Cocktails
Halloween Black Velvet Stout and Sparkling Wine Cocktail
This Halloween Black Velvet combines equal parts dry stout and dry sparkling wine. The stout brings roasted malt and a dark ruby-black color; the wine supplies acidity and bubbles. It is a crisp, bittersweet beer cocktail rather than a sugary fruit drink.
Recipe reviewed 12 Oct 2026. How we test recipes.
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WHAT YOU NEED
Ingredients
METHOD
How to make it
- Chill the dry sparkling wine, dry stout and one 8 to 10 oz tulip beer glass per serving before starting. The bottles should be refrigerator-cold.
- Set each empty chilled glass upright on a level surface.
- Measure the chilled dry sparkling wine listed in the ingredients and divide it evenly among the glasses, pouring slowly down the inside of each one.
- Measure the chilled dry stout listed in the ingredients. Hold a tablespoon just above the sparkling wine in the first glass with its rounded back facing up.
- Pour that glass's share of stout very slowly over the back of the spoon so it spreads gently across the sparkling wine instead of foaming over. Repeat with the remaining glasses.
- Leave at least 1 inch of headroom for the foam in every glass and leave the layers undisturbed.
- Serve immediately without garnish. The dark layers may gradually merge as the drinks sit.
- Build every serving separately in its own chilled glass rather than combining a large batch.
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Keep both bottles cold and pour slowly
Choose a dry sparkling wine labeled brut, extra brut or brut nature. Champagne works, but a dry cava or other traditional-method sparkling wine is practical here. A sweet sparkling wine can make the combination feel heavy.
Use a dry stout around 4.2% ABV for the stated estimate. Strong export or imperial stout changes both the alcohol level and the balance. The equal-parts ratio follows the classic Black Velvet format; this version uses a six-ounce serving so there is room for foam.
Cold bottles reduce foaming. Pouring the stout over the back of a spoon can preserve a visible division briefly, but the liquids naturally mingle. That is not a failure. If the head rises too quickly, pause until it settles before adding the rest of the measured stout.
This drink needs no Halloween prop: its near-black color supplies the theme. Compare the Vampire Ruby Port and Tonic for another wine-based Halloween option, or serve the children’s Color-Changing Butterfly Pea Lemonade separately. Browse the Halloween drinks collection.
The estimate uses dry sparkling wine at 12% ABV and dry stout at 4.2% ABV. It counts both measured ingredients; there is no garnish, ice or discarded ingredient. Bottle strengths and residual sugar vary.
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