A Little Hot Sauce Takes Cheap Beer To A New Level

Some would say beer and hot wings go together like milk and cookies. Although you probably wouldn't want to dip a chicken wing in your beer, you can pour hot sauce into your beer for a spicy drink. Hot sauce is regularly used to liven up food like chicken wings, salsa, and scrambled eggs, but it can also transform your cheap beer into a delightful drinking experience. 

Cheap beer is great for sporting events, concerts, and keggers — or simply if you're on a budget. Sure, there are those rare beer drinkers who prefer a Coors Light over a flavorful craft beer, but in general, cheaper beer means lower quality taste. It may seem strange, but adding hot sauce to your inexpensive brew can seriously upgrade its flavor. By simply adding a few shakes of hot sauce, you can turn a watery beer into something unique that will wake up your tastebuds. For the easiest, quickest beer cocktail you've ever made, pour hot sauce directly into your can or bottle and let it sit on the top (it's not a bad thing if it overflows a bit). 

Yes, your beer will be spicy. But hot sauce, commonly made with chili peppers, vinegar, citrus, seasonings, and other fruits and vegetables, comes in a billion different varieties and levels of spiciness. It's advised to use hot sauces in your beer that won't overwhelm your senses, so you may want to avoid varieties made with Carolina Reaper or Ghost Peppers. Instead, try sauces that contain milder peppers and are lower on the Scoville scale, like Frank's RedHot, Tabasco, or Cholula.

If you want to elevate your hot sauce beer, try adding garnishes like seasoned salt and a lime wedge or lime juice. Reddit users agree that Tabasco or Cholula tastes great in Mexican lagers like Tecate or Modelo. One user compared the taste to "a Bloody Mary at a fraction of the price." When ordering this delicious concoction at a bar, ask for your favorite light beer to be topped with hot sauce and whatever add-ons you choose. You might even find hot sauce on the menu at certain restaurants. According to Punch, the Loaded Tecate, consisting of a can of Tecate, hot sauce, lime, and salt, is a signature drink at New York's Mother's Ruin. American beers can be loaded too, like now-defunct Chicago bar Pub Royale's Dressed Hamm's (a popular and cheap Midwestern beer). 

If putting hot sauce in beer sounds familiar, you may be thinking of the Michelada, a popular Mexican beer cocktail. There are variations of the drink, but it commonly consists of Mexican beer served over ice with lime juice, hot sauce, Maggi sauce (a Mexican staple comparable to Worcestershire or soy sauce), and Tajín (a seasoning consisting of ground chile peppers, dehydrated lime, and sea salt). The combination of Maggi sauce, hot sauce, and Tajin is called petróleo or petró, named for its black hue (similar to petroleum). 

Some recipes include Clamato, which makes it taste more like a Bloody Mary, although according to The Dallas Morning News, Edna Lopez, manager of Cinco Tacos Cocina and Tequila restaurant in Dallas, says, "In the north of Mexico — Monterrey, Sinaloa — normally we don't use Clamato. It's just straight salsa de petro, lime juice, and beer." However, she prefers it with a bit of the clam and tomato juice drink. Micheladas are also commonly made with Mexican beers like Modelo, Corona, Tecate, or Dos Equis. Of course, no rule says you can't use whatever cheap beer you prefer, but Mexican-style lagers offer a light, refreshing taste that pairs well with the spicy, umami flavor of the petróleo. Whether you choose to go the easy route and douse your beer with hot sauce or create a tasty Mexican beer cocktail, you're sure to experience a world of flavor like no other.