Are you wanting to switch up your Sunday afternoons with something a little more refreshing, light and fruity? Look no further than Fruit Beer. The widely popular European brewing trend is making a comeback. Here are the top picks for you to enjoy a refreshing alcoholic beverage ^[1]. 

What is Fruit Beer? 

Fruit beer is a style of craft beer with origins first noted in Belgium ^[2]. Fruit beer has a broad and vague definition, but essentially any beer that has fruit in it is considered to be a ‘fruit beer’. 

History of Fruit Beer

Traditionally, stone fruits like cherries, peaches and raspberries, were added to Lambic beer at the end of the brewing process and before fermentation. 

Based on the languages spoken in Belgium, including French, Flemish and German, their beers were named in these languages. Popular fruits crafted into fruit beer included Framboise (raspberry), Peche (peach), Cassis (black currant), Kriek (black cherry) and Pomme (apple). 

Besides drinking ^[3], fruit beers have been widely used in cooking ^[4], especially with modern adaptations since the emergence of the fruit beer popularity. Fruit beer can also be paired nicely with cheese and crackers, and also added to desserts due to their perfectly complementary sweet and sour tastings. 

How is Fruit Beer Made?

This large scope of possibility can confuse drinkers, many expressing sentiments of one fruit beer tasting different or not tasting the same as one they previously tasted. This is because of several factors; the different fruits used in each brew, the base style of the beer, the method of adding in the fruit and at what point the fruit was added in. 

Fruit can be added into beer through natural infusions or flavoring, either natural or artificial. When deciding when to add the fruit to the base, the brewer must consider the flavors they want to achieve. If they want a lighter taste, then adding in flavoring extracts before packaging is the best way to go. 

If a deeper, richer flavor is desired, then the fruit can be fermented to achieve these tasting notes. However the brewers do need to be careful about preservatives impacting the yeast, as well as chemicals and bacteria on the fruit. It is recommended that brewers boil their fruit before adding to ensure it will be safe to ferment and later drink. 

There has been increased popularity of fruit beers within the past few decades, but even more so now in the early 2020s. People are experimenting with old styles in new ways, showcasing flavor profiles to meet different tastes. Brewers are happy to try something new and their collective drinkers are more than happy to oblige in tasting these creations. The emergence of diversified beer drinkers is something to celebrate, so grab your favorite fruit beer of choice – cheers to that! 

Top 6 Fruit Beers

Bentspoke Crankshaft IPA

Born & brewed in Canberra, BentSpoke Crankshaft IPA boasts a delicate balance of citrus and pine flavors, with a fragrant floral aroma. There’s plenty of punchy hops with this medium bodied beer, while rich malts making for a satisfying finish.

Nomad Rosie Raspberry Sour 

Nomad Brewing Co. was born from a great friendship and passion for good beer. They marry the best styles and techniques from around the world with Australia’s phenomenal native ingredients to create their fantastic range.

Rosie’s headed out to the farm to some super ripe raspberries to add to her Berliner Weisse Sour Ale. Tart and dry on the palate but with an explosion of fresh raspberry aroma and flavor.

Pirate Life Acai & Passionfruit Sour 

The nose shows soft lemon and raspberry sherbet. On the palate, bright citrus and tangy passionfruit. Tight. Clean. Refreshing style.

Stone & Wood Pacific Ale 

Using all-Australian ingredients, the Pacific Ale packs a huge aroma of passionfruit and citrus while remaining crisp, light and full of flavor. Just the kind of thing you might want to throw down after a hard day amongst the waves. This is a freakishly enjoyable beer that couldn’t be more perfect for summer days.

Wayward Raspberry Berliner Weisse 

Wayward is a proudly independent craft brewery in the Inner West of Sydney. This dry and refreshing ale is a ridiculously refreshing beer that is our take on the classic Berliner Weisse style. Bursting with bright raspberry flavors, balanced by zippy tartness and a crisp, dry finish. It’s Summer in a glass (or straight from the can).

Sierra Nevada Hazy IPA

A scaled down version of our popular hazy IPA. This beer features the same unfiltered, unprocessed fruit-forward hop flavors you have grown to enjoy from Hazy Little Thing. Ease into a pint of intense hop character and low bitterness that make this beer a perfect session IPA.

So put on your sour beer face and lets kick back and enjoy a brew!

When you are putting together a dinner party, it’s the details that really wow your guests. Obviously, you need amazing food and great conversation, but simple things like the drinks you serve can make a big difference too. 

After you have eaten your main course, it’s time to serve dessert. You should consider making some special dessert cocktails to go with it. It’s a great way to top off an amazing evening and make it that bit more exciting.

