Black and Tans

I was recently at Clyde’s at Willow Creek Farm (for the Anniversary with the wife), and I ordered a black and tan. I actually know very little about this historic variant, so I was surprised when the Server asked what blend I wanted. I said it was at the bartender’s discretion (the Server knew what I was ordering).

The returned beer surprised the hell out of me: all of the lighter ale’s (from Harp to Sam Adams to even Magic Hat #9), the bartender chose Newcastle to pair with Guinness. I like Guinness fairly well (definitely no where near the level of love some people have), but I’ve always been so-so on Newcastle (surprising, given my love of English dirty ales and Scottish beers).

The resulting black and tan, however, was incredible. It was so good, that I almost never want to drink either beer by itself again. (This is more likely with Newcastle than with Guinness, but that’s beside the point.) It was aesthetically deficient (no lovely black and tan layers), but the flavor was an absolutely indescribably awesome blend of the two beers.

This has resulted in experimentation (covered by a Halloween Party beer purchase). Although I haven’t found the perfect pumpkin beer blend (post on pumpkin beer to follow, I swear), I did discover a seasonal black and tan blend for the completely not-feint of heart: Sierra Nevada’s Anniversary Ale with Dominion Brewery’s Baltic Porter.

I love both of these beers immensely (the Baltic Porter  especially), but the sum of the black and tan’s parts exceeds it’s wonderful ingredients.

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