It wasn’t until German and Irish immigration really kicked off in the United States that Americans got used to marrying their spirits with their beers. Other than the side-by-side serving we utilize, bartenders also started coming up with drinks where the two were already mixed. The beer-liquor cocktail and the pairing in separate glasses eventually evolved into the “bomb” style drinks where a shot is dropped into a beer and, oftentimes, chugged.

In the decades since its naming, the Boilermaker has been a staple of working-class drinking and it’s also found its place in more bohemian, artistic circles.

Prior to Prohibition, nobody really had a name for the Boilermaker. You could just order a “beer n’ whisky,” but that hardly has the pizazz of the modern name. In the 1930s, imbibers started calling it the wordy “Boilermaker and His Helper.” At the time, the skilled laborers of metalwork would need extra muscle to get the job done. Presumably, the beer is the extra muscle. In time, the name was shortened to the simpler “Boilermaker.”

In the decades since its naming, the Boilermaker has been a staple of working-class drinking and it’s also found its place in more bohemian, artistic circles. Today, like many mixed drinks, the Boilermaker is experiencing an imaginative comeback as many a trendy cocktail bar will sport its own menu of creative spirit/beer offerings.

For our purposes, we’ve kept it simple with the original whiskey and beer combo. Get your buzz with no frills, two drinks at a time!