Sunrise Over Blue Point Bay
One of the nonalcoholic mixed drinks I have all the time is a combination of pineapple juice, orange juice, and sparkling water, topped with a splash of Grenadine. I call this my Virgin Sunrise. The Grenadine goes straight to the bottom producing a pink, grapefruit sunburst topped with the pale orange of the juices.
Since I’ve been thinking about beer cocktails this year, I wondered what would happen if I substituted a beer for the sparkling water.
My earlier experience of mixing a tasteless beer with a soft drink didn’t satisfy me, so I thought I should go for a beer that started off with a taste I liked. Living on Long Island and preferring to drink local if possible, I naturally reached for a bottle of Blue Point Toasted Lager.
Blue Point Brewing Company is in Patchogue, New York and is responsible for the Toasted Lager along with a host of other beers: my favorites being the Oatmeal Stout and their ESB (Extra Special Bitter). The Toasted Lager is an amber colored, roasty lager with a crisp hoppiness. It’s also the recipient of the silver medal in the American-Style Amber Lager category at last year’s Great American Beer Festival, behind Steam Engine Lager from Steamworks Brewing Co., Durango/Bayfield, Colorado, and ahead of Oktoberfist from Bluegrass Brewing Co., Louisville, Kentucky and thirty-two other entries.
I mixed my Long Island Sunrise the same way I do the Virgin Sunrise.
One quarter to a third glass of pineapple to start; top with orange juice until the glass is half-full at least. Fill the glass with Blue Point Toasted Lager and finish with the splash of Grenadine.
The Toasted Lager being amber-colored gave the cocktail a deeper warmer hue than the virgin prototype. I remarked to Denise that perhaps I should call it a Stormy Sunrise.
This is an excellent beverage to have with breakfast on the weekend. Wake up, scramble yourself some eggs and start the day right with a Long Island Sunrise.