How To Decide Which Cocktail Is Best

If you want to serve cocktails with the final course of your meal, you need to match the flavors. So, take a look at your dessert ^[8] recipe and think about what the overriding flavors are. For example, if you are serving tiramisu, an espresso martini is the ideal cocktail. But if you are serving key lime pie, you’ll be better off with a margarita, which is heavily lime-based. Think about how heavy the dessert is too because if you have something quite rich, it might be best to balance it with a fairly small, light cocktail. 

Using these basic considerations, you should be able to find the perfect cocktail, but if you are stuck for ideas, here are some excellent recipes to try. 

The Best Dessert Cocktail Ideas

Irish Coffee

Irish coffee is such a popular after dinner drink and it even has its own national day ^[9]. It’s not your typical cocktail, but it’s ideal for a dessert drink. People often have coffee with their dessert anyway, so why not spice things up with a bit of whiskey and some fresh whipped cream? It’s a great alternative for people that don’t have much of a sweet tooth so they don’t want a dessert or a sugary cocktail. 

Brandy Alexander 

The Brandy Alexander is one of the most iconic sweet cocktails out there. There’s a reason why it’s such a classic. It’s so simple to make and the basic recipe ^[10] only contains brandy, creme de cacao, and cream, with a bit of nutmeg on the top. It has a nice creamy dessert quality to it but it’s not overly sweet, so you can still pair it with a rich dessert. 

Chocolate Martini

The Martini is probably one of the best known cocktails in the world. Adding a chocolate twist makes it perfect for a dinner party dessert drink. This recipe ^[11] uses chocolate liqueur and baileys alongside vodka, but there are plenty of other ways you can mix it up. It can be quite rich, so it’s best paired with a simple dessert like a sorbet or a lemon posset. If you put this alongside a heavy chocolate dessert, it might be a bit too much. 

Grasshopper

The Grasshopper is another classic sweet cocktail recipe that is ideal for a dessert. This delicious mint chocolate cocktail ^[12] is also low-proof, so if you’ve already had a few drinks and you don’t want anything too heavy, it’s perfect. 

These are all excellent choices for cocktails to serve with dessert at your next big dinner party. Just use your imagination and fly!!

As you sit and wait for all those trick or treaters on Halloween ^[16] night, here’s a terrifying drink to sip, right out of a Sherlock Holmes story!

A delicious drink of grapefruit juice and vodka with a salted rim – and a little “blood” for the occasion. Mix this treat up and turn on a scary movie – then wait for the little ghouls to ring the doorbell!

Mixing this Halloween Drink – 

First you need to color the salt. In a small bowl, mix the salt with the food coloring until it’s well mixed. Spread it out on a piece of parchment paper and dry it in a 250° oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Store in a small jar.

To make the drink, wet the rim of the glass with some lemon. Place the salt in a deep plate and roll the glass rim in it. Set it aside.

Next, in a pitcher, mix the grapefruit juice, vodka and food coloring, stirring until well blended.

Add ice cubes to the glasses and pour the drink in.

Sit back and enjoy the Halloween evening!

© Copyright 2018 The Lazy Gastronome

I’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave me a comment –

I really enjoy a cold mint julep on a hot summer day – sitting outside on the deck, listening to the birds and sipping on a refreshing cocktail. But I didn’t have any bourbon! So I decided to see what it would taste like with tequila and you know what? It was delicious!

What you need:

•  1 part mint simple syrup
• 2 parts white tequila
• Splash of sparkling water (Like le Croix or Perrier – I used le Croix cherry-lime)
• Peppermint sprigs to garnish

How to Do it:

Place the tequila and syrup in a shaker. Add ice (see note) and shake to mix. Place 2 or 3 ice cubes in a highball glass. Pour the mint and tequila over the top. Add a splash of sparkling water and garnish with a sprig of mint.

Refreshing!

Note: If you put the tequila in the freezer and the simple syrup in the refrigerator, they will almost be cold enough to not melt the ice cubes in the shaker. You can even skip the cube if you want.

© Copyright 2018 The Lazy Gastronome

Below are some of the items we used to create this recipe!

Disclosure: The items below are affiliate links through Amazon.com. If you purchase any of these products through the links, I receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thanks for your support!

I had no idea there was a day for Irish coffee. Did you?

This warming beverage was first served in the 1940’s at the Shannon airport in SW Ireland. Intending to warm the weary travelers stopping in, Chef Joe Sheridan added some whiskey and whipped cream to a cup of coffee. People loved it. A travel writer brought the idea back to the US and in November of 1952 decided to serve it at the Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco. They created their version of the original and the rest is history.

So go ahead, make up a cup for yourself and enjoy! 

The original version does not use whipped cream. It simple floats heavy cream on the top.