How to Build a Beer Cocktail Bar
Level Up Your Lager
By Erin Henderson
I’m not a beer drinker.
But occasionally, if the timing is right, and there’s no other option, I’ll order one.
And one such occasion was last February in Nicaragua, after climbing Concepcion Volcano on Ometepe Island.
Hungry, hot, and exhausted, we found a cute cafe in a little town. Immediately a round of local lager was ordered.
But as I said, I’m not a beer drinker. So, to give mine a little pizzazz, I also ordered a glass of lemonade to make myself a shandy.
It was delicious.
You’ve likely heard of beer cocktails before: Chelada (beer with lime juice and maybe a salty rim), Michelada (basically a beer-based Bloody Mary), Beergarita (beer with a margarita), the posh (but I think gross) Black Velvet (which is beer and Champagne.)
Heck, I even featured a few “beertails” on CTV’s The Social a few summers ago.
You’ve likely seen – or even hosted – DIY caesar bars, mimosa bars, even gin and tonic bars. But I love the idea of a beer bar for a casual wedding, pool party, or Father's Day.
Step 1
Grab a selection of beers. You will mostly want lagers, as they have the neutral and crisp taste to blend well with other ingredients. However, sours and even a stout will help round out the ingredient list. Make sure to put our a few bottle openers, they always seem to end up in someone's pocket.
Step 2
Set out a selection of mixes, spices and sauces: Fresh lime, grapefruit, and clamato or tomato juice. Sliced fruits for garnishes. Salts and chilis for spicing up savoury drinks.
Step 3
Offer a selection of spirits such as tequila, gin, vodka, or aperol.
Step 4
Print out a few recipe cards so guests can find inspiration and build a drink with confidence.
Step 5
Don't forget the stir sticks, measuring cups, jiggers, ice buckets, napkins and anything else guests will need to mix a drink.
Need some inspiration? Try the recipes below.
Beer Cocktails
Beer Spritz
A delicious riff on the classic Aperol Spritz, this uses sour beer instead of Prosecco.
- 2 oz Aperol
- 1 oz sparkling water
- 4 oz plain sour beer
- Orange slice for garnish
Into a balloon goblet, add ice and pour in Aperol. Top with sparkling water and beer and garnish with an orange wheel.
Michelada
This has a lots of recipe variations from using Clamato juice, to tomato juice, to just hot sauce and citrus, as they do in Mexico City.
- 2 oz fresh lime juice
- 1 tsp hot sauce
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- Pinch of salt
- 8 oz chilled lager beer
- Tajin or chili salt, for rim
- Lime wedge for garnish
Rub a cut lime around the rim of a tall glass and dip in Tajin. Add lime juice, sauces, and salt to the glass. Pour in lager, garnish with a lime wedge and serve.
Shandy
The Shandy came to be in mid-1800's Britian and was lager mixed with ginger beer or ale. It's now simply beer mixed with lemon or lime juice or soda and popular the world over.
- 6 oz lemonade
- 6 oz chilled beer of choice (probably lager is best)
- Lemon wheel for garnish
Into a tall glass add beer and top with lemonade. Garnish with a lemon wheel and serve.
Stout Espresso
With notes of coffee, stout beers make a surprisingly delicious blending partner for this riff on the tradtional espresso martini.
- 1 oz coffee flavoured liqueur
- 1 oz cold espresso or cold brew
- 4 oz stout beer
- 2 dashes coffee or chocolate bitters
- coffee beans, for garnish
Into a shaker filled with ice, pour the cold espresso, bitters and coffee liqueur. Shake to chill, about 10 or 15 seconds. Pour into a chilled martini coup. Carefully and slowly pour in the stout, which will leave a nice frothy head on top. Garnish with a few coffee beans.
Radler Paloma
Radlers are from the German word for cyclist; after long races athletes use to cool down with a mix of beer and fruit juices similar to a shandy. Now intrepid beer makers make the blend for you.
- 2 oz blanco tequila
- 1 oz fresh grapefruit juice
- ½ oz fresh lime juice
- ½ oz simple syrup
- 4 oz grapefruit Radler
- Pink salt, for rim
- Pink grapefruit wheel, for garnish
Rub a lime around the edge of a tall glass and dip in pink salt. Fill glass with ice. Into a shaker filled with ice add all ingredients except Radler, and shake until well chilled about 10 seconds. Strain into the rimmed glass and gently top with radler. Garnish with grapefruit and serve.