Suburban bars embrace beer cocktails for summer

When you're looking to cool off on a hot summer day, do you opt for a cold beer or a refreshing cocktail? Now you don't have to choose as local bars are using beer as an ingredient in mixed drinks.

“I think it has a lot to do with the growth of both the cocktail world and people's appreciation for nicely crafted cocktails and the explosive growth of beer making,” said David Reyes, co-owner of The Finery & Blacksmith Bar in St. Charles. “Those two had to come together.”

The Finery offered a special beer cocktail last summer and launched a new $8 Spiced Mango Shandy during the first week of June. The drink blends Two Brothers Dog Days lager, Tito's vodka, Cointreau, mango puree, lemon juice and simple syrup spiced with clove, anise and cardamom.

“The flavor profile (of the beer) is really what fit with the sweet tones of the juices,” Reyes said. “We tried it with a few different beers. Some had too much hops, which made it too bitter. This really was smooth start to finish. I think this year's cocktail is much better than last year's just because we've learned.”

O'Toole's of Libertyville also just launched a beer cocktail for summer. The $9 Headlock Master is a spin on a pisco sour blending pisco, simple syrup, lemon juice and Bell's Two Hearted, with the IPA providing foam in lieu of the egg whites in the traditional version of the cocktail, but with a bit of extra citrus flavor. Mixologist Corey Ludwig said he saw the drink as a natural extension of the bar's popular sangrias and a way for the craft beer-focused spot, which boasts 48 beers on draft and 80 more in cans or bottles, to expand its reach.

“I've dabbled with it before because I'm a big craft beer guy and I love craft spirits,” Ludwig said. “In the North suburbs there's really not much beer cocktails. In our area, you're either into spirits or you're into beer. It's a matter of trying to combine those together.”

BeerAbility in Round Lake Heights opened in October and also rolled out a menu of $5 beer cocktails for summer. The bar only has a beer and wine license so they can't add any spirits, instead using beer as the base for cocktails like the American Bloody Beer, Sam Adams blended with bloody mary mix and served with a celery salt rim and enough vegetables, salami, pickles and olives to feel like a snack rather than a garnish. For more summery sippers, you can opt for the Berry Summer Shandy, Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy mixed with berry juice and frozen blueberries, raspberries and strawberries that act like ice cubes, and the Strawberry Lemonade Coors Light that blends the beer with fresh strawberries, lemon and simple syrup.

“Since a lot of these are mixed with things other than alcohol and beer they're lighter on a summer day,” said general manager Donna O'Leary. “You can have more. They're very refreshing.”

The cocktails also add to the bar's inventory of more than 100 brews, which included plenty of beers that are made to taste tart or fruity plus packaged beer cocktails like Bud Light's Lime-A-Rita and Staw-Ber-Rita. O'Leary said those drinks also let the bartenders play with garnishes, such as serving beer margaritas over ice with sugar or salt rims and a slice of their signature fruit.

“This is all kind of new and it's fun and it's trendy,” O'Leary said.

While they seem to be taking off now, beer cocktails have been around for years. Three years ago Wild Monk in La Grange began making a $7 Bloody Mary with a mix incorporating Left Hand milk stout to give the drink extra smoky flavor. When it launched brunch two years ago, the bar opted to serve mimosas along with $7 beermosas, which substitute Allagash White for sparkling wine. The bar also makes a special beer cocktail for each of its near monthly beer tasting dinners.

“We like to show the versatility of beer,” said owner Demetri Kopley. “You can use it in cooking and cocktails instead of just drinking a glass of it.”

Pints in Elmhurst offers a full menu of beer and cider cocktails, with the most popular being its $7.50 vanilla root beer, a blend of Small Town Brewery's Not Your Father's Root Beer and vanilla vodka. They just launched an $8 Summer Beer cocktail that blends Allagash White with raspberry vodka.

“It's just things we think taste good,” manager Diana Payne said. “The Allagash White is really citrusy, and I think citrus and raspberry go really well together in warm weather. We're trying to bridge that gap in between being a beer bar and having things for people who don't love beer. I think adding liquor to it, adding extra ingredients to it, makes it more appealing.”