A boilermaker can refer to two types of

beer cocktail A beer cocktail is a cocktail that is made by mixing beer with other ingredients (such as a distilled beverage) or another style of beer. In this type of cocktail, the primary ingredient is usually beer. List of beer cocktails * Black and ...

. In American terminology, the drink consists of a glass of

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

mixed with a shot of

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden ...

Name

The drink originated in

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to t ...

, in the 1890s, and was originally called a "Sean O'Farrell" and was served only when

miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

ended their shifts. When the beer is served as a chaser, the drink is often called simply a shot and a beer. In Britain, the term "boilermaker" traditionally refers to a half pint of draught mild mixed with a half pint of bottled brown ale, although it also refers to the American shot and pint. In Scotland, "a half and a half" is a half pint of beer with a whisky ("a wee hawf"). The use of these terms in Scottish and English

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

can be traced back to about 1920.

Drinking

There are a number of ways to drink an American beer chaser: * Traditionally, the liquor is consumed 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 the shot glass is dropped into the beer glass, the drink can also be known as a

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use h ...

Similar drinks

Other pairings of a shot and a beer are possible; traditional pairings include: * Herrengedeck ("gentlemen's menu"), a German pairing of

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...

(grain brandy) and beer *

Irish car bomb (cocktail) An Irish car bomb, Irish slammer, Irish bomb shot, or Dublin drop is a cocktail, similar to a boilermaker, made by dropping a bomb shot of Irish cream and Irish whiskey into a glass of Irish stout. Origin The "Irish" in the name refers to th ...

, a pairing of a shot of Irish cream and whiskey into a glass of stout * ("little headbutt"), a Dutch pairing of

Jenever Jenever (, ), also known as Hollands, genever, genièvre, peket, or sometimes as Dutch gin (archaic: Holland gin or Geneva gin), is the juniper-flavored traditional liquor in the Netherlands, Belgium and adjoining areas in northern France an ...

(Dutch gin) and beer, term attested 1943 *

Somaek ''Somaek'' () is a beer cocktail made with soju and beer. The beer used is typically a lager-style. Etymology It is a syllabic abbreviation of two Korean words, ''soju'' () and '' maekju'' (, "beer"). Preparation The ratio varies liberally ...

or Poktan-ju, a Korean pairing of

soju (; Hangul: ; Hanja: ) is a clear and colorless Korean distilled alcoholic beverage. It is usually consumed neat. Its alcohol content varies from about 12.9% to 53% alcohol by volume (ABV), although since 2007 low alcohol soju below 20% h ...

and beer *

U-boot U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare rol ...

, a pairing of

vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuriti ...

and beer * The Chicago Handshake or Chicago Drive-by, a shot of

Jeppson's Malört Jeppson's Malört is a brand of bäsk liquor, extremely low in thujone, introduced in the 1930s, and long produced by Chicago's Carl Jeppson Company. In 2018, as its last employee was retiring, the brand was sold to CH Distillery of Chicago's P ...

alongside

Old Style beer The G. Heileman Brewing Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States, was a brewery firm that operated from 1858 to 1996. It was ultimately acquired by Stroh's, and its independent existence ceased. From 1872 until its acquisition, the brewer ...

* The Citywide, sometimes called the Citywide Special, a Philadelphia pairing of a shot of

Jim Beam Jim Beam is an American brand of bourbon whiskey produced in Clermont, Kentucky, by Beam Suntory. It is one of the best-selling brands of bourbon in the world. Since 1795 (interrupted by Prohibition in the United States, Prohibition), seven gene ...

and a

Pabst Blue Ribbon Pabst Blue Ribbon, commonly abbreviated PBR, is an American lager beer sold by Pabst Brewing Company, established in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1844 and currently based in San Antonio. Originally called Best Select, and then Pabst Select, the cu ...

*The Sake Bomb or A-Bomb or Fat Man or Nagasaki or Hiroshima is the pairing of or depth charge of a pint of Japanese label beer and sake. Typically drunk in a single motion like a depth charge but it can be mixed, and swallowed in a go.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boilermaker (Beer Cocktail) Shooters (drinks) Cocktails with beer Cocktails Two-ingredient cocktails Cocktails with whisky

Name

Drinking

Similar drinks

See also

References