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 Philadelphia, it is commonly referred to as a Citywide Special; in Texas, it is known as a Two-Step, and in parts of Florida, it is often referred to as a Git-Right.

The drink originated in Butte, Montana in the 1890s, and was originally called a "Sean O'Farrell" and was served only when miners ended their shifts.

In England, the term boilermaker traditionally refers to a half pint of draught mild mixed with a half pint of bottled brown ale, although it now also commonly refers to the American shot and pint. In Scotland, a Half and a Half is a half pint of beer with a whisky ('a haul'). The use of these terms in Scottish and English 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 actual shot glass is dropped into the beer glass, the drink is known as a depth charge.[ citation needed ]
  • The liquor may be poured directly into an open beer bottle or can after consuming some of the beer.

Similar drinks

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

  • Herrengedeck (literally "gentlemen's menu"), German pairing of Korn (grain brandy) and beer.
  • Imp 'n' Arn, Imperial whisky and Iron City Beer, exclusive to Pittsburgh.
  • Kopstootje (little headbutt), Dutch pairing of Jenever (Dutch gin) and beer, term attested 1943.
  • Somaek, Poktan-ju, Korean pairing of soju and beer.
  • U-Boot, German pairing of vodka and beer.
  • Yorsh, Russian pairing of vodka and beer.
  • Chicago Handshake, a pairing of Jeppson's Malört and Old Style Beer
  • Irish Car Bomb, an American pairing of a shot of Irish cream and whiskey into a glass of stout.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Boilermaker (beer cocktail), which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.