It’s the first Friday of the month, which means it’s time for The Session, the group blogging project that has everyone writing on a common theme. This month’s theme is “Beer Cocktails” and comes to us from Beer at Joe’s:

Our chosen topic is…beer cocktails. Most people have had a black & tan, which is a combination of two kinds of beer and think it’s pretty tasty. Most people have heard of a Shandy, beer with lemonade or soda added, and think it’s not so tasty.

But beer cocktails go far beyond these two famous examples. Many countries have their own versions, and many new chefs and bartenders are getting creative with beer as an ingredient, not just a standalone drink.

What’s your favorite beer cocktail (and yes, despite the title of this post, it can be a black & tan or a shandy)? Find a recipe for that or a new one, try it, and tell us why you did or didn’t like it–even if you think beer cocktails are nothing but a good way to waste a beer. Have fun and try something new!

I have to admit, the topic of “beer cocktails” is not one which I’m really familiar. Sure, as Jasmine points out above, everyone knows about the Black and Tan—I’ve even recently tried my own abortive experiments—but beyond that? There’s a whole world of possibilities of which I am almost completely clueless.

Well, almost. It occurred to me that I have tried a beer cocktail in the (distant) past: the Root Beer Float, or, according to Wikipedia, the “Root Beer Barrel.”

It’s pretty simple: a shot of root beer schnapps (yes, there exists such a thing) dropped into a glass of beer—preferably cheap, light beer (at least, as I remember it). The online recipes I’ve found actually say to drop a shot glass of the root beer schnapps into a glass of beer; when I made one, I put the shot glass of schnapps into the glass first, then (carefully) poured the beer after, so the beer essentially floated on top of the schnapps.

Then, you drink it all at once. Or so I’m told. The effect is the root beer chasing the beer which is quite tasty—though you have to balance that against chugging down 12 ounces of (fizzy) beer very quickly. But all in all, an easy cocktail to put together and tastes good to boot (if you like root beer, of course). Kind of like a root beer boilermaker.

What’s your beer cocktail?