What Is A Boilermaker, And What's The Right Way To Drink It?

If cocktails were celebrities, they would have a similar ranking system. Martinis, Manhattans, and margaritas would all sparkle on the A list. The cosmopolitan, which enjoyed a long reign among those three in the '90s, slank down to D in the aughts, and only began climbing back up in recent years. These positions aren't based on the drinks' merits alone, but rather their levels of fame. And the boilermaker is a solid C-lister with as much personality as your favorite character actor.

Alternately known as "a beer and a shot," that's also a boilermaker's literal recipe. According to lore, the pairing became known as the boilermaker in an homage to the (also literally named) professionals who performed the challenging, physical labor of making boilers out of materials like wrought iron for eventual application in steam power equipment in the 1800s. Like the world's strongest alcohol you may seek at happy hour after your office job, the extra ABV combo might have taken the edge off a long day of metalwork.

The professional boilermakers of today posit that the marriage of beer and shot of whiskey (and only whiskey) only becomes a true boilermaker if the shot is lowered into the beer vessel, so neither cans nor bottles count in this scenario. It must also be finished in one continuous effort. So, in this strict interpretation, not only must the boozy duo become one to win the title of boilermaker, but sipping, nursing, and even intermittent chugging are all disallowed.

That commitment to drinking tradition aside, it would be hard to find a modern bartender committed to those purported rules. For one, you're just as likely to find agave-based tequila or mezcal as a boilermaker companion as the classic grain-based whiskey. And now, you're now far more likely to see the iconic coupling of a beer and a shot served side by side, and enjoyed at a pace set only by the person who ordered it.