This is a sponsored post in partnership with Tavour
Is there anything more delightfully refreshing than a fresh, chilled cocktail in the summertime? Actually, there is! Beer cocktails are a delicious way to beat the heat — not to mention dazzle guests at BBQs, garden parties, and any other warm-weather gatherings.
Of course, it all depends on having the right kind of beer and ingredients. Fortunately, the beer experts at Tavour have already done the legwork to come up with four revitalizing summer beer cocktails. For the unfamiliar, Tavour is an app-based craft beer retailer that works with over 600 independent breweries across the country to connect people with top-rated Stouts, IPAs, Sours, and other brews they can’t otherwise get at home!
They make getting great beer easy. Easy, like these beer cocktail recipes! No bartending experience is needed here — just basic grocery store ingredients, some excellent craft beers, and the desire to kick back with a fruity and refreshing beverage.
Just remember — as fun as these beverages look, they’re for adults only!
Sour IPA Slushie
If you haven’t heard of a Sour IPA, it’s high time you check out the Tavour app. They regularly feature this zany, yet deliciously refreshing new beer style that toes the line between tangy and hoppy. While you can use any Sour IPA with this beer “slushie” recipe, What Even is Blue Raspberry Anyway? from New York’s renowned Evil Twin Brewing provides a vivid blue-green color that will stand out at summer festivities. Its candy-like blue raspberry flavors are also really tasty!
*Makes 2 Servings
Ingredients
1 cup frozen pineapple chunks (can be found in most grocery stores, or cut and freeze fresh fruit yourself!)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp sugar
16 oz Sour IPA (1 can of Evil Twin’s What Even is Blue Raspberry Anyway?)
*Raspberries optional
Preparation
1. Carefully fill a clean ice cube tray with the beer, pouring slowly to prevent foam. Let freeze overnight. Because beer has a lower freezing temperature than water, it will gain a more slush-like consistency (but if you prefer more hardened cubes, you can dilute it with water prior to freezing).
2. Feel free to enjoy whatever beer is left over in the can! Or, to get as much beer as possible in your slushies, cover the can loosely with saran wrap and refrigerate overnight as well.
3. When ready to make your slushies, simply add the beer-ice to a blender, along with the other ingredients.
4. Blend until fruit and ice are broken up and everything is well mixed. Add any leftover beer, which should no longer be as carbonated, and blend for a few seconds more, or until desired consistency.
5. Split the mixture into two glasses. Garnish with raspberries or other fruit as desired. Enjoy!
Prickly Pear Cider Shandy
A shandy is traditionally half beer (usually Lager) and half lemon-lime soda or lemonade. While you can select a lighter beer style like a Lager for this prickly pear rendition, a hopped hard Cider brings it to deliciously vivid depths. This example uses Citra Star from Vermont’s Citizen Cider, a delightfully crisp Cider brimming with grapefruit and orange notes, thanks to Citra Hops.
*Makes 2 Servings
Ingredients
1 oz prickly pear syrup
1 oz lime juice
12 oz lemon-lime soda
16 oz of hard cider (About 1 1/4 cans of Citizen Cider Citra Star)
*Lime wedges optional
Preparation
1. Divide the Cider into two glasses (preferably pint glasses), then top with lemon-lime soda.
2. Add the lime juice and prickly pear syrup. No need to stir!
3. Garnish each glass with a lime wedge or wheel if desired, and you’re all set to beat the heat!
Orange ‘Beergarita’
This “beergarita” is ideal for poolside sipping! For enhanced flavors, opt for a beer like Cerveza from B52 Brewing. Those Texas brewers crafted this Lager with actual lime and sea salt, so each sip already brims with margarita-like refreshment!
*Makes 2 Servings
Ingredients
1 oz tequila
1 oz triple sec or Cointreau
2 oz lime juice
1 oz agave syrup
16 oz Lager (1 can of B52 Cerveza)
2 oz orange juice
2 orange slices
Salt
Ice
*Lime wedge and additional orange slice optional
Preparation
1. Pour some salt into a small plate. Coat the rim of two cocktail glasses with lime juice or syrup, then swirl them gently, face down, on the plate to create a salted rim. Add a few ice cubes to chill each glass and set aside.
2. In a cocktail shaker or pint glass, muddle the orange slices with agave syrup and lime juice until the fruit is broken up.
3. Fill the shaker halfway with ice, then pour in the tequila, triple sec, and orange juice. Stir twice.
4. Very gently, pour in about a third of the beer, going slowly to reduce foaming. Stir another couple of times, very gently.
5. Dump the chilling ice from the glasses, and strain the contents of the shaker evenly into each over fresh ice or straight up. Top with the remaining beer and garnish with lime and orange slices, if desired. Cheers!
S’mores Stout Shake
Let’s not forget about those summer nights! This beer cocktail’s flavors are perfect for cuddling around the campfire, or any evening when you’re looking for a sippable dessert. While you can use any creamy, chocolatey Milk Stout for this recipe, Pipeworks Brewing’s Fluffo Sando makes for a surprising peanut butter twist. The Illinois brewery filled this Stout with a delicious plethora of cacao nibs, peanut butter, lactose, vanilla, and natural marshmallow flavor, so it’s already a nutty s’mores experience in every mouthful! But, to get extra decadent, try this Stout shake:
*Makes 2 Servings
Ingredients
3 generous scoops of vanilla ice cream
2 scoops of chocolate ice cream
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
6 graham crackers
16 oz of Milk Stout (1 can of Pipeworks Fluffo Sando)
Marshmallow fluff
*Chocolate chips/chunks, plus additional graham crackers optional
Preparation
1. Pour the beer into a glass and set it aside.
2. Add the ice cream and cocoa powder to a blender. Crumble up the graham crackers and add those, as well. Add two spoonfuls of marshmallow fluff and blend until ingredients are evenly distributed.
3. Pour in half the beer and blend for 20 seconds. Then, add the rest of the beer and another spoonful of marshmallow fluff. Blend until mostly smooth (there may be some small chunks of graham cracker, and that’s okay).
4. Divide into glasses, and if desired, top with more marshmallow fluff (or whipped cream!), chocolate chips, and graham crackers. Time for s’mores!
For an arsenal of craft beers to help you get refreshed this summer, check out Tavour. You’ll have plenty of flavors to experiment with this season
