Shot & Beer Pairings

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Casual Binger
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Shot & Beer Pairings

Post by Casual Binger »

I know there's already a Boilermaker appreciation thread, but I wanna deconstruct the drink as well as appreciate it.

Here's my story. I purchased a bottle of duty free Glenfiddich prior to my 40th birthday, but with everything else I had to drink that day it didn't get opened. Even the bottle of Canadian Club that a friend bought me only got a token sampling because it would have been rude not to - especially since he'd gone to the trouble of buying some some ginger ale to go with it. The upshot was that I was left with a full litre bottle of Glenfiddich & a nearly bottle of Club. I tried the Glenfiddich neat, on the rocks & with soda, but it just didn't seem to appeal to me. It tasted medicinal. I'd enjoyed Scotch in the past, but it had been a while & maybe my tastes had changed. I compared it with the Club. I drank them both straight from the bottle & couldn't see a lot of difference. Sure, the GF smelled nice, while the Club had virtually no smell at all. I've since learned that whiskey drinkers call this the nose. The GF also had a nice, complex aftertaste (the finish), but the flavour when you swallowed was pretty similar.

Then I hit upon chasing the whiskey with beer. I'd heard of it of course, but couldn't recall ever having tried it. My first combo was GF followed by Asahi Super Dry. The flavour combination was like an explosion of colours in the darkness! I was sold. It wasn't just the flavours. If you swilled the whiskey & maybe even gargled it, the numbness from the alcohol burn would dull the fizziness of the beer afterwards, meaning that you could knock back half a bottle in a few swallows without the bubbles bothering you. I finished the GF, then the Club, then I bought a bottle of Jim Beam Straight Rye. I figured since it was an American drinking tradition I'd try it with American beer. Budweiser was better than I remembered. PBR was fairly similar, although you can only get it in cans here. Miller was tasteless swill & Coors too. Apologies to anyone who drinks that stuff - maybe they offload their completely flavourless stock in Australia?

I didn't buy any more bottles of whiskey for a while as my wife wasn't very impressed with my new habit. It didn't slow down my beer consumption noticeably & increased my chances of falling asleep on the couch, then coming to bed without brushing my teeth & sleeptalking/singing/giggling loudly. Apparently this is annoying. So I took the opportunity to order a Johnny Red in the pub now & again, but it wasn't the same. I think the 30ml serving makes you want to sip it when you really need to take a gulp & roll it around you mouth to get the full effect. Now I'm on hiatus, but when I'm back on the sauce, my second drink is gunna be whiskey & my third a beer chaser. My first is gunna be a pint of strong, dry cider. I've been fixated on this for some reason.

So, what are your favourite shot/beer pairings? Why? Which is the most important part - the whiskey or the beer? Is using top shelf Scotch a waste, or is not using top shelf Scoth a lost opportunity? How big do you like your shot? How many shots per beer? What sorts of beer in general? Hoppy? Malty?

Obviously the best way to find out what is best for me is to experiment, & that's just what I aim to do. But I've still got a few weeks to go of living vicariously by reading about booze on the Web, so I'd be very interested in hearing about how you all like your shots & beers.

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oettinger
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Re: Shot & Beer Pairings

Post by oettinger »

So many questions!
Not really into shots myself but one rule I almost everytime follow is the cheaper the hooch the colder the beer.
If I was forced to say do some johnnie walker red shots, as I can`t stand that stuff, the beer needs to be quite cold, cristal clear and shouldn`t feel like a hamburger bun in the stomach. Does that fact make it hoppy? Otherwise you would see the smelly results on the table pretty quick. That makes the choice of whisky slightly more important I guess
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Re: Shot & Beer Pairings

Post by booznik »

Casual Binger wrote:...Which is the most important part - the whiskey or the beer?...
Certainly the whiskey. That goes for any spirit, really. If you have a good spirit, that's the lead actor. Beer plays, at best, a supporting role. I'll almost always have beer alongside my spirits, but which beer it is doesn't matter so much, as long as it's a beer I like.

Since you're just starting your whiskey journey from the sounds of things, I'll just point out that out of the whiskeys you mentioned, only the Glenfiddich was actually made for drinking neat. JW Red, CC, and JB rye are all mixing whiskeys. If you have a chance, take one step up, such as JW Black, or Jim Beam 8 year old. Experience the difference.

It's also enlightening to branch out into other spirits. Australia is producing some fine rums these days, such as Inner Circle.

Cheers, and may good spirits (in every sense of the word) quickly find you when you return to your seat at the bar.
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Re: Shot & Beer Pairings

Post by Patchez »

Ya know I never gave much thought to the shot/beer chaser combo. It was something we always jut, well , did. The thought of doing it as a pairing is intriguing.

To start with I would only do this with middle to lower shelf whiskeys. You don't want to shoot a sippin' whiskey. That being said, a craft beer chaser could be a thing of beauty. I must explore this and see what I come up with. I may have to make a trip to the candy store for those little airline size sample bottle and a mixed sixer or two of crafties.

