Combine your love for beer and the harder stuff by using homemade beer syrup in a cocktail recipe. Use a big-flavored, hoppy beer, such as an ESB or IPA, to maximize flavor. The syrup complements a galaxy of cocktails, like the Tom Collins, Sazerac, pisco sour and Old-Fashioned, including the reimagined one here.
BEER SYRUP
6 ounces
12 oz. hoppy beer, such as an ESB or IPA
6 oz. sugar
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, simmer the beer until reduced by half.
• Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool. Syrup will keep, refrigerated, up to 1 month.
MALT-TEASE-FASHIONED
1 serving
2 oz. Spirits of St. Louis Regatta Bay hopped gin
½ oz. beer syrup
4 dashes Bittermens Hopped Grapefruit Bitters
2 grapefruit twists
• Combine the gin, beer syrup and bitters in a stirring glass with ice. Squeeze 1 grapefruit twist over the glass to release the oils, then drop it into the glass. Stir and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with the remaining grapefruit twist.
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This article appears in Guide to Beer 2015.