Most of us are familiar with the half-beer, half-lemonade beverage known as a shandy. Traditional shandies have been around forever, but why not mix things up a bit and serve your guests with something more special?

Instyle Magazine asked Robert Krueger, head of the bar program at popular Williamsburg, Brooklyn spot Extra Fancy, for his favourite non-shandy beer cocktail recipes.

“Sour beers are popular right now, and are cool to use in a cocktail because they act as substitutes for citrus and provide a nice level of acidity,” says Krueger. “You can easily add fruit or syrup to a tart beer, like a Gose [a German beer with hints of lemon, coriander, and salt], or a Berliner Weisse [a sour wheat beer].”

Gringo Rojo

Ingredients

1 oz Mezcal

1/2 oz hibiscus syrup (recipe follows)

3/4 oz fresh lime juice

Budweiser

Orange peel, for garnish

For the Hibiscus Syrup

2 tbsp dried hibiscus leaves

1 cup sugar

Directions

1. To make the hibiscus syrup: steep hibiscus leaves in 1 cup of boiling water and 1 cup of sugar. Mix and strain.

2. To assemble cocktail: Shake the first three ingredients in a mixing glass with four or five ice cubes, and pour all into a rocks glass. Top with Budweiser.

Check out the other two beer cocktail recipes.