Favorite Beer Mixes At Home

Some bars have a Black & Tan, but don't recall a topic posted for what our folks do at home.

What are your favorite beer blends that work well at home?
Suggesting three angles on this:

1) Real beer + real beer

2) Real beer + industrial swill that provides a good cost / taste balance (for the not independently wealthly among us). Of course real beer is best, but to insist Americans on a budget MUST choose between one or the other is counter to the basic principles we should cherish, that among these are the compromises inherent to a successful republic, the pursuit of happiness and plain ol' American ingenuity.

3) Real beer + any other beverage. Much more common in Europe, like dunkel + lemonade mix in Bavaria. I bet Forumites have as good or better beer based blends.

The Germans sure do mix some funky stuff with their beer. Some of the favorites are Weizenbier with banana juice, sweetened grapefruit juice, cherry juice, etc. A Diesel is beer mixed with coke. In Cologne they have the Schwuchtel will literally translated means faggot. It's beer and apple juice. The only one I dabble with is a Radler (Panache in French, Shandy in English) which is just Pilsner with Sprite at about 70/30. The only reason ever to do this is due to extreme heat. You just can't chug that many heavy bodied German beers when it gets above 85 degrees.

On an off beer note, the Aperol Spritzer continues to dominate cafe tabletops over here. Wish I owned Campari shares.

On a somewhat recent trip to Texas I was introduced to drinking swill beer and clamato with lime. I took that idea back home and have been experimenting with drinking our house bloodymary and anchor steam summer brew. The summer steam is a very light (lawn mowing) brew that goes pretty well with this concept. I agree it sounds quite odd, but its a combination that actually works. I drink it with rocks as the ratio is about 50/50 beer to bloody.

[Robin Garr]

On a somewhat recent trip to Texas I was introduced to drinking swill beer and clamato with lime.

Back in the day, I knew a guy from Utica, N.Y., who used to mix local swell (Genessee, probably) with tomato juice to make something he called a red eye. It wasn't bad, arguably improved the Genessee.

This same guy always put a sprinkle of salt from a table shaker into his beer "to bring up the head."

On a somewhat recent trip to Texas I was introduced to drinking swill beer and clamato with lime.

Back in the day, I knew a guy from Utica, N.Y., who used to mix local swell (Genessee, probably) with tomato juice to make something he called a red eye. It wasn't bad, arguably improved the Genessee.

This same guy always put a sprinkle of salt from a table shaker into his beer "to bring up the head."

Not sure of the origins of the "Mater Beer" (or Redeye...I've seen several different names) but it is quite common in at least a couple of different areas of the county. As John mentioned, down in Texas (Oklahoma and Louisiana) it's pretty common to see a group of men, usually just off the oil fields, slamming back "Swill" beer mixed with Tomato Juice and Lime (Budwieser offers this product "premixed" but compared to doing it yourself, it's kind of lacking). The lower Great Lakes (Ohio, PA, NY), as Robin mentioned, is another area where this practice is quite common (sans Lime)...Particularly in the blue collar "Steel Mill" bars...A guy gets off the midnight shift, swings by the ol' Factory Bar on the way home and slams back a few Redeyes and a shot or two of cheap Canadian whiskey before heading home. In Minnesota and the Dakotas a Bloody Mary is ALWAYS served with a "Snit" (small glass of "Swill" beer) on the side and I was shocked...shocked I tell ya...to discover this practice was not universal (it should be)...and not to derail the thread but "Ike's" in downtown Minneapolis makes the best Bloody Mary known to mankind.

As for the "salt" in the beer...This is another practice that is common throughout the lower Great Lakes, again primarily in the "factory" cities. I was into my 20's (I grew up when the "legal age was "18") before I realized that there were people in the world who didn't put salt in their beer. As Robin mentioned "settling the head" is part of it but the primary reason to put salt in ones beer is that it settles the carbonation (in your stomach) and eliminates that "bloated" feeling one gets from consuming 12 beers (and three shots of Windsor) while holding up the same bar stool.

I always put a dash of salt if I'm drinking a bud/miller/coors light draft. Don't remember where I picked that up but i've been doing it for years. Gives it some actual flavor haha.

In Minnesota and the Dakotas a Bloody Mary is ALWAYS served with a "Snit" (small glass of "Swill" beer) on the side and I was shocked...shocked I tell ya...to discover this practice was not universal (it should be)

I too was shocked.

and not to derail the thread but "Ike's" in downtown Minneapolis makes the best Bloody Mary known to mankind.

Agreed and there was another one before (also in downtown Minneapolis).

I always put a dash of salt if I'm drinking a bud/miller/coors light draft. Don't remember where I picked that up but i've been doing it for years. Gives it some actual flavor haha.

Jason, I do the same thing. I learned this "trick" from my grandma, who enjoyed 2 Old Mil's in a frosty glass (with a dash of salt) every night before bed. She would allow my sisters and myself just a little sip! I always thought it was a Germantown (working class?) thing.

I enjoy mainly craft (good) beer now, but an ice cold bud draft with a dash or two of salt really hits the spot sometimes.

DD

One word...MICHELADA!

I became hooked on these during a recent trip to Mexico. It is essentially, the Mexican / Latino version of a redeye.

The recipe can vary dramatically, but here is how I enjoy them...

start with a few ice cubes in a glass...on top of that add worchestershire, magi seassoning, salt, pepper, chili powder, juice of 1-2 limes, hot sauce, and some clamato or tomato juice...top with a Mexican beer. You can also rim the glass with salt or chili powder.

Very delicious and refreshing...and somewhat spicy!

I've tried a few at the Mexican places around louisville...some are great, while others I would not drink again. I've had not too good micheladas at El Tarasco (St. Matts) and El Nopal (Mall), however, Carlos @ Fiesta Mexciana (B-town Rd. / Buechel) makes a great one!

Also, I've found that as a "gringo", I earn some "street cred" from the Latino bartenders by ordering one vs. a Carona w/ Lime!!!

DD

a gentleman the other night asked me to suggest a 'good' bourbon that would mix well with diet pepsi.
i kindly apologized in advance and proceeded to inform him that such a thing doesnt exist.
he jokingly said 'heh... so you must be a bourbon snob, then?' to which i replied, 'no sir. and im not an egg snob either, but you wont see me pouring kool-aid on my breakfast.'
we both laughed, he took me up on a Johnny Drum Manhattan, and all was right in the world.

...end hijack

On a hot summer day or if I am really thirsty, sometimes I will have a snakebite - which is half lager and half cider.

You can add black currant cordial to make it a "snakebite and black" - but it's too sweet for me.

The Germans sure do mix some funky stuff with their beer.

But God (or government) forbid you put spice or fruit in the beer before its fermented!!!!

Pilsner with Sprite... You just can't chug that many heavy bodied German beers when it gets above 85 degrees.

When did Pilsner become "heavy bodied"?

a gentleman the other night asked me to suggest a 'good' bourbon that would mix well with diet pepsi.
i kindly apologized in advance and proceeded to inform him that such a thing doesnt exist.
he jokingly said 'heh... so you must be a bourbon snob, then?' to which i replied, 'no sir. and im not an egg snob either, but you wont see me pouring kool-aid on my breakfast.'
we both laughed, he took me up on a Johnny Drum Manhattan, and all was right in the world.

...end hijack

If its a "good" bourbon it wouldnt need to mix with anything...except maybe ice, and even that is borderline.

Pilsner with Sprite... You just can't chug that many heavy bodied German beers when it gets above 85 degrees.

When did Pilsner become "heavy bodied"?

Most are full bodied, none of that insipid licht Scheiße.