Tomorrow is brew day again and we're going to brew something completely different. We're not Irish and as such we don't "celebrate" St Patrick's day, however it's excellent timing to brew the required beers for a Half and Half.
In the US this is better known as a 'Black and Tan', but as I learned not too long ago, that's a disrespectful term in Ireland as it refers to the Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force of the 1920s. So Half and Half it is! For those not familiar with either terms, in the beer world it refers to a cocktail of a pale and dark beer. In our case we'll be brewing an Extra Special Bitter or ESB for the light beer and an Irish Dry Stout for the dark one.
You get the Half and Half by first pouring the light beer in a glass and getting a nice foamy head. The real trick is to gently pour the stout so that the 2 remain separated (at least temporarily, eventually they will mix). In most cases you want to use an upside down spoon to minimize splashing and to better control the trickle. Believe it or not, but they even developed a special spoon that can hang off the side of the glass. We'll stick with a regular one. Pictures will follow in about a month as we'll require 2 weeks for the fermentation and then at least 2 for the bottling. In the meantime, google for either Half and Half or Black and Tan and you'll see plenty of examples!
In the US this is better known as a 'Black and Tan', but as I learned not too long ago, that's a disrespectful term in Ireland as it refers to the Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force of the 1920s. So Half and Half it is! For those not familiar with either terms, in the beer world it refers to a cocktail of a pale and dark beer. In our case we'll be brewing an Extra Special Bitter or ESB for the light beer and an Irish Dry Stout for the dark one.
You get the Half and Half by first pouring the light beer in a glass and getting a nice foamy head. The real trick is to gently pour the stout so that the 2 remain separated (at least temporarily, eventually they will mix). In most cases you want to use an upside down spoon to minimize splashing and to better control the trickle. Believe it or not, but they even developed a special spoon that can hang off the side of the glass. We'll stick with a regular one. Pictures will follow in about a month as we'll require 2 weeks for the fermentation and then at least 2 for the bottling. In the meantime, google for either Half and Half or Black and Tan and you'll see plenty of examples!