I think I have seen the future and I don't like it. It's not that I think that I am a particular cask-hugging purist or anything but this trend popping up at two Toronto beer bars just seems wrong somehow:
At Bier Markt on the Esplanade, beer cocktails started to show up on the menu as a way to entice female drinkers, says general manager Robert Medal...These drinks provide something "beerish," Medal explains. But it's not just for the women. Beverage co-ordinator and bartender Jon Sayder says "you'd be surprised" how often guys order beer cocktails. Men tend to order Root Bier, a mix of Paulaner Hefe-Weizen beer, Kaluha, Galliano and a splash of cola. And the Biermosa, a mix of refreshing Blanche de Chambly and orange juice is actually quite good...My first reaction is GAACK!!! But Donavan has been studying the question and I really should be more receptive and remember that I have no issue mixing beers and that my illicit youth included "boilermakers" of stock ale and rye whiskey (a wee bit hearty in retrospect) as well as shandies or beer and tomato juice. But adding soda? Hefeweizen and Kaluha? The inhumanity of it all.The recipes are generally based on standard cocktails and have a limited number of ingredients. The Belgian fruit lambic beers lend well to mixing with spirits and juices, as do light-tasting, dry wheat beers. At Beerbistro on King St. W., they serve a pitcher of Quelque Chose Sangria ($24.95) made with Unibroue's cherry beer mixed with Cointreau, brandy, ginger ale and soda. Or you can try a Black Forest ($8.99), St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout with a shot of raspberry-flavoured Chambord. Bier Markt makes a similar cocktail, the Black Cherry ($5.60), with Guinness, cherry lambic BelleVue Kriek and cherry brandy.
GAACK!!! Can't help it.
Comments
Stephen Beaumont - August 13, 2007 11:04 am
I'm a believer, and in fact am responsible for most if not all of the cocktails at beerbistro. And coincidentally, I have a story outlining my beer cocktail philosophy as the feature at www.worldofbeer.com this very month.
Hefe, Kaluha and cola does sound rather rude, admittedly, but at the risk of sounding immodest, I think the Queque Chose "sangria" and the Green Devil I invented with Duvel (recipe at World of Beer) are pretty damn good. Hell, even the president of Duvel USA was ordering Green Devils when he last visited Toronto.
Alan - August 13, 2007 12:30 pm
Hi Stephen, I am really sharing my fears and prejudices as much as anything. Though that photo of Yeltsin is pure gold.
So maybe you have given me hope and maybe even the guts to try one of these. Remember that the whole sour beer studies thing started this way.
Stephen Beaumont - August 13, 2007 2:40 pm
Another one to try, especially when the weather turns this fall, is the Any Port in a Storm -- 2 ounces LBV port in 12 ounces of Imperial stout (I used Victory's Storm King when I developed it, hence the name.) Pour one and watch your fears and prejudices melt away...
Alan - August 13, 2007 4:29 pm
That triggers the memory of that O'Hanlon stout of earlier this year.
tedo - August 13, 2007 7:46 pm
Having Beer Cocktails is really not that new. When I was in Germany last year there was plenty of Beer mixed with Cola, or Beer mixed with Lemonade or beer mixed with lot's of other things. Not something I ever could stomach, and it may be new to North America, but its been around for a while in Europe.
Knut Albert - August 14, 2007 4:56 am
Yes, the Germans even have bottled mixes of cola/beer and lemonade/beer. But the fact that it has been around for a long time does not mean I have to like it. A slice of lemon in a wheat beer is about as far as I will go!
Boak - August 15, 2007 4:15 am
How do you feel about mulled beer? In Zakopane, Poland, a couple of bars offer this - it's the normal lager, but warmed with either a spicy mix or some raspberry juice.
It was actually very nice.
Alan - August 15, 2007 8:23 am
That is a good point. There were flips, punches and a drink called a bishop, too, greeting you in your 1700s UK inn. Maybe I need to start another category called "General Beer Bastardizations"...or maybe something else.
Ron Pattinson - August 16, 2007 9:24 am
I encountered a German cocktail whilst in Franconia recently - Pils, cola and two shots of kirsch (cherry schnapps) served in a litre mug. It was tooth-achingly sweet and totally disgusting.