In a semi-regular segment entitled Liquor In The ______ that can’t be too regular because I’m probably drinking right now, I’m going to write to you about all the different ways you can liquor. I recognize that it’s weird, especially for those of you who have actually had a drink with me, because I am what the frat boys would call a “two-beer queer” (what I would call a “no-beer queer,” as I’m gay all the live long day). But I get drunk very easily, is the point. Still, I really really like beer, wine and liquor and want to share that love for the artistry of alcohol with you all, my favorite queers. Let’s lift a pint to alcohol and our Autostraddle community – they go together like wine and soft cheese.
Header by Rosa Middleton
I will never give you a red, white or blue (or all three) drink for Fourth of July, because I am cheesy but not that cheesy. Also as cute as themed drinks are, the matchy-matchy-ness of a certain cocktail doesn’t necessarily make it the best drink for the occasion – does that sugary drink REALLY compliment your grilled portobello? Do patriotic jello shots REALLY go with your fresh mozz veggie burger? No. Queermos, I submit to you that we, as a nation of barbequing, apple-pie-eating, picnic-having, fireworks-watching U.S. gaybo humans, would rather have a drink that tastes good rather than one whose colors match your Party City decorations.
That’s why I present to you the Hatter Day #2, a recipe re-published with enthusiastic permission from New Holland Brewery and Distillery, because they love us. This is a beer cocktail and, in my opinion, it tastes like summer.
You Will Need:
1 oz Gin (I’m using Knickerbocker)
3/4 oz Saint Germain
1/4 oz lemon juice (you can buy this, or you can juice your lemons!)
one dash orange bitters (I’m using Fee Brothers)
1 bottle of White Hatter beer
a lemon for garnish
ice
a juicing apparatus if you’re juicing your lemons
First, let’s talk about lemon juice. You can absolutely buy the little plastic lemon from the store. But I can 135% guarantee you that you can taste the difference between fresh juice and not-fresh juice. If you have acces to some kind of juicing mechanism, take that option. It will taste better. You can also get more juice out of lemons than one may realize. So I juiced two lemons and still had a TON of juice left over after making two of these Hatter Day #2s.
Fill your shaker halfway with ice and combine the lemon juice, gin, Saint Germain and orange bitters. Now a dash isn’t super precise here, unlike the liquor which WE WILL ALWAYS MEASURE ALL THE TIME FOREVER AND EVER AMEN. I like to do one hard shake of the bitters into the shaker because Fee Brothers has that little cap on it. Sometimes two hard shakes if I’m feeling adventurous and want a more generous dash. Today was an adventurous day. Dashing!
Measure Your Darn Liquor
Shake vigorously and strain into a Belgian ale glass. Now this drink doesn’t look particularly interesting. Yet. Because basically it’s just boozey lemonade.
But now to add the magic ingredient, White Hatter. It’s a Belgian-style white ale brewed in Michigan and has ingredients that seem to go with this drink (lemon peel, orange peel) and some that don’t seem to, but are super delicious none-the-less (white pepper, for instance). Now I admit, it can be a little challenging to find White Hatter, especially with the fourth happening this week. So give mixing and matching a try if you can’t get your hands on it in time (but seriously, I really REALLY like this beer, like I’m going to get another supply of it at a store 45 minutes away from my house right after I finish this article, that’s how much I like it).
Top the mixed portion of the drink with the White Hatter. Pour the beer down the side of the glass like you normally would, so you don’t get a crazy head on this cocktail. Just FYI, it does this really cool thing where you can see everything mix together for a hot second.
And then it’s all mixed, just by itself. Because bubbles and pouring and agitation. In fact, the bubbles are why you should use a Belgian ale glass for this. The glass is small enough on the top that the bubbles stay in for longer. Also it’s damn pretty.
You can garnish with those cheater lemon twists I mentioned last time. You could probably also do a wedge or slice in this too and have it look and smell just as lemony-awesome.
What I wanted to eat with it: Vegetables fresh of the grill, like corn. OMG, corn. And vegan hot dogs.
What I would do differently next time: Change the garnish. The lemon twists, while lovely, look a little bit swallowed by the sheer size of this. I think a wedge on the edge is the way I would go.
oh man this looks perfect
I AM GOING TO DRINK THIS RIGHT NOW
Sounds great, and I already have most of the ingredients! If you are in the northeast, look for Brewery Ommegang Belgian white ale. Made just outside of Cooperstown, NY, it will work well with this.
Yummers
I heartily love this. I’ll put it on the ‘to-drink’ list! Any white ale will do I’m sure?
Oh man, I’ll keep an eye out for White Hatter. Pro tip: you can get even more juice out of a lemon if you pop it in the microwave for a few seconds before juicing, as it helps break down the insides.
My problem with making cocktails is, that I never have even half of the required ingredients at home and am to lazy/broke to go buy them.
So I end up replacing half of the ingredients with mostly awful results! :D