Eclipse: Black&Tan variant

[OC Richard]

A while back I was with my wonderful family in a Lazy Dog Cafe (it's a restaurant which dogowners bring their dogs to) and on the drink menu was listed Black & Tan (Guinness over Bass) but also Eclipse (Guinness over Blue Moon).

Blue Moon is a "Belgian style Wheat Ale" brewed in Colorado, which is rather popular here in California.

Being a big Black & Tan fan (I even have a Black & Tan spoon) I was intrigued so I ordered that Eclipse.

It was fantastic! The best thing ever, it seemed to me. Since then I've become a big Eclipse fan and I've introduced it to many others at Highland Games, parties, and the like.

I've tried some of the other variants such as "BlackSmith" (Guinness over Smithwicks) and "BlackCastle" (Guinness over Newcastle Brown Ale) but to me they don't have that magical zing of the Eclipse.

Some of these things are mentioned here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_and_Tan

Any XMarkers out there who are big Black & Tan fans? Or a fan of a variant? I hear that Scotland has their own version but I don't remember what it is.

That Wikipedia article mentions two Australian variants. Any others?

[J_Mimbs]

Interesting. I've had that Eclipse variant but they just called it a Black & Blue. Its delicious, and so is a regular Black & Tan.

[Newfoundlander]

I'm a fan of nearly all things Irish, especially if they involve Guiness!

There's a couple fantastic variations of the black & tan here in halifax at a pub downtown: (1) Guinness over Pumphouse Blueberry Ale called the Blackberry (pumphouse is a local Hfx brewery). (2) Guinness over Strongbow cider called a crown float. (3) Guiness over Harp Lager called a Half and Half.

A personal creation of mine is pretty fantastic, if I do say so myself =) It's Guinness over Garrison Blackberry wheat ale, it's as yet unnamed, but boy is it ever tasty

Slainte lads!

[OC Richard]

Those sound great!

My "local" is an English pub which doesn't have Blue Moon so the Eclipse is out... but they do have Strongbow Cider. I'll try that!

I'm slowly working through the various things they do have, which seem promising for a Black & Tan variant.

Any ideas of which English ale might be closest in flavour to Blue Moon?

Thanks! Richard

[mayberry]

At one of the Flying Saucer pubs (Houston, I think) I had a Black Czech, which is Guinness over Pilsner Urquell. Very tasty.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_and_Tan for many more variations.
Cheers,
John

[Lime]

My wife's family always have a "Sweet Black & Tan" at Christmas which is half Guinness and half Sweetheart Stout. I've never particularly liked it... but it's a tradition now!

[Kilted Realtor]

I've always known a Guinness over Strongbow to be a Black Velvet. Interesting the name variations around the world, let alone around the country. Slainte!

[creagdhubh]

Those sound great!

My "local" is an English pub which doesn't have Blue Moon so the Eclipse is out... but they do have Strongbow Cider. I'll try that!

I'm slowly working through the various things they do have, which seem promising for a Black & Tan variant.

Any ideas of which English ale might be closest in flavour to Blue Moon?

Thanks! Richard

Strongbow works beautifully!

[mull]

Those sound great!
Any ideas of which English ale might be closest in flavour to Blue Moon?

Thanks! Richard

Richard,
As you said in your first post, Blue moon is a belgian wheat beer. No english ale will taste like it. Try to find another wheat beer if you want to stay in the same taste family.
Joe

[ForresterModern]

I used to drink Black & Tans when I threw darts competitively for a bar in Cincinnati called Haps Irish Pub over 20 years ago, as at the time it was the least expensive draught beer that was not an american domestic (like Budweiser). Our team drank more than its share over the three years we threw out of that venerable pub. Still have my team shirt----the Hap's Hazards, green with a large biohazard sign as our logo.

The Eclipse is a new one for me, but I am quite familiar with Blue Moon, I believe it is known as a Belgian White Ale. That zing you are tasting is actually orange peel gratings/zests that are used in the post brewing prebottling phase of the beermaking process that gives it an interesting citrus finish that a lot of people like. Not me, however. But I do like the ideas of the other over/under pairings you and others in the thread have mentioned, particularly the Guinness-Smithwicks and the Guinness-cider pairings. Thanks for starting this thread.