Mixing vodka with beer?

Question

Is it safe to mix small quantity of vodka with beer.

Any there any dare devils who had tried cocktails on their beer?

Answer 1

In (Soviet) Russia it is called Yorsch ("yorsh" means ruffe, a small fish remarkable for its hard and sharp spines).

There is a variations of it – "From brown bear to the polar and back". You take a glass of beer, drink a little, fill it up with vodka, drink again, fill up again and keep drinking and filling until the mixture is colorless. After that you keep on drinking but start to fill it up with beer. It is said that many have seen The White Polar Bear but only few have managed to see The Brown again.

Answer 2

Mixing vodka (alcohol mixed with water) to beer (alcohol mixed with water plus some flavouring and other compounds) is perfectly safe. No need to be a daredevil to do it. Beer cocktails also exist but have varying degrees of pleasantness. The "black velvet", stout and sparkling wine (Black Velvet - beer cocktail) I have tried and can confirm that it is not too bad as beer cocktails go.

I make no assertions as to the quality of the hangover after beer cocktails.

Answer 3

It is most definitely okay, but can lead to much higher alcohol content compared to what one might expect. There is actually a commonly made mix in college that I and others had made using a bottle of vodka a couple cans of beer and lemonade concentrate. Was quite good, but dangerous in high quantity. I know of others who would put an ounce or so of flavored vodka or rum in their beers as well.

Answer 4

Beer cocktails, where spirits are added to beer, were a sort of Fad here in the US a couple years ago. Maybe they still are (I'm sort of isolated where I live in that respect). Your question of safe is a bit perplexing. The only unsafe part might be if you give a charged up beer to someone who isn't used to much alcohol and bad consequences result... But otherwise it's not unsafe. I've done it (added vodka to beer) and it doesn't taste that great to me. But with some other additions you can make a pretty great cocktail.

From The Huffington Post: Beer Cocktails.

Answer 5

Yip, all good. As a student we called it "Power [Drink]", where [Drink] is the name of the original drink. :p

Anything that is safe to eat/drink can be added to a beer. Whether it will taste good is subjective.

Beer and lemonade (shandy) is well known. Beer and fruit juice (radler) is getting popular. There are LOADS of recipes on the web.

Answer 6

Mixing vodka with beer is a great mix and has a definite following and is absolutely safe when drinking responsibly.

The Urban Dictionary defines this mix as a Vodkabeer.

Vodkabeer

A delicious mixed drink comprised of beer (usually of the lowest quality) and vodka (always from a plastic handle). The vodka is poured directly into the beer can after several sips have been taken. The vodka and beer enhance each other's flavors and the result is a drink much greater than the sum of its parts. In some circles a vodkabeer is also known as a skelly. The drink is believed to originate in the Worcester, MA area, mainly at Holy Cross and WPI.

As Altbier is not Old Beer notes in his excellent answer the Russians call this particular mix a Yorch.

Yorsh

An alcoholic-drink of Russian origin, where an ample amount of vodka is added to beer. Vodka, being largely flavourless, does not greatly alter the taste of beer but does increase the alcohol content significantly.

Here is an example of a Yorsh, but then who measures vodka:

Ingredients

◾ 2 oz (60 ml) Vodka

9 oz (270 ml) Beer

Directions

1. Fill a beer mug or stein 3/4 full with beer

2. Add the vodka

3. Serve

Here is one vodkabeer for summer hot summer days:

Beer of the Tropics

Ingredients:

1 oz. Van Gogh Cool Peach Vodka

1 oz. Van Gogh Coconut Vodka

1 1/2 oz. Pineapple juice

Top with IPA style beer

Preparation: Build ingredients directly into highball glass with ice. When pouring beer, pour slowly. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Note: Not responsible any hangovers or any nasty aftertastes!!!!! Enjoy your vodka-beer cocktails everyone.

Answer 7

Of course you can add vodka to beer! As long as you're mindful of how much you're drinking and how long it takes to process, you should be fine. The harder part is actually devising a cocktail you'd want to drink.

With the popularity of craft beer, a new culture of beer cocktails is growing. Do a quick Google search, and you'll come up with tons of great recipes, old and new. While the craft beer world has traditionally been sceptical about mixing things with beer, there are endless possibilities to elevate and excite, and some are coming around to this.

My old beer manager would make a Blanche De Chamblay and vanilla vodka drink that was delicious. Rauchbier and other smoked styles work amazingly well in a bloody Mary.

If the mood strikes you, experiment!

Answer 8

In this answer to a more recent question on this network, I show that vodka can be used to make a cocktail with beer and, in particular, with Guinness: cocktail number 7, there called Suicide Sunday is made with 2/3 Guinness draught and 1/3 vodka.