International Beer Day, which falls on the first Friday in August, is described as a global celebration of beer that takes place in pubs, breweries, and back yards worldwide. Some beer purists might not be in favor of celebrating the occasion with “hoptails,” but we are. And we’ve collected some great beertails recipes that incorporate a variety of spirits and mixers.
We test drove some of the recipes; you can read about the results in the Cheers blog. Not all made the cut: The Franca Bomb (a shot of Fernet Branca dropped into a glass of Framboise Lambic), for instance, was a bit of a bomb. Not the worst thing the tasters ever had, but most agreed it’s probably not something they’d try again.
Here are seven beer cocktails to try. Happy Beer Day!
Rye Not
1 oz. Templeton Rye Whiskey
½ oz. Campari
4 oz. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
½ oz. lemon juice
In a double rocks glass, combine rye whiskey, Campari and lemon juice. Add ice and top with pale ale.
Communications agency The Baddish Group, with help from Templeton’s national brand manager Michael Killmer and Fernet Branca’s Phil Joffery, developed this cocktail, name courtesy of the Cheers Tasting Panel.
A Beach Somewhere
3 ½ oz. Wheat ale
1 oz. Cointreau
½ oz. Campari
Combine ingredients in a chilled goblet.
Andy Friedrich, bartender at the Bristol Bar and Grille in Louisville, KY, developed this cocktail.
Music City Smoke
1 Bottle of Yazoo Sue Imperial Smoked Porter
1 Shot of Corsair Triple Smoke Whiskey
Brown sugar
Rim one half of a chilled pint glass with brown sugar, pour beer, add whiskey
Ryan Peck, sommelier at Stock-Yard Restaurant in Nashville, TN, created this recipe.
Georgia on My Mind
1/3 cup Lightly packed mint leaves
12 oz. Four Roses Bourbon
4 oz. Peach liqueur
4 oz. Fresh lemon juice
2 oz. Maple syrup
24 oz. Chilled apricot or peach ale
Combine ingredients in pitcher. Stir and pour into glasses filled with ice.
Patricia Richards, head mixologist at the Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas, created this recipe.
Briar Patch
1 oz. Cointreau
½ oz. Fresh lemon juice
3 Raspberries
4-5 oz. Raspberry lambic beer
Add Cointreau, lemon juice, raspberries and ice to a mixing glass. Shake and fine-strain over ice in a highball glass. Top with beer and garnish with a pick of raspberries.
Kyle Ford, mixologist for Cointreau, created this recipe.
The Black Sea
1 oz. Templeton Rye Whiskey
½ oz. Fernet Branca
½ oz. Chocolate Syrup
Ballast Point Sea Monster Imperial Stout
In a mixing glass with ice, shake whiskey, Fernet Branca and chocolate syrup, strain and fill with stout. Garnish with shaved chocolate and pinch of sea salt.
Andrew Pollard, beverage development specialist for Wirtz Beverage, created this recipe.
2 oz. IPA
1 oz. Scorpion Reposado mezcal
½ oz. Solerno blood orange liqueur
¼ oz. Fresh lime juice
¼ oz. Agave nectar
2 dashes Hellfire shrub bitters
Combine IPA, mezcal, blood orange liqueur, lime juice and agave in a cocktail shaker. Stir out carbonation slightly before shaking, then strain into chilled martini glass. Top off with Hellfire shrub bitters.
Troy Clarke, director of food and beverage at the Royal Sonesta hotel in Cambridge, MA, created this beer cocktail.
Cerveza Rosa
1 oz. Casa Noble Crystal tequila
1 oz. Art in the Age Rhubarb Tea liqueur
1 oz. Fresh lime juice
1 oz. Monin rose syrup
Dash egg white
Stiegl grapefruit radler (or can use equal parts grapefruit soda and lager)
Combine all ingredients except beer in a mixing glass with ice, shake vigorously. Strain over beer that has been previously poured in a chilled glass.
Andrew Pollard, beverage development specialist for Wirtz Beverage, created this recipe.