This past Fourth of July, I decided to do a “Dry 4th” and was pleasantly surprised with how good a time I had. As a craft beer nerd, I wanted a few options to sip on during the day.
I made three beer mocktails that day using Athletic Brewing Co.’s liquid. I kept enjoying them throughout the summer. They were all solid! My personal variations and thoughts on each one are below. I’m posting them in the order that I enjoyed them the most.
Mockelada
I was inspired by a recipe that I found on Serious Eats for this one. Simple, easy to follow and delicious. However, it was missing something I was looking for… the tomato juice. It made all the difference for this one. I messed around with 2 parts tomato juice, 1 part lime juice and found that to be the best mix.
By the third drink that I made, I felt that the Tajin rim was unnecessary, but to each their own: it looks pretty! I also felt that Cholula was the perfect hot sauce to use for this and that it was the perfect ratio (not too spicy), but feel free to adjust according to your own preference.
Long story short, use a liberal amount of fresh limes (or lime juice) and don’t forget the tomato juice. I also felt that the Athletic Mexican-style Copper was the better beer to use for this one over Athletic Lite, because there seemed to be more of a prevalent beer flavor, mix, and ratio. I couldn’t even tell the difference besides the absence of a hangover the next day.
- Tajin or a similar spice blend
- Sea salt, or Kosher salt
- 1 fluid oz fresh (or organic) lime juice, or the juice of 2 limes
- 2 fluid oz fresh (or organic) tomato juice
- 2 lime wedges, for the rim/garnish
- 2 TSP hot sauce (preferably Cholula)
- 1 TSP Worcestershire sauce
- Plenty of ice cubes
- 1 can (12 fluid oz) Athletic Mexican-style Copper or Athletic Lite
what do to
- Pour Tajín (or similar mixture) into a small, shallow dish in an even layer. Rub the rim of a pint glass with a lime wedge, then dip the glass into the dish to create the rim.
- Set the glass right side up and fill with tomato & lime juice, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce. Add a pinch of salt, fill glass with ice, and top with beer. Stir gently if you want to mix it a bit. Serve with the remaining beer, topping off as you enjoy.
“Sam summer”
This is by far the simplest of the 3 beer mocktails to make, but my second favorite one of Summer 2024. Athletic has a legit NA Radler/Shandy and when mixed with Athletic Lite, it makes for a pretty convincing NA Sam Adams Summer Ale clone.
All you really need is 1-2 cans of the Radler and a 6-pack of the Lite, and you’re in business… time for the beach!
What you need
- 3 parts (or 9-10 fluid oz) Athletic Lite
- 1 part (or 2-3 fluid oz) Athletic Radler/Shandy
what do to
- Pour a 3:1 ratio/mix of the beers into a pint glass, pitcher, or container of your choice.
- Enjoy!
ATHLETIC BREWING’S WILD GINGER CIDER PUNCH (TWO SERVINGS)
This one comes directly from the Athletic Brewing Website with very few adjustments. I enjoyed it a lot and it looks really nice presentation-wise, but I have a few important notes to set some expectations:
This is not really a beer mocktail in my opinion since more than a splash (or a few fluid ounces) of Run Wild IPA really throws off the balance of this one. I saw that Athletic started canning tall boy single cans, so I recommend only getting a tall boy or two of them if you plan on making this mocktail to see if you like it.
Also, you may actually enjoy this one more if you substitute the IPA for a seltzer or hop water, in all honesty. Less of a risk of “over bittering” this mocktail. In all honestly, this might have been my fault: I might not have mixed the mocktails super well, but I had to add extra cider and orange juice each time to balance out the finished product.
Last but not least: the recipe calls for a LOT of ginger syrup to be made… about 2 cups worth. I used no more than 8-10 tablespoons and that was enough syrup for about 6 of these drinks to be made. Since I’m more of a beer and wine vs. cocktail person, I still have a mason jar full of the ginger syrup in my fridge that I have zero use for… you have been warned.
What you need
- 1 navel, or 2-3 mandarin oranges
- 4 ounces of apple cider
- 1 can (12 fluid oz) of Athletic Run Wild IPA
- 2 fresh springs of rosemary for garnish
- 3 oz, fresh ginger (4-inches worth)
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 1 cup of water
- Plenty of ice cubes
what do to
- Make ginger syrup: Wash and roughly chop ginger and place it in a blender with sugar and water. Blend until the ginger is pureed and sugar is completely dissolved.
- Strain syrup through a fine mesh sieve/strainer into a bowl or other container. Press on the solids to extract as much syrup as possible before discarding. The recipe makes about 1 ½ cups of syrup, which will keep covered in the fridge for up to two weeks.
- Using a paring knife or vegetable peeler, peel two 3×1-inch strips off the orange(s). Slice them in half and juice 2 ounces (1/4 cup).
- Place the ice cubes into two rocks glasses. Divide the apple cider, orange juice, and 1 ounce of ginger syrup between the glasses. Stir and top them off with Run Wild IPA.
- Rub an orange peel around the rim of each glass and then drop into the drink. Garnish with rosemary sprigs.
