We love a glass of beer or cider, and neither needs any alteration to be a great drink. But both are surprisingly good cocktail ingredients, adding bright effervescence to all sorts of drinks. Come fall, we mix beer and cider into dark cocktails to end up with perfectly balanced sippers. From a classic snakebite to a cider punch, we've rounded up our favorite fall beer and cider cocktail recipes.
If you can't decide whether you want to make a beer cocktail or a cider cocktail, then make both at once. The Snakebite is a British pub classic made with equal parts dark stout beer and crisp, dry hard cider. Wassail is a mulled cider punch made with hard cider and ale, fortified with madeira, and spiced with allspice, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
Bitter IPA is a fun, unconventional way to punch up a cocktail. Our Cherry Shandy is a simple drink consisting of IPA spiked with Luxardo Sangue Morlacco cherry liqueur. The Last Pontoon is a complex drink inspired by smoky-sweet mole. It's made with cognac, orgeat, dark rum, sherry, mezcal, and IPA.
There's no time of year when we aren't in the mood for micheladas. This Mexican beer cocktail manages to be refreshing in the summer and warming in winter. Our spicy version is made with tomato and lime juice, hot sauce, Tajín, and Maggi seasoning. Garnish it with Tajín-covered cucumber slices and, if you're feeling fancy, cooked shrimp.
Find all of these drinks and more in our collection of fall beer and cider cocktails.
The Pledge
In this easy-drinking beer cocktail, the concentrated raisin flavor of the sherry, the honeyed quality of the Benedictine liqueur, and the oatmeal stout add up to something like “breakfast in a glass.” A sprinkling of sweet, spicy nutmeg seems completely appropriate in this context.
Last Pontoon
This drink takes cues from mole’s combination of smoky, sweet flavors, incorporating mezcal, sherry, dark rum, and cognac.
Wassail
Wassail gets its name from the Old Norse “ves heill” and Old English “was hál,” meaning “be fortunate,” which is how we feel when we drink it. Get the recipe for Wassail
Ciderhouse Whiskey
Two simple ingredients, whiskey and cider syrup, combine to make a powerfully good drink. A twist of lemon lends a bitter brightness without diluting the richness of the cocktail.
The Snakebite
The Snakebite—equal parts hard cider and stout—works best with a crisp, dry cider. Get the recipe for The Snakebite
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