CELEBRATE THE SUMMER WITH BRILLIANT BEER COCKTAILS

With the recent boom in craft beer, there’s never been a better time to get creative and add a little fizz to your cocktails. In honour of International Beer Day, we talk to Padraig Fox, General Manager at the innovative Open Gate Brewery in Dublin, to find out why beer cocktails are a must-have addition to your summer menu and offer a little drinkspiration to get you started.

Pushing the boundaries of beer

The Open Gate Brewery is the home of brewing experimentation and innovation at St. James’s Gate, where our team of Guinness brewers are given free rein to experiment and push the boundaries of beer. In the last two years, we’ve delivered over 50 new beers covering a wide range of flavours, from fruity IPAs to sweet stouts, which really come alive in cocktails.

Beer cocktails are a great way to introduce guests to different beer styles and showcase how versatile beer can be as an ingredient. We have a lot of fun creating new cocktails whenever a new beer goes on tap, and our colleagues in the spirits team are always on hand with their expertise to help develop new serves.

Beer cocktails through the years

Contrary to popular belief, beer cocktails aren’t a new invention. In fact, Guinness has been used as a cocktail ingredient for over 150 years! When Prince Albert passed away in 1861, the steward at Brooks Club in London ordered that even the champagne should be in mourning, dressed all in black, and so Guinness Extra Stout was added and the Black Velvet was born – or so the story goes! Guinness were at the forefront of beer cocktails in the early days of advertising, with a Black Satin (Guinness and tonic water) recommended as a refreshing drink on sunny days. In the 1950s, Guinness introduced a bottle label in the US that actually touted its merits as a mixer!

Some beers act as a great base, others provide a dash of flavour. A few widely available beer styles to consider are:

LAGER – The world’s most popular beer, lagers tend to be crisp, clean and effervescent with very low levels of bitterness. Lagers are great for cocktails where you want the other flavours to come to the fore.

IPA – Depending on the hops used in the IPA (India Pale Ale), you can get bitter notes, hints of grapefruit, citrus, pine, resinous and much more! An IPA will add some bitterness and tropical fruit flavours to your mix.

STOUT – Dark fruit, roast, chocolate, caramel, coffee – so many great flavours can be found in stouts that can add complexity and colour to a cocktail.

Of course, that’s just tip of the iceberg and there are many more beer styles you can choose from – the best part is experimenting with the countless flavours available! Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

Black Velvet

INGREDIENTS

100ml GUINNESS STOUT

100ml Chilled champagne

METHOD

Pour GUINNESS STOUT into a champagne flute

Top with chilled champagne

Stir gently

12.1g of alcohol* (according to ml of the serve)

Hop House Bellini

INGREDIENTS

20ml Peach puree

10ml SMIRNOFF NO. 21 VODKA

Hop House 13 (or any full-flavoured, fruity lager)

METHOD

Add peach puree and SMIRNOFF VODKA to a champagne glass

Gently top with Hop House 13 and serve

5.1g of alcohol* (according to ml of the serve)

Open Gate Posada

INGREDIENTS

35ml DON JULIO BLANCO TEQUILA

10ml Lime juice

Open Gate Brewery Citra IPA (or any citrusy IPA)

Pinch of salt

METHOD

Rim a highball glass by dipping glass in fresh lime juice and salt

Add tequila, lime juice, pinch of salt and top with Open Gate Brewery Citra IPA

12.6g of alcohol* (according to ml of the serve)

(*One standard drink contains 8g of alcohol)

Are you looking for more summer drinkspiration and exclusive recipes? Sign up to Diageo Bar Academy today for unlimited access.

Recommended for you: