Beyond the brew: Beer cocktails

At the bar at the Blind Tiger, and a Bloody Beer, a spicy cocktail made with beer. (Jefferson Siegel)

By Tracy E. Hopkins | Special to amNewYork

12:54 PM EDT, May 8, 2008

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Beer cocktails are making a comeback in the spirits world, and they're going beyond the black-and-tan (Guinness and Bass ale) and the boiler-maker (a shot of whiskey in a glass of beer).

"In the '80s you had limited options it was Bud, Miller and Coors," says Karyn Seltzer, general manager of Telephone Bar & Grill, an East Village English pub that specializes in beer cocktails. "Now there are lots of breweries and people are becoming beer connoisseurs, and looking at beer similarly to wine."

Here are our picks of some of the city's best bars for a beer cocktail.

Telephone Bar & Grill. This bar has been serving beer cocktails for 20 years. Popular concoctions include the Black Velvet, made from Guinness and champagne, the Shandy, a mixture of ale or lager with 7-Up, the Snakebite, lager and cider with black-currant ribena (syrup) and the Telephone Lager and Lime, which blends light lager and key lime juice. (149 Second Ave., between Ninth and Tenth streets; 212-529-5000)

The Blind Tiger Louise's Famous Bloody Beer is the bar's version of a Bloody Mary. But instead of vodka, Louise's uses a strong ale, plus tomato juice and secret spices. It is garnished with celery, olives, pickles and other treats. (281 Bleecker St. at Jones Street; 212-462-4682)

The Mark Bar This Greenpoint hangout serves a mean Michelada. The cocktail is similar to a Bloody Mary, but it's made with Mexican beer. (1025 Manhattan Ave., between Green and Freeman streets, Greenpoint, Brooklyn; 718-349-2340)

Madiba Restaurant and Bar South African cuisine is the main draw to this hip Fort Greene restaurant, but the bar also delivers creative brew cocktails. Madiba's version of the Depth Charge is a glass of beer with a shot glass of Green Creme de Mint, and the Spring Buck is beer blended with Amarula creme from the fruit of the African Marula tree. (195 Dekalb Ave. at Carlton Avenue, Brooklyn; 718-855-9190)