Boilermaker (beer cocktail)

The ingredients of the American version of a boilermaker.

A boilermaker can refer to two types of beer cocktail. In American terminology, the drink consists of a glass of beer and a shot of whiskey. The beer is either served as a chaser or mixed with the whiskey. When the beer is served as a chaser, the drink is often called simply a shot and a beer.

In the United Kingdom, the term boilermaker refers to a half pint of draught mild mixed with a half pint of bottled brown ale. The use of the term in British pubs can be traced back to about 1920.

Drinking

There are a number of ways to drink an American boilermaker:

• Traditionally, the liquor is drunk in a single gulp and is then "chased" by the beer, which is sipped.

• The liquor and beer may be mixed by pouring or dropping the shot into the beer. The mixture may be stirred, if desired. If the full shot glass is dropped into the beer glass, the drink is known as a depth charge.
• The liquor may be poured directly into an open beer bottle or can after removing some of the beer.

Similar drinks

Other pairings of a shot and a beer are possible; traditional pairings include:

• Kopstootje (little headbutt), Dutch pairing of Jenever (Dutch gin) and beer, term attested 1943.

See also

• Bomb shot
• Yorsh