| Recipe |
| • Mountain Brew • Ginger Beer-Tini |
“Liquor before beer, you’re in the clear,” so goes the misleading adage. But what if they are combined? Broadening summertime cocktail choices at the Philly Beer Week Cocktail Competition, boisterous brews beckoned to rousing liqueurs, resulting in cool, crisp beer cocktails that may linger through September. On Sunday afternoon, Smokin’ Betty’s, a snazzy restaurant/bar located in center city, partnered with Dockstreet Brewing Company in an event dedicated to exploring the concept of combining beer and more formidable spirits.
Nine bartenders showed up with anything and everything to combine with Smokin’ Betty’s beers and squared off to mix and disperse their signature cocktail creation to those willing to pay the $25 tasting fee. Two hours of unlimited cocktails and appetizers later, tasters and judges cheerily (if a tad unsteadily) voted for their favorites, some surprised to find that there was little in these groundbreaking recipes they didn’t like.
To encourage your summer experimentation here are the recipes for the top two Participant’s Choice Cocktails (PCC) and the top two Judge’s Choices:
| PCC 1st Place : |
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Mountain Brew This nectarous cocktail fights its potential for cloying with a lemon wedge: squeeze it. 1 splash Midori PCC 2nd Place : Bet’ya Thought This Was A Manhattan Spiked with a cherry; the corn-based bourbon meshes with rye-based IPA to compliment the pungent sweetness of vermouth and cherry. 1 ½ oz Jim Beam Shake vigorously over ice, top with Dock Street Rye IPA, garnish with a maraschino cherry. |
| Judge’s Choice First Place : |
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Ginger Beer-Tini With a wink to a sophisticated summer, Bubbly Wit beer adds effervescence while candied ginger and Canton liqueur bring the ginger front and center in this vivacious cocktail. 1 piece candied ginger; broken and muddled Mix over ice and garnish with candied ginger skewered on a tiny sword. Judge’s Choice Second Place : Shandy, You’re A Fine Drink A twist on a Shandy, replacing ginger ale with ginger beer and darkening the glass with a dash of whiskey, it’ll whisk away summer heat with a complex flavor inclined towards bitter. 2 parts rye IPA Shake over ice and top with freshly shaved ginger. It may take a while for the excitement from mixing spirits with beers to dissipate, but when the strong waves of emotion subside, your pleased palate will wonder why it took so long to bring these two together. |
Just returned from studies in Crete, Erica Hope is a Drexel University student and aspiring food writer. Her work has also appeared in The Triangle.
Article photographs from waferboard and DeusXFlorida, via Flickr (Creative Commons), Recipe photographs taken by author, "Eat Drink Philly" photograph from suvodeb, via Flickr (Creative Commons), "Philly" photograph from camardella, via Flickr (Creative Commons).
