Honey Beer - Crafty Cooking Mama

It’s cold out! Warm yourself up with a sweet & simple honey beer. Made with your favorite ale and a German honey liquor so sweet it brings the bears out ♥

It’s Christmas Eve! The countdown is over – we just have to get thru the day! Yay!

Although I’m not the best at keeping up with holiday foods and trends, I do try to work in at least one or two recipes for each holiday. I’ll admit, planning is not my thing. I’m much more of a “go with the flow” type person. Or scramble around last minute. Both happen. Both work out just fine for me.

So I’ve been baking. It was cookie crazy over here. I attempted a batch of Marrons Glacé with my daughter for a school project – she was working on Christmas in France. Marrons Glacé – yeah, we’re going to need some more practice on that one. The truffles though – they were perfect!

I had a few awesome holiday cocktails I really wanted to share – but I just didn’t get there. In all honestly, I don’t really drink that often and only mix up proper cocktails while entertaining. The candy cane martinis will have to wait until next year…sorry.

Oh, and I’ve gotten way too distracted with kombucha. Totally off subject, I know. Anyhow, I’ve been drinking so much of it again that it’s getting super costly. I knew it was time to start brewing it myself. So in the bit of spare time I ~~don’t~~ have I’ve been working on growing a baby SCOBY and other fermented drink projects. Don’t worry, you’ll all be hearing about it soon enough.

Ahhhh…but I found myself needing to whip up a light, last minute holiday drinky-drink and I knew I had the two perfect ingredients in house to make that happen….

I’ll share with you one of my favorite liquors. Bärenjäger. It’s a very sweet but strong honey liqueur. It’s said that the recipe was originally used by German bear hunters to lure bears out of their caves, hence the name Bärenjäger (bear hunter) or Bärenfang (bear trap). It’s a cute story that I remembered when my husband was going to bear camp this year, so I decided a bottle for him & his buddies would be mandatory for good luck. (No one got a bear, lol.)

This liquor was not available at my local Wine & Spirits Store but they were able to order it and have it for me in a day. *Side note – I live in Pennsylvania and most people are mind boggled, and rightfully so, by our liquor laws. Only state owned stores can sells liquors and wine is funny business too unless you’re a winery. The township I live in is dry. Seriously, no liquor sales permitted. I kid you not.* Anyhow, if it’s not something sitting on the shelf at your liquor store, I’m sure they can get it for you.

So how do I most enjoy this liquor? Paired up with a Belgian White. A half ounce of Bärenjäger, a squirt of fresh orange or lemon and topped with ale – it might just be my favorite way to enjoy a beer. Well, actually, dark beers reign supreme for my taste buds…so this is my favorite non dark beer concoction 🙂

Bärenjäger is a sipping liquor, I would also like to try it warm sometime. It can be added to any drink where you would like some honey flavor. I’m thinking it would be fun to bake with it or soak a cake with it.

There’s a lot of simple & delicious ways you can change up your favorite beer – fruits, spices, liquors, hot sauces. Change is fun for all the adventurous beer lovers.

I’m done with today’s ramblings. I’m going to enjoy this moment of silence I have during the holiday season, sip on this honey beer and admire our Christmas tree. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah & Happy Holidays to everyone! Hugs & love to you all ♥

-Amanda-