Strength to Strength - NMBC IBNT

The last few months have been a bit of a whirlwind, but it actually feels really good to get behind this keyboard (for the evening at least) to tell the truth!

I don't think there's anyone out there at the moment who would disagree that Northern Monk Brew Co has had a bit of an explosion in the last couple of years. Their improved product quality has certainly not gone unnoticed to us!

So time to put them to a classic Ghosty test! Can you make a good Imperial Black N Tan out of their beer?!

Turns out you can....

Speaking of cans though, Double Heathen and Black Forest Strannik are a force to be reckoned with on their own, let alone blended together! A 10% DIPA meets a 10% Russian Imperial Stout. Good combo!

Now this is the second time I've done this in two days, and for a good reason. The first day I just blended them straight together to make one beer. Tonight I've layered them to create a whole different drinking experience. The first night was great, but this night has been really cool..

When you layer a latte most people will just mix them straight together, which is fine, but tonight I didn't mix the two beers together.. I just drank them layered. This meant that for the start I was just getting great DIPA. Around the middle however, you can't really tell where the DIPA ends and the Impy Stout begins, so you get a fantastic blend of the two without even knowing it. By the end of the glass I knew I was drinking Imperial Stout sure, but that middle part.. I really need to do that again!

I've always found when making black and tans that one beer will always over power the other, but when drinking them layered without mixing I found an amazing transition from one to the other without one beer ever out shining its kin. You get the best qualities of one beer and the best qualities of the other, but the middle ground is a fascinating experience. Less than more of one overpowering the other, but more of two meeting in the middle.

I want to see a Black N Tan like this as a regular occurrence in the Northern Monk Refectory!