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Re: Shot & Beer Pairings

Post by booznik »

Patchez wrote:To the Research Mobile!

Nana nana nana nana, nana nana nana nana, nana Drunkman.
So the truth is out. Patchez is Drunkman.

This, in addition to his role as Defender of the Manly Beard, putting hipsters in their places.

And stalwart Treasurer of the Memorial Fund to boot.

The Memorial Fund.

There's a Memorial Fund.
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"Oh, you've been reading your Sir Kenelm Digby, haven't you? Stick to the mead recipes, especially that of the Mayor of Moscovy. That shizz is SACK!!!" --Badfellow

"Now stop and DRINK! bastards." --mistah willies

"A stand alone place for booze is as essential for a home, as is a bed to sleep on." --Miklo

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Casual Binger
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Re: Shot & Beer Pairings

Post by Casual Binger »

Some good advice here. I hadn't thought about the coldness of the beer, but I think maybe I should avoid JWR altogether. The only time I recall enjoying it was when I drained most of a nip in one gulp & followed it with a few swallows of Coopers Green. I was already half drunk after spending the morning drinking pint cans of PBR in the bath. I think this lowered my inhibition regarding my imbibition. There's just no point sipping cheap whiskey. I have tried JWB. In fact, it's the only whiskey I've bought (for myself) more than once. I'm stuck with the fact that several pubs in my town stock nothing but JWR. In fact, I believe it's the majority that do. I'm pretty sure I'll be knocking back Suntory Yellow Label in Japan, so I'll have to make sure the Kirin Ichiban I chase it with is nice & frosty. I plan to make a point of buying reasonable whiskey to drink at home, & buying a new bottle whenever my latest gets down to a quarter full. That way I should end up with a bunch of near empties to do taste tests with.

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Re: Shot & Beer Pairings

Post by Palinka (RIP) »

Vodka and more vodka.

Seems to work for me...
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Casual Binger
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Re: Shot & Beer Pairings

Post by Casual Binger »

Palinka wrote:Vodka and more vodka.

Seems to work for me...
That's probably a little hardcore for me. I guess if the more vodka had a mixer in it, it might be OK for a while, but it would still catch up with me pretty quickly.

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Re: Shot & Beer Pairings

Post by peetie44 »

I like a glass of whisk(e)y neat, with both a beer and a glass of water for a chaser.
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Re: Shot & Beer Pairings

Post by Casual Binger »

peetie44 wrote:I like a glass of whisk(e)y neat, with both a beer and a glass of water for a chaser.
Interesting. I've given a bit of thought to the water & whiskey issue. Not drinking, I think about drinking a lot. I've tried mixing both still & sparkling water with whiskey & found it just thins it out. I wanna explore adding just a tiny bit of still water, but also had thought about drinking the whiskey neat, then chasing it with sparkling water. So, you go whisky first, then beer, then water? Still or sparkling? I understand you're a single malt man. What sort of beer chaser do you favour?

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Re: Shot & Beer Pairings

Post by peetie44 »

Casual Binger wrote:
peetie44 wrote:I like a glass of whisk(e)y neat, with both a beer and a glass of water for a chaser.
Interesting. I've given a bit of thought to the water & whiskey issue. Not drinking, I think about drinking a lot. I've tried mixing both still & sparkling water with whiskey & found it just thins it out. I wanna explore adding just a tiny bit of still water, but also had thought about drinking the whiskey neat, then chasing it with sparkling water. So, you go whisky first, then beer, then water? Still or sparkling? I understand you're a single malt man. What sort of beer chaser do you favour?
Belgian pilsner, usually. But I often ramp it up with high-test Trappist ales. Also, Guinness.

I rotate in the water every couple of rounds — still, if at home; sparkling, if I'm gigging (musician) — to keep myself well hydrated. That's a key to long drinking sessions and good kidney/bladder flow.
"Man i once bought $101 worth of insect candy because it was free shipping on orders over 100 bucks." -- ThirstyDrunk

"I wanted a shark high on crack dumped into a piranha tank! I wanted college AD's to pull their human faces off, then dive at each other's lizard throats!" -- waahoohah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q01p7k6T ... e=youtu.be

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Re: Shot & Beer Pairings

Post by Casual Binger »

This is what I've been looking for:

genkabar.jp

It's Y1600 to enter(about US$16), & all drinks are wholesale prices. If you assume that you're going to have at least ten drinks, you can just add Y160 to the price of everything on the menu. It comes out looking pretty damn good to me. I'll spend one of the evenings I'm in Tokyo in November there trying all those single malts I've only heard of & chasing them with Super Dry.

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Re: Shot & Beer Pairings

Post by Casual Binger »


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Re: Shot & Beer Pairings

Post by Mr. Viking »

cider with gin is a classic.I also enjoy a pint of mild or maybe stout with dark rum
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Casual Binger
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Re: Shot & Beer Pairings

Post by Casual Binger »

Yeah, I'd been wondering what might go well with cider. Gin, eh?

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