Beer Cocktails

A cold beer on a hot summer day. It's hard to imagine a beer tasting better. Nothing wrong with trying though! And it seems the idea of beer cocktails is catching on.

Try some of these new trendy beer cocktails or some of the more classic variations of this entertaining staple.

Trendy and new

Michelada
Pour your beer into a glass filled with ice and add the juice of one small lemon. Add a dash of soy, Tabasco and Worcestershire. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. For some, a true Mexican Michelada is not complete without a shot of Tequila mixed in.

Booze Brews
USA Today reports that trendy New York bars are serving up beer and spirits – together- and offering drinks like the Raspberry Spiked Apple Ale made with both beer and raspberry liqueur.

The variations on this are only limited by your imagination (and maybe your taste buds). For example, the Orange Spiked Lager would be an ounce of an orange liqueur mixed in with your favorite lager and the Peach Spiked Brew; would be an ounce of peach flavored liqueur mixed in with a cold beer.

Isar water:
A wheat beer mixed with Blue Curaçao and apple or orange juice. We are not sure of the background on this one but it sounds interesting.

Classic beer cocktails

The Classic Shandy:
Background: Both the American Heritage Dictionary and UK legislation have defined the "shandy", short for shandygaff, as a mixture of beer and ginger beer, ginger ale or lemonade. This drink gives all the pleasures of beer with the refreshment of lemonade -- a tangy, tasty drink.

This old English tradition dates back to the 17th century. Although the origin is not clearly known, some believe that is was named after a local English pub where the beer was not of the best quality and was flavored with a sweet lemon mixture.

Fill a pilsner or beer mug with lager and top with ginger ale, ginger beer or lemonade. If you are a bit more adventurous, try a shandy with limeade. Don't be afraid to add ice to this drink. You can't do that with your beer.

Lager and lime:
Add a dash of lime juice or lime cordial to a light lager.

Snakebite:
Mix your favorite beer (usually a heavier beer, like stout, works well) half and half with cider.

Black Velvet:
Mix stout and champagne, half and half.

Beer Bloody Mary:
Mix beer and tomato juice, half and half. Add a dash of Tabasco and a dash of Worcestershire.

Red Eye:
Add a shot of tomato juice to any ale or lager (this cocktail is also known as Tomato Beer or a Red Rooster). If you add a splash of Tabasco, the drink becomes a Ruddy Mary.

Liverpool kiss:
Mix a dark beer with Cassis.

BeeSting:
Dark beer and orange juice.

Skip and go naked:
Combine beer, lemon juice and gin, with a dash of grenadine.

Broadway:
Popular in Japan, mixing beer and cola is known as a Broadway.

Caribbean Night:
Beer and an ounce of coffee liqueur.

South Wind:
Beer with a shot of melon liqueur.