Mixology Monday: The Wind-Up Bird

When I read this month's Mixology Monday, hosted by Frederic at Cocktail Virgin Slut, I was a bit trepidatious.  I've ordered a number of beer cocktails over the years but made scant few.  Most fall into one of two camps.  Some play off the velvet texture and chocolate notes of stouts.  Others center on the citrus elements of wheat beer.  This being summer in D.C., I opted for the latter.  My beer of choice was a Napa Smith Brewery's wheat beer.  I've named the drink the Wind-Up Bird Cocktail.

Ingredients

6 ounces of wheat beer (Napa Smith Brewery)
0.75 ounce of sloe gin (Plymouth)
0.5 ounce of scotch (Chivas Regal)
0.75 ounce of fresh white grapefruit juice 

Directions
Strain grapefruit juice into a glass.  Add the sloe gin, scotch, and beer and garnish with a grapefruit peal.

Outcome
The Wind-Up Bird proved well balanced, featuring no dominant flavor but instead a coherent blend of several.  The taste of the beer comes out first and throughout, but largely yields to the interplay between the sweetness of the sloe gin and the tartness of the grapefruit juice.  The scotch probably shows the least, but the smokey flavor informs the swallow.  I was curious whether the drink would be too sweet or now, but it turned out to be balanced in that department as well.  All in all, this is a very refreshing summer drink and one that I'm eager to make again for myself or guests.