any particularly good with the summer BBQ season?

[kolgrim]

I have some Friends that make "Michigan Lemonade." - 3-4 bottles not too distinctive beer, can of lemonade concentrate, half bottle of vodka. It does that trick on a hot summer afternoon. Pretty potent though.

[Faraway11]

Had something very tasty called "The Bull" this past weekend. Ice, a shot of white rum, a shot of lime juice, a shot of simple syrup, topped off with a couple ounces of beer, I couldn't see what kind the bartender was pouring in but it made the drink turn pinkish. Awesome, however, the kind of drink that might make me forget to wear my shoes home.

[Gary Soup]

Guinness and champagne, mixed half and half, is great, even for those of us who don't like champagne. I believe it is called a Black Velvet.

[grampart]

In the early days of Epcot, I drank too many Black Velvets at the Rose & Crown (a pub in "England"). I don't remember too much about the rest of the afternoon and I haven't had one since.

[AtetotheBar]

In Berlin, there is a local favorite known as Berliner Weiss, which consists of hefeweizen (wheat beer) mixed with flavored syrups ("mit schuss"). Very refreshing, very tasty, and very pretty (usually red or green).

[JessKidden]

Berliner Weisse, while also a beer made with wheat, is considered a different style of beer than "Hefeweizen" (or, what the site below prefers to just call Weissbier):

http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/Berliner_Weisse.html
http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/Hefeweizen.html

Different in both the proportion of wheat to barley and, in BW's case, the additional fermentation of the brew with lacto bacteria.

The Kindl brand had long been available (tho' not always easy to find) in the US but it's expensive (I just paid $14 for a six pack- a real drawback for an import with only 2.5 ABV) and, sadly, it was recently discontinued. (All the BKW I'm finding has a "Best By" date of 03-07- luckily the beer can last longer than the one year they give it).

A few other BW's are now being brought in by B. United-
http://www.bunitedint.com/portfolios/...
but I've yet to find them on the shelves.

Like many US "beer geeks", I prefer it "straight" - screw tradition (well, in this case...).

[grampart]

At a Sunday brunch about 40 years ago, I was served a "Brewdriver". Equal parts of fresh squeezed orange juice and Heineken. It wasn't bad but I still prefer aBloody Mary.

[therealbigtasty]

Brewdriver? That's probably the best name for a drink I've ever heard!

[erowan]

My brother makes a mean frozen margarita and tosses a corona in the blender for the finishing touch. Nice.

www.refinedrogue.com

[hatfiels]

My husband and I love what we call a 'Marga-vesa.' Basically you just do half margarita half beer (we've done Corona and Amstel light). It's actually refreshing and is a great summer/ outdoors drink.

[willdupre]

I was introduced to the beer margarita by my brother in law. its quite tastey and refreshing on a hot day.

6 oz. Light Tequila
6 oz. Corona (or any other beer but I found that stronger beers dont work as well, and I never stock any of the big commercial american beers, which would probably work well too)
6 oz. Frozen Limeade Concentrate
add ice cubes based on how strong you want it to be, then blend it up.

[Greg P.]

Has anyone tried the Spykes product from A-B? It comes in 4 flavors designed to be mixed with beer.

I have tried the hot chocolate and the hot melon. The hot chocolate was actually pretty good with beer. I didn't care for the melon. It tastes like a Jolly Rancher. They also have spicy mango and lime flavors but I haven't tried them.

[LStaff]

I would check them out if they made hop extracts to add to beer. ;-)

[sweetie]

Not a beer mixer, but I like it. I make an ice cream float with Guinness and vanilla ice cream. When I was in Jamaica they had an ice cream flavour called Devon Stout. Which I guess is suppose to be like stout ice cream. It was very good, so I stole the idea.

[sarahbeth]

Here is a couple...

Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout Float with Vanilla Ice Cream
Dirty Ho -- Hoegarden Wit Beer and Lindemans Framboise
Millermosa --- Miller Lite and Champagne
Sunset Minosa -- Leinenkugels Wheat Beer and Orange Juice

[jenni]

The Guinness Float sounds great. Guinness goes well with roasted marshmallows, so it makes sense pair it with vanilla ice cream :)

[buffetking]

I like to take Bell's Java Stout and mix it with slow-churned french vanilla ice cream. It would probably be even better with some sort of Starbucks coffee ice cream. Another favorite of mine is grape juice mixed into stout, but I like a lot of the flavored stouts.

[LStaff]

Sometimes I like to mix a little double ipa into my ipa's. Does that count as a beer mixer? ;-)

[mark]

an old fave that i infrequently indulge in nowadays is the submarino. similar to the boilermaker. drop a shot of tequila into a pint of mexican beer; drink.

[jenni]

I enjoy Radlers (lager with lemon lime soda) and Colaweisens (hefeweisen with Coke).

[tak29813]

Colaweisen? Wow, not one I would have thought of on my own.

Thanks all for the great ideas. I am quite interested in the punch bowl type drinks. I think they could be a lot of fun at a party. I had come into this thread expecting drinks with less alcohol. But as I see, and try, some of the recipes I know that a few of these make for short nights!

[jenni]

I wouldn't have thought of it either. In fact, when my husband told me about colaweizens, I thought he was insane. But, we went to Germany and he convinced me to order one, and it was delicious. I was really suprised. We make them at home now - usually with a hefeweisen from Gordon Biersch or Trader Joes (which I learned yesterday on this board is the exact same thing - LOL). Great on a warm day. And it definitely fits the criteria of a mixed beer drink that goes with summer barbecues.

[viperlush]

I second these suggestions from the Brickskellar. The Black Velvet is my favorite and surprisingly the Skip and go Naked isn't that bad.

Last summer my friends couldn't get enough Corona and Bacardi Limon. Instead of a lime just top off the bottle with the Barcardi. Nice way to add flavor and alcohol content.

[therealbigtasty]

I like to mix cheap wine and cheap beer, very cold, in a big glass!

make sure the wine's red and not tannic, more sweet.

Then you gots a party!

[Nate Uri]

In Japanese Izakaya (nice bars with great food and LOTS sake, shochu, and beer) they serve Asahi, Kirin, or Sapporo with various syrups like Lychee or Strawberry. This is all over ice mind you. I tried the Lychee beer and braced for impact.

It was really good. And girly.

During college I would mix a shot of Bourbon into High Life whenever I was stuck drinking that horsecrap. Tastes surprisingly good.Feels surprisingly bad the next day too.

[healthyscratch]

Used to drop a shot glass of Jack in a plastic cup of beer, the infamous college Boilermaker. But we weren't drinking for taste back then.

[xena]

At a home in Jamaica we were served cold Red Stripe mixed with rum. Maybe we were just high on Vacation Living but it tasted pretty good to us that wonderful, burning-hot afternoon.

[hitachino]

i second the michelada - i only use beer that i don't really like all that much on their own as a mixer (lagers in general, budweiser in particular)

[lilaholland]

For summer afternoons, I swear by the savory and delicious michelada (which goes by a few names and has many variations). You can make it with or without tequila, according to your preference.

Here's my version, made in a pint glass:

-lots of fresh lime juice
-splash of Tabasco or Tapatillo
-splash of Maggi seasoning sauce (if you don't have this, Worcestershire would be okay, but Maggi is better and can be found at Mexican grocery stores).
-tomato juice
-salt & freshly ground pepper
-Mexican beer (Tecate, Corona, Modelo, whatever you like)
-optional shot of your favorite tequila

Put the lime juice & other seasonings in your glass, then add tomato juice and mix. Add beer (and tequila, if you're using it) to fill the glass and adjust seasonings if neccessary. Throw in a couple ice cubes if you're feeling extra chilled out.

Some people make it without the tomato juice, but I feel that it's a neccessary component.

[piccola]

I recently tried this for the first time - what a revelation! I had it without the tomato juice, though, in a glass rimmed with salt and chili powder. YUM. My new summer drink.