4 Simply Delicious Beer & Cider Cocktails for Mother's Day Brunch • Beer Dabbler

Look at all of these fun cocktails you can make with beer! • Photo by Jordan Wipf

Brunch cocktails are as much of a tradition on Mother’s Day as french toast and cheesy cards with dogs on them, but it’s easy for those of us that love craft beer and cider to feel left out in the cold by a lack of options. Luckily, we degenerates at the Beer Dabbler have had plenty of experience sneaking beer and cider into situations that don’t necessarily call for it, and we’ve got good news: Nearly all of the classic brunch cocktail recipes can work really well with beer and cider subbed-in!

Since we know not everyone has a fully stocked home bar and time to learn the dark art of mixology, we designed these cocktails to be simple enough for even a novice to make. That said, it helps if you’ve got the following pieces of gear:

Jigger (measuring shot) or shot glass
Cocktail shaker or a jam jar with a lid
Bar strainer or other mesh strainer

That’s it! Now get ready to learn something that might finally impress your mom, for once!

Photo by Jordan Wipf

The Perfect Beermosa & Cidermosa

Nothing says “brunch” quite like the classic Mimosa. This bone-simple cocktail is bright, refreshing, and feels almost…healthy? Almost. Our Cidermosa swaps out the bubbly for an extra dry, high-character cider like Number 12’s Legacy, and we gotta say, it’s even better this way than with champagne. Legacy’s heritage cider apple flavor and highly carbonated finish bring an added complexity to a drink that can occasionally feel rote. Plus, it comes in a classy bottle, so mom might not even notice that she’s not drinking champagne.

Not a cider person? No worries, the Beermosa is also a worthy challenger. If you’re serving this for a craft beer geek, we like to use a hoppy pilsner like Dual Citizen Brewing Company’s Essential Industry Pils because the bright bitterness of the hops cut the sweetness of the OJ in a pleasing way, and the crisp, dry hop finish is a great substitute for champagne’s vinous bite.

Want to make it more poundable and refreshing? Just plug in some Hamm’s and go to town. Looking to experiment with some fun variations? American wheat ales like Bell’s Oberon lend an orange peel zest and ultra creamy mouthfeel, while citrusy fruited IPAs like Blacklist Brewing Co.’s Peach Hazy give your Beermosa a thick, full body and drag the OJ into Tangerine Town.

One note when you’re mixing Beermosas: Up your ratio of beer to OJ a bit from where you’d normally sit with champagne, as beer’s lighter carbonation level has a tendency to get muddled at more even proportion levels.

Cidermosa Ingredients

1 part orange juice
1 part dry heritage cider, like Number 12 Cider’s Legacy

Beermosa

1 part orange juice
2 parts hoppy Pilsner, like Dual Citizen Brewing Company’s Essential Industry Pils OR macro lager like Hamm’s

Mixing Steps:

Literally, just pour it into the glass.

Photo by Jordan Wipf

Spaghett, AKA The Foamerita

This hipster-certified beer cocktail comes courtesy of our neighbors to the east in Milwaukee but its roots lie in the fancy-schmancy Italian tradition of the Aperol spritz, making it a perfect mix of highbrow and lowbrow. The original Milwaukee recipe calls for the cloyingly sweet Miller High Life, but we recommend 86ing that in favor of a macro-style craft lager like Fair State’s delightful Crankin’ Foamers.

The resulting beer cocktail is easy-drinking and thoroughly charming, with Aperol’s floral, aromatic sweetness interacting perfectly with the tart lemon juice and Foamers’ crisp, lightly corny finish. We like to add a splash of Campari to cut some of the sweetness, but it’s not a crucial component. Folks who prefer things dry and bitter should sub Campari for Aperol entirely, and there’s many a Spaghett fan that would rather use lime juice than lemons. If you’re on the lime train, up the ante by subbing out regular Crankin’ Foamers for the new Crankin’ Foamers Lime hitting market.

Spaghett, AKA The Foamerita

1 1/2 oz. Aperol
1/4 oz. Campari
1/2 oz. lemon juice
12 oz. craft American-style lager, like Fair State Brewing Co-Op’s Crankin’ Foamers

Mixing Steps:

Combine Aperol, Campari, and lemon juice in a pint glass or highball.
Top with entire can of Crankin’ Foamers.

Photo by Jordan Wipf

Cider 75

The classic French 75 recipe exudes old world elegance and also packs a pretty strong punch for brunch (just how mom likes ’em). Just like in our Cidermosa, we’re going to give champagne the boot in favor of a cider, but this time we’re going to go with something a little more playful: Minneapolis Cider’s Lemon Lavender Shandy Cider (available in Dabbler in a Box – Season 7)!

While it’s not quite as fizzy as the original, we how this cider’s perfumey touch of lavender interacts with gin’s snappy pine flavor, and the lemon-on-lemon love wraps things all up in a nice bow. Word to the wise, suit your simple syrup level to the relative sweetness of your cider. Off-dry and dry ciders could probably go up to 3/4 oz.

Cider 75

2 oz. gin
3/4 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup
2-4 oz. of off-dry or semi-sweet cider, like Minneapolis Cider Co. Lemon Lavender Shandy Cider (available today in Dabbler in a Box Season 7)

Mixing Steps:

Combine gin, simple syrup and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker over ice and shake vigorously.
Strain into glass and top with Lemon Lavender Shandy Cider.

Photo by Jordan Wipf

Beergarita

Ah, the Beergarita, the quintessential cocktail of Pontoon Moms and Cruise Ship Aunts the world over. Our version starts with a classic marg base of tequila and lime juice, and then we swap the usual Cointreau in favor of orange bitters and simple (for simplicity’s sake).

Shake it up and top it off all with a few ounces of your favorite gose, which adds a layer of saltiness (no rim necessary!) and a lightly tart sour note that blends in perfectly with this cocktail’s brash blast of lime. We love to use Bauhaus Brew Labs’ Guavatron Gose because it adds an extra dimension of funky, tangy gauva to the drink that interacts perfect with the round, wily qualities of tequila.

Guavatron Beergarita