You can enjoy an Arnold Palmer any time of the year, but there's something about sipping a cold glass of the iced tea and lemonade combo in the summer that's extra refreshing. Off Color Brewing and Marz Community Brewing seem to share that assessment, as each brewery has recently released a beer that replicates the flavors of the beverage (purportedly the preferred post-game thirst-quencher of its professional golfer namesake) and adds some alcohol to the mix.
Admittedly, the pursuit of a boozy Arnold Palmer isn't a new phenomenon—bars have been serving spiked iced tea and lemonade for years (sometimes called a John Daly, in an unfortunate reference to a professional golfer who struggled with alcoholism), often using tea- or citrus-flavored vodkas. Likewise, big breweries such as the Boston Beer Company and MillerCoors have approximated the cocktail through a variety of flavored malt beverages—one of which bears the name of the late golfer.
Marz's Mini Golf Go Go Juice is the latest evolution of a pale ale recipe that the Bridgeport brewery first made in collaboration with DryHop in 2014 (Arnie Palmer Meets the Dragon Lady), inspired by Marz co-founder Eli Espinoza's love of tea-based beers. "Tea is a fantastic ingredient for beer because it shares many of the same flavor and aroma profiles of hops," Marz head brewer Michael Manning told us, noting that Jungle Boogie—one of the brewery's flagship beers—is made with a custom blend of Rooibos tea. True to form, Marz's execution of a beer based around the flavors of lemonade and tea focuses on the latter, accentuating the earthy notes of its black tea blend.
By contrast, Off Color's Beer For Golf is a wit-style beer that is bursting with bright (and slightly sour) citrus flavors, provided by the addition of Meyer lemons, lemon peel and coriander. The latest batch of the beer uses a blend of Keemun and Ceylon teas, but the black tea notes are relatively subtle when compared to Marz's approach. If you're the kind of person who wants extra lemonade in their Arnold Palmer, you'll likely prefer Off Color's creation; if you prefer more tea (tempered with a bit of sweetness), you should grab a four-pack of Marz's beer.
While Marz and Off Color appear to be the only breweries drawing inspiration from a golf course classic, brewers throughout Chicago are warming up to using tea as an ingredient this summer. In Logan Square, Brewer's Kitchen (based out of incubator Pilot Project) offers cans and growlers of Mañana de Mallorca, an IPA made with Spanish sangria tea, Spanish melon and Seville orange. In Pilsen, Alulu Brewery and Pub has released Grey Waves, a golden ale brewed with Earl Grey tea and cardamom. And according to Manning, the amount of caffeine present in beers that feature tea is minimal, so while you may get a little buzzed, you won't have to worry about getting wired after enjoying a beer brewed with caffeinated tea.
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