8 Craft Beer Cocktails for New Year Eve

admin

11 years ago

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These craft beer cocktails are great for any celebration, but especially for ringing in the new year with some adult friends!

If you know us then you know that we enjoy the occasional adult beverage. Not too many, but with the right food and on the right day, a well crafted drink really hits the spot. I feel the same way about coffee but that’s a post for another time.

Heather has been hinting for a while that she wants to expand the site a little to include my craft beer tasting notes. I have a bit of a collection of unique beer caps right now, several hundred individual ones at this moment ,as a matter of fact. No two are the same. I only need about fifteen more to finish a project I am working on. I rarely consume a beer that I haven’t vetted with Beer Advocate. That’s just the way I am.

Disclaimer: I am a Hophead. I speak IPA. I do not purposely drink “light” beer. I think Arrogant Bastard Ale coined a phrase that is perfect for this post- “Fizzy yellow beer is for Wussies”. Heather prefers dry white wine and in the last few months she has been on a real dry mead and hard cider kick. Briefly, she was accompanying me to breweries to expand her palate. That was a short lived experience. She seems to gravitate towards lighter tasting beers like cream ales and some wheats.

Did I mention I am a hophead? Having said this, you will see that in my top 8 craft beer cocktails, I only use one IPA. Not just anything blends well with them.

Lastly, I have a pretty specific collection of glasses for each type of beer I enjoy just as Heather has a closely guarded lineup of Riedel wine glasses. Please forgive our photo staging as I am neither a photographer nor a food writer like my lovely and talented wife. Did I mention she is standing over my shoulder supervising this post?

Here is a collection of my 8 favorite craft beer cocktails.

Enjoy. Tell me what you think and if you are in a beer rut, like many of my guy friends, then try one of these. Your beverage of choice does not have to have a set of mountains on the can to be good. Expand your taste horizons a bit. It’s time to grow up, we are not in college anymore!

Inspired by Puppy Love at New Day

Cherry Fizz

2 parts Washingtons Folly from New Day Meadery

1 part ginger ale

dash of vanilla

Lightly shake with ice, strain into a glass and add a few cherries for garnish

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Use St-Germain for this, don’t skip it. You can buy a small bottle at most liquor stores for around five dollars

Blackberry Burst

2 oz blackberry puree (puree of fresh or frozen berries-strained)

1 1/2 oz good quality gin

3/4 oz St-Germain elderflower liqueur

1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

4 oz IPA

Fill a shaker half way with ice. Add all but the IPA. Shake gently and strain into a glass. Top off with the IPA.

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The Curtis

2 oz whiskey

1 oz fresh lime juice

10 oz PBR or light lager

limes for garnish

Add ice to a shaker, add ingredients and shake lightly. Strain into a glass.

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You all remember when you got your first paycheck and you wanted to impress your girlfriend with a ‘cocktail’ well this drink is still good. Just class is up a bit with a nicer glass and vodka that isn’t from the bottom shelf of the shop and save.