New Amsterdam Black & Tan

Clear garnet brown body topped by a medium beige head. Aroma is mild sweet, roasty, caramel, cherry. Taste is medium sweet, roast/burnt cherry, some caramel. The roasty/burnt carries into the aftertaste. Light-medium body.

Sparkling clear copper ale with a mid-sized, creamy, khaki-colored head. Good retention with ink-blot lacing. Caramely and chocolatey nose and flavor with subtle notes of straw. Well-balanced. Medium-bodied with a creamy mouthfeel and fizzy carbonation. Short, crisp, clean finish that leaves the mouth feeling very dry.

A hoppier taste than the Amber or Blonde. Noticeable bitterness and a somwehat harsh flavor. Nothing special.

(12 oz bottle: Chevy Chase Wine & Spirits in Washington, DC) A combination of their stout and amber lager, from the looks of it, there doesn’t seem to be much stout in here. It pours a ruddy, light brown color, quite a bit lighter than I expected from a black and tan, and is topped by a light tan head that quickly fades to a rim. Lightly malty and sweet, very gently roasty, perhaps a bit nutty, and balanced with some mild bitterness, this is what it is, a nice, moderately flavorful, no frills brown lager. The nose mirrors the flavor, lightly malty with a very modest amount of roast coming through. Light to medium bodied. Overall, this black and tan is mostly tan, but so what, this is a pleasant and enjoyable brew to grab out of the fridge when you just want a beer.

I really didn’t care much for the aroma of this beer at first, but it got better as the carbonation left a bit. Sort of amaretto and yucky grain smell. This is a sweet beer, not much in the stout portion, and actually almost favors an alt or brown. The flavor is decent but fairly unremarkable. For the NY regionals, Brooklyn Brewery’s got them beat hands down. Not bad though.