Improve The Taste Of Cheap Beer With A Bar Staple You Already Have

There is a certain charm inherent to inexpensive beer. Often purchased in large cases for sharing at parties or simply to keep in your fridge for the occasional cold one craving, cheap beer is a drink for the people. After all, commercial beers are a staple for a reason. Unlike craft beers, which are sold on their intricate, layered flavor profiles, commercial beers, such as Miller Light or Bud Light, offer up a simpler, yet still refreshing taste. But, sometimes, that budget brew simply doesn't hit the spot. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to perk up your beer.

Take, for example, the tangy, tomato-y (or Clamato-y) michelada, or the sweet, grapefruit-flavored paloma radler. There are, of course, even simpler methods of zinging up your beer. We talked with Kyle Harder, the founder and CEO of See the Elephant amaro, to get his takes on adding punch to your next brew. According to Harder, his "favorite way to enhance the flavor of popular price beer, such as Miller High Life, would be to add amaro."

Amaro is an Italian liqueur often infused with herbs and flavorings that's defined by its complex, bitter taste (amaro means bitter in Italian). You can drink amaro on its own, or add it to cocktails. Adding a bitter, herbaceous liqueur to your basic beer can help make it more of a tasting experience. According to Harder, his brand "See the Elephant is more on the sweet side, with a nice, nostalgic bubble gum flavor." Harder continued, noting that its sweet, familiar flavor "works well in an American lager." But this is just a start. There are many directions you can take when adding amaro to beer.

There is no one formulation for amaro. Often, its exact ingredients are kept under wraps by the companies that make them. According to Kyle Harder, "there are so many different flavor profiles in amaro, ranging from super-bitter to super-sweet." While See the Elephant's amaro tends toward the sweet side, other brands can have bitter, smoky, and more herbal flavor profiles. Essentially, there's an almost endless amount of flavor profiles to choose from. Each one offers something completely unique to your brew, and you can even pair different beers to various amari to find your ideal drink.

For example, you can pair Cynar, a substantial, somewhat earthy amaro, with a stout-style beer. If you want something a little less challenging, go for Averna, a citrus-tipped amaro with aromatic spices to round it out. Averna works well in many beers, from stouts to lagers. Mix and match until you find a combo that works for you! While you may be tempted to treat your amaro as you would bitters, by sprinkling in a few drops for a kick of flavor, amaro works well in larger pours. Add a shot of amaro to a 12-ounce glass of beer, similar to a spaghett; this is a perfect place to start. From here, play with proportions until you hit your ideal balance.