What's Brewing? How to layer your own Black and Tan

Black and Tan is the name given to a beer with the combination of a pale ale such as Bass, Boulevard or Sierra Nevada layered with a stout such as Guinness or Murphy’s. What’s really fun is that if you can’t decide between ordering a stout or a pale ale, you can have them both and you’ll be able to taste them in order without the concern of them mixing together. Most of us have seen this layered concoction before and it looks pretty cool. But the name Black and Tan has a violent history I never knew.

History

In 1920 and 1921, the British assembled an army of former World War I servicemen to suppress the Irish Republican Army’s (IRA) guerrilla war. The army wore black police-style shirts with khaki tan military pants. For this reason, the Irish dubbed them the Black and Tans. The Black and Tans were ruthless killers who burned their way through towns, including factories and homes. They looted pubs and slaughtered civilians, including 12 at a soccer match in Dublin. It’s still an insult to order a Black and Tan in Ireland today. Instead, you would ask for a Half and Half.

Pouring a Black and Tan

Use at least a 16-ounce glass and pour in the pale ale first. A little more than half of the glass will do the trick. Make sure you’re pouring it with a little thunder going into that glass because you want a substantial head. The head of the pale ale will help minimize the mixing of the two beers when you pour the stout. When pouring the stout into the glass you must use something to help displace the pour. If you don’t, the stout may sink right to the bottom and mix with the pale ale. Same great taste, but nothing exciting to look at. Using the back of a spoon works well to pour the stout and, of course, there are devices you can buy to help make the pouring process easier. Another fun thing worth mentioning is that I recently used a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA to give me the best of both worlds. As long as the beer on the bottom is denser than the beer on top, you’re good to go.

Here are a few beers you can easily layer at home. Cheers!

Murphy Brewery (Ireland)

Murphy’s Irish Stout, Irish Dry Stout (4% ABV). Murphy’s pours black in color and has a medium body. It is silky smooth with toffee coffee notes. Almost no bitterness with a creamy finish.

Dogfish Head Brewery (Milton, Del.)

60 Minute IPA (6% ABV). Pours a golden amber with hop-forward piney and citrus notes. Hoppy flavor and crisp with a lingering bitter finish.

Guinness Brewery (Ireland and Baltimore, Md.)

Guinness Stout, Irish Dry Stout (4.2% ABV). Pours black with a creamy white head. It has both a sweet and bitter taste as the malt arrives to complement a base of roasted barley. Well balanced. Medium body with a velvety finish.

Sierra Nevada Brewing (Chico, Calif.)

Pale Ale (5.6% ABV). Pours light yellow with a white frothy head. Pine and citrus aromas with well-balanced hops and malt flavors. Finishes with a slight bitterness along with malt.