The Noble Experiment

I’ve been delinquent in getting this post up.  I’ve had it in mind for the better part of a few weeks, but I just haven’t gotten it posted.  I have the usual excuses – too busy at work, forgot, dog ate my homework, etc.  But the reality is that I’ve just been delinquent.  Excuses aside, here is what we’re working with.

There was ongoing chatter on twitter amongst some bartenders and cocktailians about making a beer cocktail.  I jumped into the fray and thought I may be able come up with something interesting.  Turns out, its far more difficult than I imagined.  And I didn’t make it easy on myself, I wanted a full flavored beer that had lots of malt, sweetness and hops.

So I started with Avery Maharajam Imperial India Pale Ale.

This is a delicious beer in its own right.  Avery brewery is somewhere in Colorado.  This Imperial IPA is super hoppy with a nice malt sweetness.  It’s well balanced and delicious.  To be honest, it was difficult putting it in a cocktail.  I wanted to keep drinking it in a chilled pint glass.

But my neurosis aside, here’s what I decided to do.

First, I took 1.5 ounces of my Avery Imperial IPA.  Second, I took my 2nd favorite thing in the world, Dolin dry vermouth.

Yes, Dolin is one of my favorite things in the world.  Then I broke out the Fee Brothers Old Fashioned Bitters.  I thought the Fee Brothers would work better than the standard Angostura because of the abundance of cinnamon that I taste in the Fee Brothers.  I thought the earthy, cinnamon-y aspects of Fee Brothers would play nicely with the hoppy and malty Avery IPA. Finally, I squeezed in a lime and called it a day!

So that’s it.  Seriously.  It’s that easy.  And I thought it was an easy drinking beer cocktail.  And just to recap:

1.5 oz Avery Imperial IPA

1 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth

1 Dash Fee Brothers Old Fashioned Bitters

Squeeze of a lime