Beer cocktails are a growing trend in a cocktail town that’s getting more and more turned on to craft beer. Back in 2009, Cole Newton, owner of Twelve Mile Limit and new bar manager at Square Root, was working at Coquette, he recalls, when one of their seasonal Collins cocktails used beer for the fizzy mouthfeel that is the defining characteristic of a Collins. The recipe for the Coquette Collins (Winter 2009) is:
- 1 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
- 0.25 oz Belle de Brillet Pear liqueur
- 3 drops Fee Brothers Barrel-Aged Old-Fashioned Bitters
- 0.5 oz lemon juice
- 0.5 oz simple syrup
- 2 oz St. Ambroise Apricot Wheat Ale
Build in Collins glass, fill with ice, stir lightly, garnish with lemon wedge, serve with straw.
Read on to see how far the beer cocktail has come over the last five years.
Araña
3242 Magazine St, 894-1233
Araña serves up the classic Mexican cocktail, the Michelada, which is made with beer, lime juice, tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, spices and peppers. It’s served in a chilled, spice-rimmed glass. Many think of it as a Bloody Mary with beer instead of vodka!
Avenue Pub
1732 St. Charles Ave, 586-9243
Owner Polly Watts describes their new Quebec 75 cocktail as “sort of a beer version of a French 75.”
The Quebec 75
- 1/2 oz rye whiskey or high rye bourbon, like Four Roses Single Barrel
- Blood orange simple syrup
- Blanche de Chambly to top
- Pour into a tall 16-oz tulip glass.
Borgne
601 Loyola Ave, 613-3860
Breaking Cane
- 1 oz Sazerac Rye Whiskey
- 9 oz Parish Brewing Company’s Canebrake wheat beer
- 0.5 oz Steen’s Cane Syrup
- 3 drops Memphis BBQ Bitters
Pour rye whiskey into a chilled 10-oz beer glass. Add beer almost to top of glass. Add cane syrup and bitters. Gently stir. Garnish with bacon and/or pork rind garnish (optional).
Cochon
930 Tchoupitoulas St, 588-2123
The Charlie Bird
- 1 oz Plantation 5-Year Rum
- 1 oz Dry Curaçao
- 0.5 oz Baska Snaps
- 1 squeeze lemon juice
- Float of Miller High Life
In a shaker tin with ice, combine rum, Curaçao, bitters and lemon juice. Shake vigorously. Strain into Collins glass over fresh ice and top off with beer.
Crescent City Brewhouse
527 Decatur St, 522-0571
Crescent City Brewhouse just rolled out a menu of cocktails that feature their beer brewed on the premises. Their “beertail” menu includes a classic Shandy with their Pilsner (as well as a version where you can add an extra shot of flavored vodka); the Cajun Michelada, which is their Red Stallion beer combined with tomato juice and Cajun spices (like a beer Bloody Mary); the Weissdriver, with the brewery's Weiss wheat beer, orange juice and triple sec; the Raspberry Wheat, which combines Weiss wheat beer with Chambord; and the Chocolate Hazelnut, a Black Forest Schwarzbier–based beertail combined with Frangelico and White Crème de Cacao for an after-dinner offering.
Hard Rock Cafe New Orleans
125 Bourbon St, 529-5617
The Hard Rock Cafe has rolled out a new beverage menu that focuses on the concept of sweet and savory, with cocktail ingredients like spiced brown sugar, salted caramel, chocolate and even bacon.
Twist & Shout
- 2 oz Guinness Draught
- 1 oz Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum
- 0.5 oz Dark Crème de Cacao
- 0.5 oz chocolate syrup
- 0.5 oz Monin Salted Caramel Syrup
- 2 scoops vanilla ice cream
Blend all ingredients together and garnish with whipped cream, caramel syrup, chocolate syrup and a spoonful of extra-crispy bacon crumbles.
Latitude 29
321 N. Peters St, 609-3811
For the Times-Picayune fried chicken competition in summer 2014, Latitude 29 owner Jeff “Beachbum” Berry created a beer cocktail called Davy Jones' Lager, with lime juice, Curaçao, Angostura bitters, a little Chairman's Reserve rum from St. Lucia and a secret syrup, topped with Kirin Ichiban beer. It’s now on the menu at Latitude 29’s tiki bar.
Maurepas
3200 Burgundy St, 267-0072
Cocktail chief Lauren Myerscough showcases her beer cocktail on Maurepas’s brunch menu. Grandpa's Medicine is a spiced bourbon cocktail with cold brewed coffee, topped with locally brewed 40 Arpent Milk Stout.
Grandpa's Medicine
- 1.5 oz Old Grandad 100 Proof Bonded Bourbon
- 0.5 oz simple syrup
- 2 oz cold brewed coffee
Shake with ice. Strain into Irish coffee glass. Top with 40 Arpent Milk Stout.
Noodle & Pie
741 State St, 252-9431
Chef Brian Armour offers a Beer Gin(ger) Fizz with fresh ginger, mint, Asahi beer, ginger beer and sake on the ramen shop’s menu.
Beer Gin(ger) Fizz
- 4 to 6 mint leaves
- 2 ⅛-inch slices of peeled fresh ginger
- Splash simple syrup
- 1 oz Junmai Sake
- 2 oz Asahi Super Dry
- 1 oz ginger beer
Muddle mint and fresh ginger with simple syrup in a pint glass. Fill with ice and pour in sake, beer and ginger beer. Stir well and garnish with mint leaves and orange slice. (Can be made without sake: Substitute 1 extra oz of Asahi Super Dry.)
Pizza Domenica
4933 Magazine St, 301-4978
General Manager Stephen Jeffcoat offers a brunch “birrmosa” on Saturdays and Sundays. It’s Baladin Super Floreale (a dry hopped Belgian-style pale ale from Italy) and fresh-squeezed OJ. In addition, Pizza Domenica offers three shandy variations. Jeffcoat says, “All three are very different but offer an amazing array of flavor. Our most popular is the Southern Moon, which is Georgia Moon Peach moonshine, lemon juice and Parish Canebrake wheat beer. The second is the Blue Grass Snake with Buffalo Trace Bourbon, honey, and Yalobusha Copperhead amber ale. And the third is my favorite—The Valtellina, with Braulio Amaro, thyme and Super Baladin.”
SoBou
310 Chartres St, 552-4095
Head bartender Abigail Gullo has a beer cocktail based on Sylvain’s Table Tennis (a Pimm’s Cup variation topped with Hitachino Nest White Ale) called the Ping Pong: Damson Plum gin liqueur with ginger syrup, lemon, lime and orange, topped with NOLA Brewing’s 7th Street Wheat.
Tivoli & Lee
936 St. Charles Ave, 962-0909
The Black Velvet, on Tivoli & Lee’s brunch menu, is a smooth and hearty cocktail with a fizzy and exciting finish. It’s a perfect accompaniment for the change in weather and pairs nicely with Tivoli & Lee’s Sloppy General Benedict or Andouille Corndogs, offered during their weekend brunch.
Black Velvet
- 4 oz Guinness
- 4 oz Champagne
- Blend ingredients together and stir.
