Three brunch beverages are a product of a liquid mashup between the right brews and a good tonic
“I see beer as a base to mix with,” Pellettieri said.
Concern is building that Pellettieri, who spent much of her career at Goose Island Brewing and MillerCoors and knows a thing or three about beer, is ruining a perfectly good IPA with add-ons.
She attaches an orange slice to the lip of the glass.
Proof is in the first sip. The Bitter Orange balances the sweetness of the orange juice and highlights ever so slightly the bitterness of the IPA.
Good City, which started Saturday brunch service last fall, wanted to add versions of traditional brunch cocktails but it would be tricky. Legally, the production brewery can’t sell wine or spirits, only beer.
So Andy Jones, head brewer and one of the owners of Good City brewery at 2108 N. Farwell Ave., teamed with Top Note and Pellettieri to put a spin on three popular brunch cocktails by replacing spirits with beer.
Using a spice mix created by Good City chef Guy Davies, Jones went to town blending a Bloody Mary first with the brewery’s Pilsner.
It tasted fine but at 5.2% ABV (alcohol by volume) it didn’t have the alcohol punch he wanted.
Reward, a double IPA with an ABV of 8.5%, seemed to work best, but hops made the whole thing taste like Hawaiian pizza, Jones said.
Or it did until he added a dash of Top Note Gentian Lime Tonic, a tonic typically used with tequila or gin.
“The Gentian Lime Tonic took it from Hawaiian pizza to Bloody Mary,” he said.
This collaboration between Top Note Tonic and Good City Brewing started when Pellettieri peddled her sodas and tonics to the brewery but is rooted in a shared history with Good City’s Jones.
“I hired Andy at Goose Island,” Pellettieri said with a smile. “He was very smart and diligent. We kept in contact.”
Making cocktails with beer instead of spirits isn’t new. In Mexico, tomato juice and beer is an established combination called micheladas where lagers substitute for vodka.
Historically, Germans added lemonade or soda to lagers to make the beer stretch, creating radlers in the process.
“This is not an unusual thing,” Pellettieri said. It’s always been the mission of the tasting room to help broaden the palate of beer drinkers.
In this case, Wisconsin law forced creativity. Good City has three brunch cocktails on the menu — the Beermosa, the Beery Mary and a Beer Mojito, which is fashioned after a Moscow Mule that Jones tinkered with at home.
“Mary’s concentrates are kind of key to it,” he said.
The bar, used to pouring pints, cranks it to mixology for Saturday brunch. Jones said the extra work is worth it.
The Beery Mary sells for $9 including a chaser of Good City Pils. The Beermosa sells for $7 and the Beer Mojito is $8.
Good City beers are widely available, but for the best selection, stop at the brewery at 2108 N. Farwell Ave.
Top Note Tonics are sold at Sendik’s, Outpost and select Woodman’s stores and also can be found at specialty locations like Mod Gen general store, Great Lakes Distillery and G. Groppi Food Market.