New Drinks: Grant Grill Crafts Bottle Conditioned Cocktails

There’s something brewing in the basement of the US Grant Hotel. Underneath the marble ballroom flooring of one of downtown San Diego’s most iconic hotels, Mixologist Jeff Josenhans is making history while making drinks.

This proclaimed “mad-scientist of cocktail crafting” has been experimenting in new, bold waters with various bottling processes, innovating new drinks never before attempted. It’s in the US Grant that Josenhans has chosen to selectively reveal this new breed of cocktail.  

“Cocktails Sur Lie” (French for having been rested in yeast) is this novel bottle conditioned cocktail concept, launched just recently during the Autumn Mixology Dinner in Grant Grill this October. So far, Josenhans has two master creations, believed to be the first of their kind. The “Mule in a Bottle” is a hoppy, bright drink made from Garden Flower Infused Vodka, Ginger, Rock Candy Sugar, California Hops and Champagne Yeast. Calling upon fall flavors and based off of a seasonal cocktail featured on the Food Network, “Smokin’ Pumpkin” is made from Pumpkin Infused Rum, Allspice Dram, Applewood Smoke Coconut Sugar, Dash Laphroiag, Saffron and Vanilla, and Ale Yeast.

What makes these drinks exceptionally impressive is Josenhans’ trailblazing as the first mixologist to successfully craft bottle conditioned cocktails combining the beer and champagne method of fermentation. And our own San Diego dining scene is taking some spotlight as The US Grant Hotel holds the title as the first hotel to ever compete this inimitable process.

Don’t try this at home—the highly complex and rarely attempted process of combining the champagne method with the brewer’s method adds yeast to the bottle and allows the bottle pressure to create carbonation. Next, spirits and sugars are mixed in according to the champagne method while the hopping process adds the brewer’s flare. It ends happily with a cocktail that has the texture and look of champagne, but with the hoppy bite of beer.

Cheers: While the drink preview just brewed up in October, the new “Cocktails Sur Lie” menu will be on Grant Grill’s January cocktail menu. Until then, Josenhans will keep on brewing behind closed doors. Visit Grant Grill at 326 Broadway in the Gaslamp Quarter.  

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