The Belgian Manhattan

I work at two different bars. One is a music venue called Back Booth. Its sometimes balls to the wall shots and beer flying all over the place. We do club nights and I have no time to think and creativity often takes a back seat at that time. The other establishment that I work at is a hand-crafted cocktail bar. That is called The Courtesy Bar. I must use my bar intellect and knowledge of pairing to create great tasting drinks; cocktails rather. I work with extremely creative and innovative people that take their craft seriously. That positive vibe has worn off on me tremendously to the point I'm always doing homework and researching about drinks and the craft of mixology considering the fact that I do not consume alcohol.

So to the point... I found myself extremely slow at the Back Booth one day. I brought in a bottle of Angostura Bitters and sweet vermouth for the possibility someone may just order an Old-Fashioned or a Manhattan from me. No one did. I didn't want the vermouth to go bad so I followed suit of Eric Foster at The Courtesy whom created this amazing beer cocktail called the Tom Cat he builds on ice and tops with an IPA. I used the idea of a Manhattan, the Tom Cat, and a Boiler-Maker variation from The Courtesy called the Stella-Maker.

The Belgian Manhattan
2 Dashes of Angostura Bitters
1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
8-12 oz Stella Artois

Pour Vermouth and Bitters in Pint Glass. Add Ice. Top with Stella. Roll Cocktail once. Enjoy.

This is not pushing the envelope but opening peoples' eyes to the joys of Vermouth and Bitters and that the Liquor before Beer saying can be muddled together and pushed aside as we combine the two for either catastrophic or spectacular outcomes!