Seelbock Recipe

By
Michael Dietsch
Headshot of Michael Dietsch, a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Michael Dietsch
Michael Dietsch is a barfly, boozehound, book hoarder, jazz fiend, and technographer. He has two cookbooks and writes about cocktails for Serious Eats.
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Updated March 24, 2025
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Jennifer Hess

A creation of my own, the Seelbock is a variant of the classic Seelbach cocktail, from the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. The original cocktail calls for bourbon, Cointreau, and generous amounts of both Peychaud's and Angostura bitters, topped off with a big pour of Champagne.

For this version, I used a 100-proof rye whiskey in place of bourbon, and I tinkered with the bitters, replacing the Peychaud's with lemon bitters to highlight the citrus notes in the beer. And most importantly, I used a doppelbock wheat beer in place of the Champagne. If you can't find this brew, substitute any good quality bock or wheat beer. If you can't find lemon bitters, you can muddle lemon peel into the mixing glass before you add the other ingredients.

Recipe Details

Seelbock Recipe

Prep 5 mins
Active 5 mins
Total 5 mins
Serves 1 serving
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Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey (I used Rittenhouse)

  • 1/2 ounces Cointreau

  • 1/4 ounce lemon bitters

  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters

  • 4 ounces Aventinus doppelbock

  • Lemon twist

Directions

  1. In a mixing glass filled with ice, stir rye, Cointreau, and both bitters. Strain into Champagne flute and top with beer. Add garnish.

Special equipment

mixing glass and cocktail strainer

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
217 Calories
0g Fat
9g Carbs
1g Protein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1
Amount per serving
Calories 217
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 6mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 9g 3%
Dietary Fiber 1g 2%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 8mg 39%
Calcium 13mg 1%
Iron 0mg 1%
Potassium 43mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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