United Nations of Beer

Beer Cocktails

by Andrew Schanel
(Beer Delegate, NJ, USA)

Would YOU drink beer cocktails?

Beer purists would frown upon a wedge of orange resting on the lip of a pint of Wit and scoff at the slice of lemon floating in a bath of Hefeweizen, but I disagree heartily with these naysayers. I believe that some situations beg for a foreign substance to be combined with beer.

Not so long ago I had a sort of revelation when it came to this subject. I picked up some Berliner Weisse at the local beer store and I had no clue what to expect, since I have never partaken in that particular style.

I figured it would be similar to a Bavarian Hefeweizen – which is, as I painfully discovered, not quite accurate. I cracked open the bottle, poured a pint and took one long sip. Before the last of this sip hit my throat, I felt my face contort and my body tighten and the urge to hurl a great spray of the most god-awful, mouth puckering sour liquid I've ever had the displeasure of tasting.

Sounds refreshing, eh? Now, I'm not one to waste beer, but I poured the rest of the bottle down the drain. I tried to validate this form of alcohol abuse by telling myself it was infected with some microorganism (actually there is a living bacteria in the beer that gives it the sourness) and I gave the other five bottles away to someone more appreciative than I.

After some research, I found that a Berliner Weisse is supposed to be sour and is traditionally served with raspberry or woodruff syrup as beer cocktails. So I had to try again. Several months passed and, after many stouts and porters, I found a place that serves Berliner Weisse on tap. This time I ordered it the right way, Mit Schuss.

I chose the woodruff syrup (This stuff is made from the woodruff plant and exported from Germany).

This pint was a sight to behold! It looked like a vase – a tall fluted glass, filled with the pale and cloudy beer and a neon-green slimy substance glowing from the bottom and oozing down the sides. Talk about beer cocktails: it looked radioactive.


I lifted the glass and took in the aroma of... marshmallows, perhaps... and then bracing myself, I took a gulp. It was spectacular! It didn't mask the flavor of the beer. The syrup did not become what I was drinking, but it enhanced it so much that It made it function as a drinkable beverage. And drinkable it was. It is a good thing that Berliner Weisse contains only about 3% ABV, because those beer cocktails were so damn addictive!

There are a few other instances when I like to mix beers or add something to them. As I mentioned, lemon is refreshing with a Hefeweizen and orange with Belgian style Wit. I’m also fond of the good old Black and Tan, which is usually a pint with Bass Ale on the bottom and Guinness on top. A twist on that classic is the Black and Blue, which substitutes Blue Moon beer for the Bass Ale. It tastes wonderful and looks pretty neat too.

Going even further with the whole Beer Cocktails thing, there is the Bethlehem Brew Works in Bethlehem, PA. They take this idea to a whole new level with their innovative beer recipes. Take for example the Steelworkers Oatmeal Stout with a shot of Espresso mixed in – it's absolutely breathtaking. Or the Valley Golden with a little dab of watermelon liqueur – it adds a nice touch.

Believe me, this place takes its beer very seriously. In addition to a fantastic array of their own brews like Hop Explosion IPA and Fegley's ESB, there is a separate downstairs café (Steelgaarden) with a huge Belgian beer list (over 100 selections). But, I digress...

Beer snobs take heed, there is nothing wrong with doing what tastes right!