A few weeks ago we were chatting with a booze industry pal about how much we like Danish brewery Mikkeller. “They’re in Sainsburys now” he revealed. “Rejoice!” we replied. And, with that, he set us a celebratory challenge: make a beer cocktail using a Mikkeller beer.
We’re suckers for a challenge, especially when it comes to booze recipes, so set about conjuring something up. When thinking about creating cocktail recipes (or any other booze recipes) we have three very simple rules that we like to follow:
- Keep it simple
- Use complimentary flavours
- Keep it simple
And if we could add a fourth, it would probably be “keep it simple.”
With that mantra ringing in our ears we grabbed the nearest can of Mikkeller – a session IPA called ‘Evergreen’ – and pondered what would go with it. Inspired by a wintery chill that was sneaking in through the poorly insulated kitchen door we thought a touch of spice would be seasonally appropriate.
The easiest way to incorporate spice, we reckoned, would be to plunge a shot of spiced rum into the beer. But that on its own was a bit too unsubtle. What we wanted was to find something to act as a conduit between the fruity, hoppy beer and the spiky, boozy rum. We chose ginger beer, a drink that we know goes well with pale ales, and one that is regularly used in rum cocktails.
Now all we had to decide upon was the garnish. Lime is a common choice for rum and ginger cocktails, but we felt its distinctive sour flavour didn’t quite work with the beer. Instead we went for orange, an essential ingredient in spiced rums and something that would work well with both the ginger and the bitter hops. There’s no need for ice with this one, chilled IPA and ginger beer from the fridge is just fine.
Our cocktail recipe was now complete, with the punsome title ‘A Winter’s Pale’, and is presented below for you to enjoy. Cheers!
A Winter’s Pale – a Mikkeller spiced beer cocktail recipe
Ingredients
Makes 2 servings
330ml can Mikkeller Evergreen (or similar pale ale)
330ml ginger beer (not an overly sweet one – we went with Fentimens)
50ml spiced rum (we used Lugger)
Slice of orange to serve
Method
Pour the ingredients into a jug and gently stir with a long-handled spoon.
Fill a glass from the jug.
Top with a thin slice of orange.
Enjoy!
