TGISUMMER!!!!!!

Officially, memorial day weekend is the first day of summer in NYC. And perhaps, much of the northern hemisphere at that. However, in the midst of our Monsoony May, this hot day is probably more than welcome by my fellow city dwellers.

And a hot day as such, at the start of a long weekend - will have people springing for summer cocktails. Frozen-mango-mojitos and other longform names sprinkled with pink umbrellas and loopy straws will certainly come out of hiding across the boroughs.

But what about the beer?

There are plenty of new summer beer developments to cherish this long weekend! Sixpoint cans, Seasonal Summer Ales, new beer gardens, oh my! BUT I encourage you to get experimental. You may have seen my recent post about Micheladas. Well, the NYT also put up this lovely article to let us know what other kind of beer cocktails are out there in the mix. Refreshing, and lovely looking. What more could we want?

And although this may seem like a very novel and new thing to New York, it is common practice in other parts of the globe. Micheladas in Mexico, Shandies in the UK, Or 1664 with Grenadine in France (don’t knock until you’ve tried it!) have all been served for ages. My advice to you this long weekend, is to try a beer cocktail if you’ve never had one - or better yet get experimental and mix your own! And please do let me know how it goes.

Click photo for NYTimes piece. Thanks to JL for sharing this article with me.

I received this from my intern in response to the beer cocktails post. Its a “Beerspresso” which involves a pint of Guinness topped with a shot of espresso. Looks tasty. I bet this combo would also be good with a Brooklyn Chocolate Stout in place of the Guinness.

Any other favorite beer cocktails that I should add?

(Source: 13thluck)

“The Honey Beer ($12 at JoeDoe, in the East Village) is one of about 10 beer cocktails that Jill Schulster mixes at this tiny restaurant, which she owns and manages with her longtime romantic partner, the chef Joseph Dobias. She started making the Honey Beer and several of its compatriots in the spring of 2009, about six months after JoeDoe opened, to correct and camouflage what she and Mr. Dobias recognized as one of their shoestring operation’s early shortcomings.

“We didn’t have enough money for a wine list,” she said, meaning they had only a token smattering of bottles. “We had special cocktails, but it wasn’t enough.” To plump up their alcoholic beverage options, she added original beer cocktails, under the heading “prepared beers.”

The Honey Beer is the standout. She initially called it the Spring Forward, but its popularity — she sells as many as 100 of them in a busy week, she said — prompted her to keep it on the menu year round and give it a name that wasn’t out of sync with cold-weather months.

It combines, in a Pilsner glass, Dale’s Pale Ale with a shaken mixture of lemon juice, lemon zest and a gin, DH Krahn, in which citrusy notes are more dominant than juniper berry. That alone presents some enticing flavor juxtapositions, but what really elevates the drink is the coating of half of the glass’s rim in honey and a moderate amount of kosher salt.

Sips from that side of the glass carry the heady sweet-salty kick of some of my favorite snacks and desserts, like the chocolate-covered pretzel. But for relief, there’s the other side of the glass, with its clean rim. The effervescence of the beer and the acidity of the lemon keep the richness and intensity of the production in check, and, as a bonus, the honey dribbles down the side of the glass bit by bit, like a rivulet of ice cream down a cone. The Honey Beer, garnished with a lemon peel, is adult refreshment with a childish charm. Forgive it the too-cute double-entendre name.”

- Frank Bruni, The New York Times, January 6th 2011

JOEDOE 45 East First Street, East Village; (212) 780-0262, chefjoedoe.com.