Boilermaker

A boilermaker is a shot of whiskey with a beer chaser, although it may also be a glass of beer with a shot of whiskey in it—sometimes dropped in, shot glass and all. (The latter version is also known as a Depth Charge.) Some aficionados say that the drink is meant to be imbibed all in one slug, but this practice is unusual. The particulars vary by region, bar, and bartender.

The Boilermaker originated in the 1890s in the mining camps of Butte, Montana, as the “Sean O’Farrell.” The powerful, ten-cent “Sean O’ ” was served only as miners came off their shifts. Bartenders all over the United States imitated the drink, dubbing it the Boilermaker for reasons that remain unknown. The name may have come from the “head of steam” feeling that the drink generates, or perhaps it was a favorite drink of men who worked as boilermakers. The U.S. heavyweight boxing champion from 1899 to 1905, James Jackson Jeffries, was nicknamed “the Boilermaker,” and perhaps the drink name stems from a similar tough, manly sense of the word. (Purdue University’s football team has had the name “Boilermakers” since 1891.)