Jacob Grier, mixologist, writer, and regional Brand Ambassador for Bols Genever, has been working with two of the talented folks at Hop & Vine, Yetta Vorobik and Ezra Johnson-Greenough, on mixing cocktails with beer.
Last week the trio…er…brewed up… a few combinations of spirits and malts for an avid crowd---and the results were pretty impressive.
The Hop & Vine is a cool little place with a casual “Portland vibe” located at 1914 N. Killingsworth. And although only the beer and wine are mentioned in their name, they have a very active full bar as well. All three beverages were flowing on this day, but the focus was the beer-laced cocktails.
There’s one school of thought that says, “Hey, if the beer’s already that good, why mess it up by mixing it with something else?” But in Portland, where the mixologists are pushing the parameters of their craft---as are the brewers and distillers themselves!---experimentation is the name of the game. And all alcoholic beverages start with fermentation, right? So why not beer as an ingredient in a cocktail?
Enter Jacob Grier.
An accomplished mixologist, admired throughout the community, Jacob
is a thoughtful, analytical, and methodical craftsman when he approaches his work. He also has a finely developed sensibility for harmonizing flavors. Like any good artist, he has a firm grasp of the classics of his genre, but is willing---and able enough---to step beyond the classics and generate ideas of his own. He also enjoys the collaborative process of working with and listening to others, so he teamed up with Ezra and Yetta in alchemical conspiracy. So these beertails promised to be interesting.
And they were.
Jacob offered six beer-influenced cocktails, evenly divided between light and fruity and full-bodied, robust and dark.
The Dutch Devil is a lovely, light aperitif cocktail, with the intriguing complexities of Duvel Belgian Ale (one of the best!) married to the malty smoothness of Bols Genever, and offset by the contrasting touch of sugars and bitters. Seems eminently natural served up in a tall flute champagne glass too. An excellent starter.
The Quatro Blanco is a quantum leap in another direction; it leads with a strong herbal/vegetal rush of aroma, a reflection of the mellow agave in the Herradura Reposado 
tequila, the sweet and intense thyme of the obscure and delightful Farigoule Provencal Thyme Liqueur and the soft floral and spice notes of the locally made Upright Brewing Four (a special release for restaurants, slightly different from the standard bottled version in that it is barrel aged and steeped with different botanicals).
This is a compelling cocktail, more intricate than one might think, and changing subtly as it sits in the glass. The distinct elements of the three ingredients---the tequila, the liqueur and the beer---retain their individual identities, but they also harmonize gently to create---quite literally---something that was not there before. Nicely done.
Brewer’s Bramble is another ‘change-up pitch’ in the cocktail lineup, veering over clearly into the fruit zone. It’s a simple---Jacob understands the power of simplicity in cocktails---and beautifully balanced combination of Damrak Dutch Gin, Clear Creek 
Blackberry Liqueur, and the brilliant addition of Bruery Hottenroth beer from Placentia, CA.
The Damrak provides the crisp juniper, the Clear Creek a piquant blackberry fruit, and the Hottenroth a defining finish of sour cherry and light cinnamon spice. Once again, each ingredient retains its specific identity, but all marry together in perfect balance. Amazingly fresh and lively, this would be a perfect light summertime splash of a cocktail, as suitable for a backyard party as gracing a white tablecloth in an upscale restaurant.
The Choke Van Roy stays in the fruit zone while hearkening back to the herbal and vegetal tone of the first two cocktails by blending Cherry Brandy with Cynar, that strangely compelling bitter liqueur made from artichoke (and when did you think you’d be drinking liquid artichokes---and liking it---when you were a child?), then balancing out the two contrasting flavors with a smooth, sour, and slightly bitter Cantillon, a gueuze lambic brew. Again, simplicity: the use of few ingredients, well chosen, and in perfect balance with each other. And this cocktail seems to fit nicely into that pantheon of classics such as the Manhattan and the Sidecar.
For the final two beertails, Jacob pulls out all the stops, releases all restraint, and creates two massive bruisers. Not for the faint of heart, or palate, these two have rich, deep, dark concentrated flavors. They are not for the wimpy.
The F*rburger (and I’m not touching that one; no way) is Jacob’s nod to bourbon whiskey on one hand and stout on the other, with a combination of Buffalo Trace bourbon and Chocolate Oak-Aged Yeti Imperial Stout from the Great Divide Brewing Company, with the compelling and vibrant green Chartreuse herb liqueur to bring the two together. (Have you figured out Jacob’s style yet?). Big flavors in this drink, for sure, and all of them delicious, separately and together. This is a beautifully constructed cocktail.
But the Cascadian Revolution rules them all, at least in outright force of flavor. It’s the big bruiser, the over-the-top, no-holds-barred, statement-of-excess for Jacob’s foray into beertails. Deschutes Brewery's Hop In The Dark is the powerful center of this one, with the bittersweet orange (and cognac) of Grand Marnier, the bright, biting, fiery evergreen .jpg)
dazzlement of Clear Creek Douglas Fir eau-de-vie…and then the coup de grace of a drop of pure hop oil that dominates it all with its suffused, intense, overwhelming bitterness.
left, Cascadian Revolution;
center, Choke Van Roy;
right, Dutch Devil
Warning, though: the hop oil might be a bit much for some. It really is intensely bitter, and the oil keeps it on the palate for a very long time and tends to wipe out other flavors. But if you like ‘em large and loud, this is the cocktail for you to try.
So if you're still skeptical of mixing beer with spirits, you might want to rethink it a bit. It can definitely be done, and done exceedingly well. A trip over to Hop & Vine might be in order to check it all out.
And if you'd like to know more about Jacob, and read his musings on coffee, cocktails, magic, and just about anything else that strikes his fancy, you can check out his blog here.
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