A Frozen Margawifebeata, an Old Peculiar Fashioned or a SideCarLing anyone? Beer cocktails have so far failed to catch on among bartenders but is a trick being missed? WORDS: BEN McFARLAND PICTURES: MIKE DOHERTY
Innovation may be rife in the style bar arena but the mixologist's search for the eclectic and obscure has yet to stretch to beer.Beyond a shandy or a Black Velvet, beer cocktails rarely enter the spirit-addled consciousness of the cocktail maker and there are few bars willing to release the likes of pilsners, ales and fruit beers from the confines of the chiller and let them run riot over bar menus. Even the King of Cocktails, Dale De Groff, has hardly embraced the idea of using beer. In his book Craft of the Cocktail there are 500 different recipes but only one contains beer and, frankly, even Dale would concede it's hardly his most exciting. Called Red Beer, it consists of adding 50ml of tomato juice to a draught lager. Mention beer cocktails and a plethora ofsimilarly rudimentary beer-based concoctions will come to the fore such as the lager and lime, lager and blackcurrant and, not forgetting the student's favourite, the Snakebite.However, these are unlikely to cut the mustard at top-end outlets. Any self-respecting muddlers and shakers would sooner flog themselves with a knotted rope than add them to their drinks list. The opportunity to take beer cocktails beyond that of a glorified Top Deck is considerable however. There are more than 50 different classic beer styles available, all as complex in their aromas and flavours as any spirit or wine, and more than 100 different flavours ranging from the floral hoppyness of lagers and pilsners to the sweet, malty, caramel-laden tastes of darker ales."For beer to make its way into a cocktail maker's repertoire, it needs to really hold its own in the flavour stakes alongside spirits," says Simon Cooper, director of the renowned beer venues Cord Bar and Centro in Manchester's northern quarter. "There's a quality standard with spirits and cocktails that beer needs to meet - it's got to be more than just simply novelty value as that will quickly wear off."Budweiser Budvar is one brand that has pushed the beer cocktail boundaries more than most. On the cocktail list at the Hilton's Windows on the World Bar on Park Lane, London, there is a trio of Budvar cocktails that sit proudly alongside the usual spirit suspects. The Blonde Velvet, a blend of scotch, Drambuie and Budvar; the Budvar in Red, fresh strawberries, lime, Cachaca and sugar cane and the Mojito Fidel, a mojito topped up with lager not soda (just how Castro purportedly likes it) were all very well-balanced and Budvar's flavours, while noticeable, didn't ride roughshod over the nuances of the spirit nor disappear without trace. In both taste and appearance, all three undoubtedly surpassed many a spirit-based cocktail.The same, however, cannot be said of our next port of call. The switch from the top floor of the London Hilton to the basement in the nearby Toucan in Soho was as big a drop in quality as it was in height. I wish it didn't but the Toucan, Soho's shrine to Guinness, serves seven cocktails that all use the black stuff as their base with cameo roles provided by various addition including vodka, Tia Maria, coca-cola and cider. In a move that Flavour would just about live to regret, we opted for a tipple called the Red Witch. The barman's tip that it had never been ordered twice was borne out by a taste akin to sucking on Toilet Duck. The ingredients - Guinness, cider, Pernod and blackcurrant cordial - went together like Michael Jackson and babysitting, and represented a truly sordid side to beer cocktails.Our "beertail" trail thankfully moved swiftly on to Milk & Honey in the hope that the barstaff could successfully, and off the cuff, work their mixology magic with beer. The bartenders were furnished with several cans of Manns ale. Manns is recognised as the original mixer beer. A hundred years ago it was used to make ales more palatable and was often mixed with whisky to produce a Boilermaker. The idea, here, was for the low hopped, smoky, malty and sweet flavours to provide an alternative to the slighter tasting Proof Pilsner and Kolsch - the house beers at M&H.The drinks that stood out included the Manns Daisy, (Manns, lemon juice, sugar and Grand Marnier); Proof Pilsner and Campari; the Manns Match (cassis vodka, framboise and lemon juice over crushed ice topped up with Manns) and a nameless yet delicious tipple consisting of Porfidio tequila, Manns, Proof pilsner, crème de mure, framboise and muddled limes. Bartender Chris Jepson came up with further suggestions such as using Meantime's chocolate lager in an Espresso Martini or St.Peter's Elderflower beer in preference to just Elderflower cordial.With two positive experiences just about outweighing a truly distressing one, the final verdict was that, if used in the right way, the hop can, indeed, be hip.
A BIT OF HISTORY
Beer cocktails have got considerable previous, dating back hundreds of years, whether that bemixing different beers together or throwing them in with spirits. In the 18th century, for instance, the advent of porter came about as a direct response to London drinkers mixing brown ales with sweeter ales or pale ales. With porter, brewers managed to hit on the correct combination of malt, brewing and ageing and the style was an almost instant success.Pubs and taverns have traditionally been hotbeds of experimentation with beer as the chief protagonist. Primarily designed to disguise a dodgy pint, the recipes are not for the faint-hearted. Turkish Blood was a blend of English ale and red burgundy wine in equal measures. Purl or Dog's Nose was beer laced with gin and spices while Buttered Beer included spices, sugar, egg yolks and butter. They were at it across the pond too where beer-based colonial American potions were commonplace. The Calibogus was a mix of beer and rum served either hot or cold and a Marrathan added sugar to the mix. However, the most eye-watering and certainly not one for the timid, was the Rumfustian. This combined a quart of beer with a bottle of white wine or sherry, half a pint of gin, the yolks of 12 eggs, orange peel, nutmeg and sugar, sweetened further with, wait for it, a half pint of rum.
Whistle Hop Tour
Beer has some unlikely bedfellows around the world. In Japan, beer and cola is known as a Broadway while other beer-based treats include the Caribbean Night - a beer and coffee liqueur - and the South Wind - beer and melon liqueur. The Skip and Go Naked, meanwhile, is a US fraternity party classic made with beer, lemon juice and gin, and a dash of grenadine. In Canada you can drink a Bourbon Black & tan, a 300ml blend of oatmeal stout and brown ale fortified with a shot of Maker's Mark Bourbon. In Mexico, the Michelada - Corona Extra and lime juice served long over ice with a salt rim - is popular as is the Marea Rosa - a beer-inspired Bloody Mary complete with all the trimmings.The Germans drink their wheat beers with raspberry syrup (Berliner Weisse) and also enjoy them hot with lemon juice, laced with caraway schnapps or with a splash of fresh orange juice, cassis or grenadine.