I working on a lot of cocktail recipes for this holiday season so prepare yourself for #BoozeyHoliday! I’ve got three more cocktails in the works after this one!

For the holiday season I wanted to create a beer drink that was festive while still being light to drink and super easy to put together.  No one wants to fuss at holiday parties mixing a bunch of drinks.

I started thinking about festive drinks at the holidays and naturally eggnog and mulled wine came to mind.  But mixing those with beer?  Heavy cream and beer just sounds gross.  A hot steaming mug of beer doesn’t sound appealing at all.  The idea of a mulled beer drink intrigued me though and I put my thinking cap on to try to come up with a way to make it work.

It would be served cold and instead of red wine I used unsweetened cranberry juice that I spiced up using spices that are familiar to us this time of year.

And the Chilled Mulled Beer drink was born!

Andrea’s Chilled Mulled Beer

For the Mulled Cranberry Juice:

• 4C Unsweetened Cranberry Juice
• 1 Orange, quartered
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 4 Star Anise
• 1TBSP Whole Cloves

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized sauce pot and bring to a boil.  Then cover and immediately reduce to a low simmer.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Turn off heat and allow to cool for another 30 minutes.  Squeeze the orange quarters into the mixture, then remove.  Strain the cranberry juice into a heat proof container and place in fridge.  Makes 1 quart of mulled cranberry juice.  Allow to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.

For the Mulled Beer:

In a glass add 1/2C Mulled Cranberry Juice then add 6oz of Beer.  A pale ale or a lighter brown ale is perfect for this drink.  I used Odell’s 5 Barrel Pale Ale and their seasonal, Isolation ale with this drink and both worked out well.  You want a beer that is light in flavor so I would avoid something really hoppy as that would clash with the cranberry juice.

You can garnish with more star anise or frozen cranberries!  Serve and enjoy!

The cranberry juice can be made ahead of time and will keep for up to a week in the fridge. Store in an air tight glass container.  I used a mason jar.  Feel free to make a huge batch, just remember you’ll have to up the spices a little as well.  Give the cranberry juice a good shake before pouring it out so the spice redistributes.

Perfect for the holidays and something a little different to serve your guests!