Growing up in the northeast, summer meant grilling out, eating watermelon on the front stoop and waiting for the bells of the ice cream truck to signal that Sam, Sam the Ice Cream Man was on his way. His Bomb Pops, Sno-Cones and Good Humor products cooled us off after an afternoon of running through the sprinklers and playing tag. As we got older, summers meant heading out to the beach – or as we said in NJ- “going down the shore” with a cooler full of beer to help us chill out.
Things haven’t changed that much except that now we live in Florida, so staying cool is a year round endeavor. Watermelon is still a summer staple, as are ice cream and beer; but now we are more likely to pair our beer and ice cream together or maybe even enjoy ice cream made from beer. Fortunately for beer lovers, there are now more ways than ever to chill out and cool off with a beer infused version of your favorite summer treats. Here are 5 to get started with:
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I love this recipe from DRAFT magazine. I think next time instead of going the pie route, I might try pouring the mixture into popsicle trays and make my own beery version of a Dreamsicle. |
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Seriously, just looking at the ice cream and sherbet posted on Brew Moo’d Craft Beer Infused Ice Cream’s Facebook page makes me want to hop on a plane to Colorado. But since that isn’t an option at the moment, I plan to make my own and this recipe for Beer Caramel Ice Cream is where I’m going to start. |
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My 92-year old dad is not a beer drinker- except when it comes to root beer -and root beer floats of course! This is him enjoying a root beer during beer tasting class a while back. Being my father’s daughter, I decided to try out the oh-so-obvious combo of one of the many root beer beers now available with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was an easy winner, but what really made it work in my opinion was using a bendy straw 😉 For some less obvious combos, here is a list of beer float suggestions from Certified Cicerones |
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If you prefer your ice cream alongside of your beer rather than in it, then you’ll be happy to know that John Holl from All About Beer got together with the fine folks at Baskin Robbins to forge a list of perfect pairings. They’ve even produced a great infographic that you can print out and hang on your fridge for reference! |
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Popsicles are a summer staple. This beer based version using Sam Adams Summer Ale adds a bit of spice to the sweetness, making it a perfect refresher! If you want the no fuss version of a beer popsicle, you can actually just pour your beer into a paper cup, cover it with saran wrap, poke a popsicle stick into it and freeze it! I tried it with some Coney Island Root Beer (Beer). It came out tasting like a frozen version of root beer barrel candy. I think next time I might try Brooklyn’s Black Chocolate Stout and see if I can create the ultimate fudgicle! |
What are your favorite summer beer treats?
