On tap, Yin’s rich chocolate malting outdoes Yang’s tropical fruiting for resilient B & T. Roasted chocolate, cocoa and vanilla contrast currant-spiced black cherry tones. Betters most competitors.
Enormous 32-ounce can brings tinny metallic derision to slick caramel malting and phenol-hopped acridity of understated, lackluster porter-bock mix. Despite boasting ‘glacial mineral water,’ crispness lacks. Obliging brown-sugared cocoa-powdered chocolate roast overrides ashen cola-walnut singe consuming astringent purple grape, prune, and cherry whimper, weakening to chalky mocha tartness. Slight barleywine lick detected at blah dried-fruit finish. Serve to less discriminating brown ale consumers.
Weird, abstruse, dim amber-hued b&t places unexpected dry orange sourness above roasted barley and spiced hops to sullen finish. Too light and vaguely defined for its class.
Complex ink black burgundy-highlighted hybrid (67% IPA/ 33% stout) propels oat-dried black coffee-chocolate sentiment above pureed black cherry, grapefruit, and pineapple fruiting while ashy cedar-pine bitterness advances. Coarse hop-charred cocoa-powdered coffee-roasted souring underscores creamy maple-sugared toffee-vanilla sweetness at busy licorice midst.
Brewed to honor Ireland’s heritage, though lacking efficient strength of true Irish lager-stout. While caramel-scented cola-colored Black & Tan mix is quite curious, it would be wiser to concentrate on one style (perhaps the stout, since its chocolate-y notes overwhelm grain mesh). Up-front creamy mocha sweetness diminishes to soothing caramelized barley roast.
Sullen dark chocolate presence weak compared to bolder stouts while grain resilience lacks crispness of golden lagers. Incomplete soured fruit esters interrupt moderately creamy mocha sweetness and bitter coffee usurpation. Infrequent raisin-licorice illusions surface as lukewarm nuttiness diminishes flat burnt-toast finish.
Black & tan blends brewers’ Black Hawk Stout with Eye Of The Hawk Ale for dry mahogany-hued ruby-highlighted nonchalance. Ashy mocha-raisin sterility and distant coffee-chocolate creaminess stagnate roasted hop indifference. Robust stout nature lost in transition.
Burnt sienna-hued b & t with soft stout bitterness and easygoing grain fluctuation creating crisp lager flow. Cheap on mocha spicing though barley-roasted caramel creaminess picks up the slack. Neither as rich nor as creamy as better Black & Tans, yet fairly suited to amateurs.
In jug-handled wide-mouth quart bottle, Mud seemingly combines robust English Porter with fine Continental pilsner. Dirty-grained caramel-maple entry, tart fig-date nucleus, and nutty molasses tweak surrender to fizzy metallic soaping. Perhaps the Delta Mud should be thicker, since this goes down too smooth for an otherwise acidic black & tan.
Pairing mediocre Ten Penny Ale with brewers’ signature stout works wonders. Though a bit thin, bitter coffee bean roast fades succinctly into vanilla-sweetened black chocolate finish. Peat, hickory, and soy nuances prickle molasses midst of easily imbibed deep mahogany black & tan.
Diffident amber-hazed lager-porter mix retains initial creamy chocolate-sugared Sugar Daddy frequency as woody hop bitterness softens dry coffee contour and roasted nut mildness for honeyed granola-oats finish.