2-Ingredient Beermosa

Oh, the luck of the Irish doesn’t have to include green beer! This 2-Ingredient Beermosa is a whimsical St. Patrick’s Day drink. It can also be a fun, easy-to-make drink to enjoy for brunch or anytime! 

BEERMOSA RECIPE

In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day this month, I thought I’d share with you a cocktail recipe that has a pub feel, keeps things classy, and leaves the green beer at home.

Why you’ll love this recipe:

• Beermosas are easy to make — you only need two ingredients!
• They are delicious. You can enjoy them for breakfast or brunch as an alternative (or in addition) to mimosas.
• If you want to play around with flavor, there are lots of ways to make this cocktail your own.

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I’m excited to welcome Melissa of Glisten & Grace Design to the blog today with an awesome St. Patrick’s Day-inspired recipe! 

Before we get our mixology on, I want to take you back to the first time I tried this 2-Ingredient Beermosa cocktail.

I was in my last month living in my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky and wanted to try out a few new places before I moved.

I heard about Gralehaus, a small cafe with German roots, and knew it needed to be on my list of places to try, so a friend and I decided to brunch there.

After seeing the beermosa on their drink menu, my curiosity piqued so I had to try it.

When I moved to California, I realized that this 2-Ingredient Beermosa cocktail has become a standard in the gastropub culinary scenes of the Midwest. Sadly it has yet to make it to the West Coast, so I must make it at home.

Thanks, Melissa, for sharing your 2-Ingredient Beermosa recipe and the story behind it!

BEER AND ORANGE JUICE

Beer and orange juice might sound like an odd combination at first, but it makes sense once you think about it.

It’s a play on a classic mimosa, and the beer acts as fizzy champagne. In fact, there is no champagne in this cocktail at all.

And after all, orange can be a great accompaniment to many beers. 

Look no further than brands like Blue Moon and Shocktop, which are sometimes even served with orange slices.

Beer is a wonderful addition to many cocktails, such as the beerita which is a margarita made with beer.

Ingredients

Since this beermosa recipe only has 2 ingredients, it matters that you choose a good-quality beer as well as orange juice. Here’s what to pick up from the store:

• lager beer
• orange juice without pulp
• orange liqueur (optional)

Best beer for beer mimosa

This is definitely not the time for a PBR or a Budweiser, y’all. 

A good beermosa works best with a beer with citrus notes, so I like to go with a Belgian-style saison, as Melissa recommends.

But there are other options — I recommend a blonde ale, lager or pilsner if you can’t find a saison.

Whatever you pick, make sure it’s something on the lighter side, this is not the time for a strong IPA, stout or porter.

(It’s St. Paddy’s after all, so just get a Guinness if dark beer is what you desire! Or try a black velvet cocktail which is made with champagne and Guinness beer.)

You can definitely have fun picking out a craft beer to use in your beermosa. Ask your local bottle shop to make recommendations if you are having trouble choosing.

Best orange juice for beer mimosas

You should use a really, really good orange juice for beermosas. Fresh-squeezed orange juice is always the best! 

My suggestion for any cocktail is always to buy the best ingredients you can afford, and that’s true for orange juice too! If you can afford to splurge on the fresh-squeezed, do it.

If you’re game, though, the best juice is always going to come from squeezing the oranges at home. I recommend using an orange squeezer or a citrus juicer.

But if you are able to splurge on a fancier citrus juicer, the results would be worth it.

Storebought juice works just fine though too, and is a great hack if you want to make a ton of beermosas for a crowd.

Pulp or no pulp? Feel free to pick up the kind with pulp or without. But if it were me, I’d grab one that has low or no pulp to keep your beermosas free of pulp.

(Nothing wrong with pulp, it’s just not as appetizing when it floats at the top of a beermosa! If you squeeze at home, just make sure you strain the pulp if you’d like a smoother drink.)

Citrus Juicers

citrus squeezer

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electric juicer

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juicer with measuring cup

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Variations

If you like, you can play with other kinds of citrus juice.

Blood orange juice is one of my favorites, and making the beer version of blood orange mimosas sounds right up my alley.

Lemonade or limeade will be more like a traditional shandy, but we can still call it a beermosa.

Grapefruit juice and beer is technically called a radler, but it’s still a delicious brunch drink.

On the beer side, feel free to use non-alcoholic beer to make this a virgin beermosa. (Or use sparkling cider for a virgin mimosa.) My good friend raves about the non-alcoholic beer from Athletic Brewing.

Orange liqueur

Another tip Melissa has is to add 1 ounce of orange liqueur to each glass, for a little extra punch.

Grand Marnier and Cointreau are two common brands for orange liqueur. They are often considered top-shelf, so if you can afford to splurge on these I don’t think you’d be disappointed.

Cointreau is clear and based on a neutral spirit, and Grand Marnier is darker in color because it is made with brandy. Patron Citronge and Luxardo Triplum are other brands to look out for.

Plain triple sec is also orange-flavored, so that would work as well and is a much friendlier option for the wallet.

Blue curaçao is orange-flavored but has a vibrant blue color, so you can add that to make yours a green beermosa — even more perfect for St. Patrick’s Day! (These green mimosas are favorites for sure.)

Glassware for a beermosa

Melissa uses a tulip pint glass, which has a rounded, tapered shape, but I say use whatever beer glass you have on hand.

A standard pint glass would be great, though I am partial to these glasses that look like cans.

You never know when the mimosa craving will strike, after all!

Brass Monkey beer cocktail

There is another name for the beermosa, and that’s the brass monkey. Thanks to the Beastie Boys for popularizing the name, there is some debate about what a brass monkey cocktail actually is.

One version says it is a recipe made with orange juice and malt liquor, AKA beer. In other words, brass monkey is just another name for this beermosa.

Another version of the brass monkey hails back to the 1970s. It was a pre-mixed, canned drink produced by the Heublein Company made from dark rum, orange juice and vodka.

There is also a beer from Ol’ Beautiful Brewing Co. called Brass Monkey which is a blood-orange flavored beer. I think it would be great in the beermosa!

Never mind if you call this 2-ingredient cocktail a beermosa or a brass monkey — it is delicious either way.

Orange juice shandy cocktail

You could also call this cocktail a shandy. Shandies are usually made with a combination of lemonade and beer.

However, you can have fun with other flavors and mixers as well, as I have done with strawberry lemonade shandies and spiced apple cider shandies.

Beer cocktails

Beer makes a wonderful addition to cocktails and shouldn’t be overlooked as a mixer.

For more beer cocktails, try my michelada, Cheerwine shandy, or a ginger pumpkin beer shandy.

And make sure to check out Melissa’s site for everything from recipes and travel posts to style tips and home decor ideas. I know you’ll love it!

About Melissa Jones — Bringing honest thoughts on creativity, inspiration, design, and faith, I hope to find a bit of grace in my everyday life. Recently relocated to Northern California, I finally feel at home. A former pastor, ice cream scooper, and missionary, I have worked a variety of odd jobs, but have found my niche creating beauty every day.