Beer cocktails are tricky. Bitterness can be difficult to balance, and carbonation can be clumsy to integrate, resulting in a cocktail that tastes “prickly.” Nitro beers, on the other hand—that is, beer effervesced with nitrogen instead of CO2, such as Guinness—have a creamy texture and thick mouthfeel that combines well into cocktails. At Bradley Ogden’s Hops & Harvest, a farm-to-table concept with a craft-beer focus, company mixologist Julian Luna tops fresh watermelon purée, Luxardo Maraschino liqueur and Heering cherry liqueur with Pyramid Weiss Cream spiced ale to create the Watermelon Cream ($9), one of this summer’s best cocktails. Here, the luscious nitro cream ale (suggested by general manager Derick Rossmiller) does all the work. It’s brewed with orange peel and vanilla, then nitrogenated for that velvety texture that folds so well into the purée. And the watermelon and cherry flavors are there to let you know—as if you didn’t already—that summer is in full swing.

Find Hops & Harvest's Watermelong Cream recipe here.

[This story originally appeared in Vegas Seven magazine's July 18, 2013 issue. Photo by Kin Lui.]