
Black & Blue: Guinness and Blueberry Ale
by Stephen Lin, Editor in Chief
September 15, 2003 + Boston, MA
YUMMY!
I suspect some Guinness purists will cringe when they hear what I've done... meh, fuck 'em. I like what I like. And what I like at this moment is a little something I picked up from Allston, MA's Sunset Grill and Tap: a little something known as a Black & Blue.
Two of the more common Guinness beertails out there are the Black & Tan (Guinness and Bass) and the Black Velvet (Guinness and hard cider). Among Sunset's vast selection of beers and beertails are the Black & Blue (Guinness and blueberry ale) and the Black Cherry (Guinness and Sam Adams Cherry Wheat). I can personally vouch that every one of these combinations is just splendid.
I'd also like to give a shout out to the now defunct Delihaus of Boston which used to serve Guinness floats (with vanilla or coffee ice cream). I bring this up now just to further annoy the Guinness purists.
And you did this at home how?
Anyhoo, after having spent an hour and a half at Target shopping with my girlfriend, I was ready for a beer. We swung by the liquor store and picked up a six pack of Guinness Draught and a six pack of Sea Dog's Blue Paw Wheat Ale.
Immediately upon arriving home, I cannibalized a teaspoon and MacGuyvered it into a Guinness spoon (do a search for "Guinness Spoon" on eBay ). My first pouring attempt was pretty pathetic, but I actually managed to successfully stack Guinness on top of blueberry ale on my second try. (Having observed my mistakes, my girlfriend poured a perfect Black & Blue on her first try.)
Here's how it should go:
- Fill half a glass with whatever blueberry ale is available to you. (You know, pour it against the inside of the glass so it doesn't fizz all out of control.)
- Hold an inverted spoon over the mouth of the glass. Not too high and definitely angle it a little toward the inside of the glass.
- Pour Guinness slowly over spoon and watch it stack on top of the lighter ale. We found that we have the most success when the bottle makes direct contact with the spoon.
- Watch it cascade a little, drink, and enjoy.
- Repeat several times over.
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