Beer Cocktails!

After reading an article in Chilled magazine I wanted to share some new recipes with you!! These sound great for beating this Texas heat!!

"These cocktails can easily be made at home. Here are some tips from Kyle Ford on crafting beer cocktails with Cointreau:

• Witbier, Hefeweizen, and other wheat beers love citrus.  Adding 1 oz. of Cointreau with 1 oz. of fresh lemon juice gives you a simple, yet refined recipe for a delicious shandy.
• Explore Lambic beers.  Crafted with different fruits, this tart style of beer is perfect for pairing with Cointreau and fresh fruit.
• Pay attention to your ingredients.  Balance is key in any cocktail.  When using multiple acidic ingredients, you’ll want the sweeter notes to be more prominent.  For instance, in the Briar Patch cocktail, lambic beer and fresh raspberries are very tart.  Where I would normally use an ounce of fresh lemon juice in a beer cocktail, I scaled back to only a half-ounce.  This creates a more palatable drink and allows the Cointreau to balance the drink.
• Don’t overdo it. 1 oz. of Cointreau is all you need to properly sweeten and stiffen the drink.  Keep in mind that you are finishing the cocktail with 4-5 oz. of beer, which brings additional alcohol.
• Add the beer last, after you have shaken and strained your other ingredients!  You’ll end up wearing your cocktail instead of drinking it if you put the beer into the shaker.  Simply top your cocktail with your beer of choice and give it all a gentle stir to marry all the flavors."

Briar Patch

• 1 oz. Cointreau
• 1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
• 3 raspberries
• 4-5 oz. raspberry lambic beer

Preparation: 
Add Cointreau, lemon juice, raspberries and ice to a mixing glass. Shake and fine-strain over ice in a highball glass. Top with beer and garnish with a pick of raspberries.

White Plume

• 1 oz. Cointreau
• 1 oz. fresh lemon juice
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• 4-5 oz. white beer (like Hoegaarden)

Preparation: Add Cointreau, lemon juice, bitters and ice to a mixing glass. Shake and strain over ice in a highball glass. Top with beer and garnish with an orange wedge.