6 Places Brewing Up Some of the Best Beer Cocktails

Until recently, beer and cocktails occupied two completely separate sections of drink menus, but more bars and restaurants are fusing the two into one. The concept isn’t wholly new—beer has been used as a mixer since Jerry Thomas’s day—but today’s bartenders are moving beyond your basic Shandy and Michelada to create drinks that are delicious and thirst-quenching, making them the perfect go-to drinks for summertime. Here are six spots that brew up tasty beer cocktails you can re-create at home.

Japser’s Corner Tap & Kitchen
Hotel bars are a dime a dozen, but a hotel bar that mixes up killer cocktails—not to mention killer beer cocktails—can be less common. Enter the just-opened Jasper’s Corner Tap & Kitchen next to San Francisco’s Serrano Hotel where bartender Kevin Diedrich mixes up nearly two dozen inventive drinks, including beer cocktails like the Weissen Sour with wit ale, bourbon, lemon juice and orange marmalade. Click here for the recipe.
401 Taylor St., San Francisco; 415-775-7979; jasperscornertap.com

The Tripel
This Belgian-inspired beer bar opened in April and is already generating buzz for its stellar beer list, but if you want a taste of their crafty beer-cocktail-making chops, veer off the printed list and toward the chalkboard menu that features not one, but five beer-infused mixed drinks, like the Sour Grapes with draught sour ale, maraschino liqueur and Madeira. Click here for the recipe.
333 Culver Blvd., Playa del Rey, CA; 310-821-0333; thetripel.com

Vandaag
Dutch-inspired Vandaag dedicates an entire section of its cocktail menu to drinks spiked with suds, from Belgian witbier to sour ale and pilsner, like their Radler cocktail with pineapple-infused aquavit, lime and ginger syrup and white ale. Click here for the recipe.
103 2nd Ave., New York City; 212-253-0470; vandaagnyc.com

JoeDoe
Barkeep Jill Schulster put her first beer cocktail on JoeDoe’s drinks menu when they opened in 2008, and in the two years since, her seasonally rotating list of “Prepared Beers” includes a hopped-up smattering of sprightly drinks like the Honey Beer with Dale’s Pale, gin and salted honey. Click here for the recipe.
45 E. 1st St., New York City; 212-780-0262; chefjoedoe.com

Anvil Bar & Refuge
Texans know cold beer is key to breaking through their sweltering summer heat, and Houston bar owner Bobby Heugel refreshes with his always-inventive beer-spiked cocktails, like the Bitter Roots with IPA, Cynar and aromatic bitters. Click here for the recipe.
1424 Westheimer Rd., Houston, TX; 713-523-1622; anvilhouston.com

Death and Co.
Manhattan definitely leads the beer cocktail trend, and Death and Co. offers its own take with a cocktail category devoted to “Noble Hops.” Try La Valentina, which pairs blanco tequila and fresh citrus with muddled raspberries, Belgian wheat beer and a pinch of salt. Click here for the recipe.
433 E. 6th St., New York City; 212-388-0882; deathandcompany.com