How Beer Cocktails work - with Arnd Heissen and the "BRLO Charlottenburg"
Bar ohne Namen
Entschlossen verweigert sich Savage, der Bar einen Namen zu geben. Stattdessen sind drei klassische Design-Symbole das Logo der Trinkstätte in Dalston: ein gelbes Quadrat, ein rotes Viereck, ein blauer Kreis. Am meisten wurmt den sympathischen Franzosen dabei, dass es kein Gelbes-Dreieck-Emoji gibt. Das erschwert auf komische Weise die Kommunikation. Der Instagram Account lautet: a_bar_with_shapes-for_a_name und anderenorts tauchen die Begriffe ‘Savage Bar’ oder eben ‚Bauhaus Bar‘ auf.
Für den BCB bringt Savage nun sein Barkonzept mit und mixt für uns mit Unterstützung von Russian Standard Vodka an der perfekten Bar dazu.
Beer doesn't always have an easy time in the classic cocktail bar: depending on the concept, it may play a shadowy role or not be offered at all. In mix concepts between pub and bar, the situation is certainly different. But here and there, one thing is very rare: Beer cocktails. In the new "BRLO Charlottenburg", we found out why they are so exciting for bars - and how to make them properly.
The new gastropub of the Berlin craft beer brand of the same name is located in the deep west of Berlin, in the premises of a former Irish pub. Anyone who knows BRLO will certainly also be familiar with its headquarters, the hip "Brwhouse" in Gleisdreieckpark, which was built as a pop-up from shipping containers. It's hip here too, but at the same time a little more dignified and cosy. After all, it's Charlottenburg! Be that as it may, BRLO focuses on combining its own beers with dishes to share. The focus is on plant-based ingredients and dishes, with meat as a fixture of traditional breweries playing a secondary role (in terms of quantity, mind you, but not quality).
Plants bring in more flavour
The reason for this is not only that the concept, which tends to be aimed at younger target groups, also wants to fulfil the need for vegetarian alternatives. It is also because plants, especially when cooked, fermented, roasted or dried, bring much more variety of flavours into play than meat and can therefore accompany the different beers from BRLO, which range from tart Berliner Weisse to strong, sweet porter, even better.
The new business has now come up with something else to showcase its own beers: Beer cocktails. Why? Managing Director Ben Pommer: "Thanks to Arnd's expertise, the beer cocktails complement the menu in a way that we couldn't do even with 20 beers on tap." This refers to bar icon Arnd Henning Heissen, who has become a good friend and partner over the years and has already created a beer cocktail for the team in 2021 - back then, he combined a Berliner Weisse refined with strawberries with tequila. Now the bartender, who was named "Mixologist of the Year" and "Host of the Year" at the "Mixology Bar Awards" and has just recently opened his own gastro project "Birds Nest", has written an entire beer cocktail menu for his colleagues at BRLO Charlottenburg. It currently consists of four beer cocktails and a cocktail with the brand's apple cider and will change seasonally.
© Sascha Gerritzen
Variety, bitterness, perlage
How did the whole thing come about? And how does beer in a cocktail actually work? "You can actually compare beer with mezcal quite well," says Heissen. There are very different varieties and styles of agave and hops, which in turn characterise the flavour of the distillate or brew. "In addition, the bitter notes of the beer give a drink a different direction and a complexity that is not present in a normal drink. Then there's the perlage, everybody's darling," says Heissen. It is also important not to see the beer in the drink as a filler or flavouring agent: It plays the main role. "The beer is the person, the other ingredients are the clothes," is how Heissen describes it succinctly. The ingredients around the beer work towards it or, to stay with the image of the professional host who often works with beautiful metaphors: It dresses with style.
From the cocktail to the beer
And just as the food is intended to encourage guests to discover a variety of beers, the beer cocktails also play a similar role in the gastronomic concept: they are not simply a "nice to have" addition to the menu, but are intended to make guests who do not normally drink beer (or only ever drink the same thing) curious about other styles and make them accessible via the "diversions" of cocktails. In other words: "Let's say you like chocolate and liquorice. Then a porter would be right up your street - but you don't know it yet." In his "Mayan Porter" cocktail, the palatable beer becomes even sweeter - and at the same time fresher and more complex. Heissen adds anejo tequila, Liebfrauenmilch (that's right, wine) for a little acidity, cassis liqueur and coriander to the "Baltic Porter". "Once you've had a Mayan Porter or two, you'll feel even more inclined to order the porter neat at the end," explains Heissen. And so the guest may discover their new favourite beer. A principle that is familiar from the Old Fashioned, which "polishes off" an edgy whisky and makes it more appealing, or of course the sour, which with its interplay of sweetness and acidity ensures that a guest sometimes chooses a variant with a spirit they are not yet familiar with.
© Sascha Gerritzen
© Sascha Gerritzen
Starry night in the forest
According to Heissen, the "Starry Night Weizen" tastes "like a starry night in the forest", with which the full-bodied "Weizen My Ass" is sublimated to a crisp, tangy level. The ingredients for this are double juniper, bergamot-vanilla spirit, verjus and mint. In the "Vision of a Parrott", Heissen combines the exotic passion fruit and mango flavours of the special hops of the "Blurry Vision IPA" (Azacca, Sabro, Cryo Citra, Galaxy) with Hawaiian coconut rum, rose blossom and lemongrass. And it tingles in your mouth, bringing back memories of magic gum from your childhood. Incidentally, the most spectacular vessel, a tiki mug, is reserved for the non-alcoholic beer cocktail. The non-alcoholic pale ale "Naked" becomes "Fully Naked" with pineapple, mango, lime juice, magnolia oil and verjus (an ingredient that Heissen uses in all his drinks). Many guests like it so much that they stay with it all evening or order the non-alcoholic beer, says Heissen.
No ice in the glass!
If beer cocktails work in a beer-centred gastro concept like this, (how) do they also work in a classic bar? Heissen answers in the affirmative and explains: First of all, it is important to familiarise yourself with the beers and imagine the atmosphere you want to create with the respective beer cocktail and the story you want to tell with it. On a technical level, it's important to bear this in mind: Everything has to be very cold, of course. But: please don't put ice in the glass: "Then the carbon dioxide will be lost." The beer bottles should therefore be cooled to just above zero degrees. The remaining ingredients, if freshly prepared, are stirred or shaken with ice before they are combined with the hoppy protagonist. Or, as here, they are kept in stock as a prebatch and prepared à la minute by the bar team. Conclusion: Beer cocktails have potential and deserve much more attention, both inside and outside the beer country of Germany.
