You Can Drink Beer On The Rocks, But Use These Types Only

If you want to make your bartender raise an eyebrow, try asking for beer on the rocks. A beer with ice is an odd request, to be sure, and plenty of craft beer aficionados scoff at the idea of even chilling a beer in a cold glass. However, that's a beer myth you can ignore, at least with certain types of beer and plenty of those same beers taste great when poured over ice. To find out which beers are best served on the rocks, we spoke to Chris Cusack, the owner of Betelgeuse Betelgeuse in Houston, Texas as well as a certified level one sommelier and level one cicerone (a beer sommelier).

As a Texan, Cusack's mind went straight to the Mexican lagers used in michelada cocktails because those cocktails are typically served with ice. However, he says you don't need to stop there. "Some of my favorite micheladas came a little unexpectedly in the form of Japanese rice lagers and fruited sours, particularly a lime gose. These work particularly well due to their low bitterness and citrus notes." Think along the line of beers used in beer cocktails like beertinis, shandies, or, indeed, micheladas since these are often light and easy to drink. Because ice cubes are meant to make our drinks more refreshing, it makes sense to bring in a Mexican-style or rice lager which is also meant to be refreshing.

There are absolutely beers which shouldn't be chilled. Often, these are IPAs and other ales popular with craft beer fans because these have strong, hoppy flavors which would only be diluted or numbed by chilling them down (it's harder for our tastebuds to pick up flavors in colder drinks). However, lighter beers like Mexican lagers are designed to be easy to drink, which is why they're brewed without those same intense, bitter ingredients. Chilling these beers with ice cubes works perfectly since they aren't relying on those big, bold flavors to impress you. In fact, some countries in Southeast Asia regularly serve beer over ice for exactly this reason.

There's one other factor to consider, and it's one you may not be thinking about often: the size of your ice cubes. If you're able, Cusack recommends you go for big ice cubes. "As large as you can get," he says. "This keeps your beer cold and your dilution at a minimum. Drink the beer at a steady pace, maybe a little faster than you normally would, because dilution kills your flavor and your carbonation." Some michelada cocktails use special ice cubes to avoid dilution. If you want to go the extra mile, use ice cubes made of whatever beer you're drinking. This way, you can be sure you aren't turning your light beer into an extremely light beer.