The drink originated in Butte, Montana, in the 1890s, and was originally called a Sean O'Farrell and was served only when miners ended their shifts.[2][3][4] When the beer is served as a chaser, the drink is often called simply a shot and a beer.[5]
In England, the term boilermaker traditionally refers to a half pint of draught mild mixed with a half pint of bottled brown ale. In the south-west of England it is also known as a 'brown split', although it also refers to the American shot and pint.[6] In Scotland, a half and a half is a half pint of beer with a whisky ("a wee hawf").[7] The use of these terms in Scottish and English pubs can be traced back to about 1920.[8]
There are a number of ways to drink an American beer chaser:
Traditionally, the liquor is consumed in a single gulp and is then "chased" by the beer, which is sipped.[9][10]
The liquor and beer may be mixed by pouring or dropping the shot into the beer. The mixture may be stirred.[9] If the shot glass is dropped into the beer glass, the drink can also be known as a depth charge.[11]
^Walkart, C.G. (2002). National Bartending Center Instruction Manual. Oceanside, California: Bartenders America, Inc. p. 123. ASIN: B000F1U6HG. The BCIM lost track of the traditional American Boilermaker from the 1970s and 80s; this involves a "depth charge," which is a shotglass filled with whiskey that is dropped into a 2/3 filled pint of beer. The 2002 manual suggests to “Serve whiskey in a shot glass with a glass of beer on the side as a chaser.”
^Randall, Jessy F. (2013). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. Oxford University Press USA. p. 58. ISBN9780199734962.