Buying beer should be fun. It shouldn’t be as routine as picking up the same old six-pack from the grocery store on a weekly basis. Instead, it should be an adventure every time, and a bit of a mystery. What new beers will I find this week, or what old favorite will make a surprise appearance at my local package store? Whatever beer will I choose to bring home for this week’s imbibement?

My surprise this week was to find a case of New Amsterdam Black and Tan at a local liquor store. New Amsterdam was the name the Dutch gave New York before the English claimed it from them, and as you might guess this is in fact a beer from the Empire state.

As a brand, New Amsterdam has been around for some time. In fact, it was arguably the first contract-brewed micro in America, since New Amsterdam Amber first appeared on store shelves back in 1982. The craft beer movement was at its dawn when Matthew Reich concocted the idea of brewing a beer without actually building a brewery. With the help of legendary brewer Joseph Owades Reich formulated his new beer and paid Utica, New York’s F.X. Matt Brewing to produce it for him.

Some time later, Reich did actually build a small brewery in New York City, though the bottled product was still made in Utica. It did not survive the fierce competition in the microbrewing industry, but contract-brewed New Amsterdam beers did and are still available 20 years after Reich launched the brand.

Black and Tan is traditionally a mixture of stout and pale ale or lager; Guinness and Bass being perhaps the most celebrated combination. Of late, many bottled black and tans pre-blended for the consumer have become popular. New Amsterdam Black and Tan was introduced to the market back in 1994 and is a blend of a roasty stout specially made for this beer with their malty, Cascade dry-hopped Amber. Top-quality black and caramel malts are used along with Cascade, Kent Golding, and Willamette hops.

New Amsterdam Black and Tan pours to a dark brown to light black color with a thick creamy head and a sweet dark malt nose. The palate is roasty like a stout but smooth and very drinkable like an amber ale. There are notes of cola nuts, caramel, and a subtle permeation of flowery Cascade hops, the latter being the signature of New Amsterdam Amber. The finish is balanced to slightly roasty.

This is a delightful dark beer that I’m pleased to enjoy again. It’s not overbearing and won’t scare you away if you’re new to dark beers; it will satisfy you still if you’re an experienced beer veteran.

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