How To Make A Beer Caesar #BrewedAwakening

By / Wine + Drinks / July 13th, 2018 / 27

One of the most misspelled things on restaurant/bar menus, and yes I mean even the ones that spend a lot of money (theirs or an agent’s) to do their menus in plasticized or other permanent formats, is Caesar. I wish I had a dollar (OK, let’s be realistic: $1,000) for every time I’ve seen it spelled Ceasar.

At any rate, people love a good Caesar in Canada, and apparently in parts of the USA, too. It is essentially an offshoot of a classic Bloody Mary: vodka, tomato juice and some spice (can be anything from Worcestershire sauce to hot sauces like Tabasco, garlic, herbs, horseradish, celery, olives, salt, or any/all of the above), with a celery stalk or similar garnish, such as a spicy pickled green bean. The use of Clamato (let’s not dwell on how clams end up in that stuff) in a Caesar makes for a salty, mineral edge to the drink, which is appealing.

This week I tried two very interesting brews at Hammond River Brewing Company in my hometown of Rothesay, New Brunswick, and they got me thinking about beer cocktails.

One was their One Hot Minute, made with chili peppers and lime. It’s a refreshing, blonde beer with lime and herbal pepper notes, and a lingering hot finish, but not too hot.

The other was a new beer called Red Eye, made with an addition of grilled tomatoes and basil. It’s low bitterness and very savoury and herbal. On tasting it, I thought: “This smells a lot like a Caesar…all it needs is some spice.” I had never had a tomato beer before, at least not that I remembered. This one was pretty darned good.

After I was finished I thought, “Hey, why not make a beer version of a Caesar, maybe a Beerzer, or a Baersar, by blending these two brews?”  Anything goes these days when it comes to beer, and I think this duo would be a winner. Blending beers isn’t a crime. There is plenty of precedent.  Black & Tan, anyone? I think I’ll try a Baersar next time I’m there.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Craig Pinhey discovered good drink circa 1985 at Ginger’s Tavern/Granite Brewery in Halifax and has been writing about beer, wine and spirits for 25 years. A Certified Sommelier and BJCP judge, Craig lives in New Brunswick where he runs his own writing and consulting business and is the beverage columnist for Brunswick News. He is the only person to have judged all of the national wine, spirits and beer awards of Canada.

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