Recipe

• 1.5 oz Rye Whiskey
• 1 oz Grenadine
• .5 oz All Spice Dram
• .25 Lemon Juice
• 2 dashes Orange Bitters
• top with 4 oz of Oktoberfest

Add all ingredients (except the beer) to a shaker. Add ice and shake. Double strain into a collins glass. Top with the Oktoberfest beer.

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For Protestant Christians, it is Reformation Day, celebrating when Martin Luther kicked off the Reformation by posting his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany. The cocktail’s name comes from one of the mottoes of this movement: ecclesia reformata semper reformanda (“the church reformed is always reforming”).

Is this a “holy day” in the proper sense of the word? No. And I know many would see this as a day to mourn, not celebrate. But even someone as ecumenical as myself who loves Catholics can enjoy this day in a good-natured, light-hearted way. And for that, we deserve a drink!

This is my first beer cocktail, and it is really good. It’s a tweaked version of the “Lumberjack in Love” by the always-fantastic Anders Erikson. Like the Reformation itself, this drink is bitter and sweet. Rye embodies Luther’s own spice and bite. The All Spice captures the Reformation truth that all of God’s people are priests and saints in his kingdom. And lastly, of course, we top it all off with that most German of autumnal beers: the Oktoberfest. Prost!

Ingredient Notes

The Oktoberfest you choose will make or break this drink. I went with the original Oktoberfest, Paulaner Märzen, straight from Germany. For authenticity, it’s almost as good as it gets (I suppose you could find an Oktoberfest from Wittenberg specifically). But in hindsight, I don’t think it’s the best.

Oktoberfests come in different styles. I would definitely go with the darker, maltier Märzen style. The one I used was still a little lighter, bitterer, and “yeastier” than I’d hoped. In the future I’ll use an American Oktoberfest that’s darker, maltier, and sweeter instead.

I used a 100% Pennsylvania Rye with a lot of spice, but is only 80 proof. I think any Rye Whiskey will work, especially a higher proof one like Rittenhouse Rye. The All Spice was Hamilton Pimento Dram. The bitters were Regan’s.

One last note: my grenadine was Liber & Co. The original cocktail on which this one was based called for tart cherry juice and simple syrup. I didn’t have cherry juice so I went with real grenadine. If you do make this cocktail, you need to get a tart, fruity flavor in there. Do not use the bright red sweet “cherry” syrup marketed as “grenadine”. Use (or make) real grenadine, or use simple syrup in the cocktail alongside cherry or pomegranate juice.

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