While beer does have a history in cocktails, such as the Shandy (lemonade and beer mixed, 50/50) or the Black Velvet (Guinness and Champagne), its use in cocktails had fallen into disfavor—until recently.

Top mixologists—like Portland’s Jacob Grier and his Brewing Up Cocktails series—have recently taken beer cocktails to another level through the meticulous understanding of beer flavor profiles and the proper mixing of certain beers.

San Francisco’s Kevin Diedrich of Jasper’s Corner Tap and Kitchen is another top flight mixologist incorporating beer into cocktails in innovative ways. When Jasper’s Corner Tap and Kitchen opened in the Serrano Hotel in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District, the initial focus of the bar program was craft beers. However, once Jasper’s acquired the services of Diedrich and a number of other top San Francisco mixologists, “mind-blowing cocktails” became another focus of Jasper’s.

With a combination of Hoegaarden (a classic Belgian wheat beer produced since 1445), Buffalo Trace bourbon (one of America’s best bourbon whiskies), and orange marmalade, Kevin Diedrich has created a modern, beer-based riff on the classic whiskey sour cocktail: the Weissen Sour.

While many cocktails created by America’s top bartenders are simply too complex to recreate easily at home, the Weissen Sour is easy enough to reproduce and well worth the effort.

Kevin Diedrich’s Weissen Sour

Makes 1 cocktail, as served at Jasper’s Corner Tap and Kitchen, SF, California

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Buffalo Trace bourbon
• ¾ oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
• ¼ oz simple syrup
• 2 dashes of orange bitters
• 1 barspoon orange marmalade
• Hoegaarden beer, as needed
• Lemon twist, for garnish

Directions:

1. Combine bourbon, lemon juice, simple syrup, bitters, and marmalade in a mixing glass.
2. Add ice. Shake vigorously 30 to 45 seconds.
3. Strain over ice into a double rocks glass (also known as a bucket)
4. Top with Hoegaarden beer.
5. Express a lemon twist over the surface of the drink and garnish.
6. Serve.