Beer Milkshake

Cannery Row, John Steinbeck, 1945

4 scoops of vanilla ice cream

2 oz. stout

2 oz. chocolate fudge

Chocolate syrup, to drizzle

Dollop of whipped cream, for garnish

Place the ice cream, stout, and chocolate fudge in a blender and puree until smooth.

Line the inside of a frozen glass with drizzles of chocolate syrup and pour the milkshake into the glass.

Garnish with the whipped cream and enjoy.

Blaisedell, the poet, had said to him: “You love beer so much. I’ll bet some day you’ll go in and order a beer milkshake.” It was a simple piece of foolery, but it had bothered Doc ever since. He wondered what a beer milk-shake would taste like. The idea gagged him, but he couldn’t let it alone. It cropped up every time he had a glass of beer. Would it curdle the milk? Would you add sugar? It was like a shrimp ice-cream. Once the thing got into your head you couldn’t forget it.

Cannery Row follows a group of people whose lives intertwine on a street of the same name, in Monterey, California, during the Great Depression. Doc is a marine biologist, and when several people want to throw a party for him, things get out of hand, carrying far beyond the playful idea of mixing milk and beer.

While it doesn’t sound too appetizing, the Beer Milkshake has its devotees, and recent recipes have tended to use a quality stout beer and add ice cream to make it more of a proper milkshake, just with beer added in. Think of a root beer float, all grown up.