How to Make a No-frills Classic

Check it out, the no-frills whiskey and beer combo known as the Boilermaker originated in the 1920s and was named after, you guessed it, the boilermakers. Who are the boilermakers? They’re the dudes who repaired and built those monster boilers for steamships and locomotives.

How to Make a Boilermaker

The Basic Combination:

• Ice cold mug
• Chilled lager or pale ale
• Any whiskey will do from Tennessee bourbon to Canadian blended whiskey

Steps:

• Pour the beer into a frosted pint glass.
• Pour the whiskey into a shot glass.
• Two options:
  • 1) Either shoot the whiskey and immediately drink the beer as a chaser, or
  • 2) Drop the whiskey shot into your mug of beer and drink it down without your lips leaving the glass until it’s finished.

Why’d they drink it?

I mean, who doesn’t want a shot and a beer after sweat’in their balls off in a factory all day? And let’s be real, the Boilermaker’s not one drink but two: a shot of whiskey paired with a glass of cold beer. Not only is it delicious, it’s economical! For that reason and many others, it’s been a staple of the working class for hundreds of years.

When was it actually created?

No one really knows. Locomotives have been around since the 1800s, and whiskey and beer have been around even longer. In reality, the origin of the drink is ambiguous. There’s even a tale of some Cornish dude, Richard Trevitchik, burning down his steam-car after getting too drunk on whiskey and beer. We’ve all been there, Dick.

Not a Depth Charge

One common mistake is referring to this drink as a “Depth Charge.” Sometimes folks in the military, particularly the Navy (nerds), refer to the Boilermaker as a Depth charge. But that’s just wrong. To make a Depth Charge you need to pour a shot of peppermint schnapps into a glass, then add ale or lager.

Bomb Shots

Ok, now we’re getting technical—please forgive us—but we figured we should let you know that technically when you drop a shot of whiskey into your beer glass, it’s no longer a Boilermaker but a bomb shot. Yes, we love dropping our whiskey into our beer. And yes, we love slamming it down. But no, it’s not really a… you know what? Forget it. This rule is as stupid as Dick burning down his steam-car. Drop that shot in your beer and call it what it is, a Boilermaker.

Bet You Didn’t Know

The Dutch version of the Boilermaker is known as a kopstoot or a “headbutt,” which makes total sense.

A no-frills classic

Variants

• Nowadays there’s a whole slew of acceptable variants with folks choosing spicy flavored vodkas, schnapps, or pairing a Mexican beer with a shot of tequila.