For many, the term “beer float” refers to a canoeing trip to the hinterlands of Missouri, at which super-human feats of alcohol intake are accompanied by occasional watersport. The beer float at convivial Clayton hangout Remy’s Kitchen & Wine Bar, however, is a fun dessert drink – a scoop of ice cream bobbing gently in a glass of beer. And after a couple days holed up inside, this creative drink is the perfect treat to bring you out of your wintertime rut.
Remy’s sommelier and evil genius Libby Brown has devised a flight of three fruit-infused lambic beers – dry, vinous, cidery brews that are produced through spontaneous fermentation in several regions in Belgium – with a scoop of house-made French vanilla ice cream floating in each glass. The Framboise (raspberry) could pass as a festive party punch; the Kriek (cherry) is a tart and sweet quencher; and, ah, the Peche (peach) is a revelation – creamy, bubbly, peachy and capable of turning winter into summer. The floats, all made with Lindeman’s Lambic, sit next to one another in a flight of three-ounce glasses, resembling darkly colored jewels topped with slowly melting cumulus clouds of ice cream.
Share these inspired, fruity, boozy floats with a companion – or don’t. Either way, they’re the perfect way to celebrate the conclusion of snowmageddon.
This article appears in February 2011.