10 beer cocktails to make with your own homebrew
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Once you've got a batch of your own in bottles the obvious thing to do is drink it, and fair enough, that's what it's for. But it's worth putting 2 or 3 bottles aside and treating the beer as an ingredient rather than the finished article, because beer mixes a lot better than people expect, and a stout in particular behaves like a mixer with the roast already built in.
None of these need a shaker or anything you don't already own. They need a beer you're proud of and something out of the pantry.
1. Stout over cider
Pour a sparkling cider into the glass first, then float your stout on top over the back of a spoon so the two sit in layers. The roast in the stout lands on the tart of the cider and you get both in the same mouthful. It's the one on this list most likely to convert somebody who says they don't like stout.
2. Red ale and cola
Half your amber or red ale, half cola, and a wedge of lime if you've got one. The malt in the ale and the caramel in the cola are doing the same job from two directions, so it works better than it has any right to.
3. Stout, whiskey and coffee liqueur
A shot of Irish whiskey and a splash of coffee liqueur into a glass of your own stout. It's a cold weather drink and it's rich enough that one is usually plenty.
4. Stout bloody mary
This is a red eye, and it's a genuinely good hangover breakfast. Your stout instead of the vodka, tomato juice, a shake of hot sauce, Worcestershire, and a squeeze of lemon. Celery stick or a pickled onion on top.
5. Shandy
Equal parts of your lager and lemonade, and that's it. The simplest thing on the list and still the one that gets drunk fastest on a hot afternoon, and it's a good use for a batch that came out heavier than you meant it to.
6. Stout margarita
Stay with me. A shot of tequila, a splash of orange liqueur, lime juice and your stout, over ice in a glass with a salted rim. The citrus cuts straight through the roast and it's a lot less strange in the mouth than it is on paper.
7. Stout float
A scoop of vanilla ice cream in a tall glass, your stout poured over it, and a drizzle of Irish cream if you're feeling generous. That one's dessert, and it's the one to make when somebody's brought their kids' ice cream to your place and left it in the freezer.
8. Ale and ginger beer
Your ale over ice, a shot of whiskey, and ginger beer to top it. Lime and mint if you can be bothered. The ginger and the malt work together well enough that it feels like cheating.
9. Stout and black cherry
Black cherry soda into your stout, over ice, in a tall glass. It's dark and a bit odd, and people keep going back for it.
10. Espresso stout
A shot of espresso poured into a chilled stout with a splash of vanilla syrup. It doubles down on the roast that's already in there, so it only works if your stout was roasty to start with.
A word on which beer to use
Use the batch you're happy with, not the one you're trying to hide. Mixing won't rescue a beer with a fault in it, it'll just spread the fault across two ingredients, and if your last batch came out with something off in it then that's a separate problem worth fixing first.
If you've got a version of any of these that beats mine, tell me in the shop. I'd rather find out I'm doing one of them the slow way than keep doing it the slow way.
Shop related products
- Coopers Original Stout 1.7kg. The stout behind most of this list.
- Coopers Original Lager 1.7kg. Crisp and clean, and the one for the shandy.
- Thomas Coopers Family Secret Amber Ale 1.7kg. Biscuity malt, which is what the cola is looking for.
- Coopers International Series Canadian Blonde 1.7kg. Light and easy, and it takes a mixer well.
Did you know we stock a fair bit of the brewing range in the shop that never makes it onto the website. The Coopers International Series Irish Stout kit, PET bottles by the carton with caps, crown seals in 100 and 250 packs, cappers and carbonation drops. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf.
The kits and the gear live in our homebrew collection, and Brewhilder will help you pick a kit if you're starting from nothing.
- 5 beer and food pairings to try with your homebrew
- Why a homemade pale ale suits fish and chips
- What makes homebrew beer taste off, and how to stop it
I'll be honest, I'm a shandy person, which I know disqualifies my opinion on the other 9.
Cheers,
Candeece
