I think I may have solved the age-old mystery of pouring a perfect Black & Tan every time!

It all started yesterday evening, when I tried pouring myself a few glasses of Black and Tan.  I started by filling half of the glass with Alexander Keith's pale ale, and then tried slowly topping it up with Guiness stout.  Each time, I ended up with a dark murky liquid not at all worthy of being called a Black & Tan.  I had tried several methods of pouring, which included tipping the glass and a method I had read about in this forum which involved pouring the stout over a bent, upside down spoon.  None of these methods worked for me.  ACER ASPIRE ONE AO751h-1948 REPLACEMENT LAPTOP LCD SCREEN

As I poured the last unsuccessful Black & Tan, I decided to take the scientific approach and observe the physical characteristics of the beverage as the process failed.  As the dark clouds of Guiness began their gloomy decent into the bittersweet depths of the pale ale sea, I watched as they began to form patterns of swirling vortexes around the arising bubbles.  It was then that my mind drifted to the Bermuda Triangle.  Play cool shooting games online.

Several years ago, I had seen a documentary that focused on the mysterious disappearance of an unusually high number of sea vessels in the Bermuda Triangle region over the last century.  While paranormal phenomena had initially been attributed to these events, the documentary discussed a more modern theory which suggested that methane pockets were responsible for the vessel disappearances.  Geological surveys had revealed high levels of methane under the ocean floor in the Bermuda Triangle region, which would occasionally escape to the surface in the form of millions of bubbles.  Science dictates that this would make the density of the affected water much lighter than normal, resulting in negative buoyancy for any objects floating in the water at the time.  Back to the beer.  ボルボ

It occurred to me that the same principles might apply for two different liquids; the high carbonation of a freshly-opened bottle of ale would make the density of the liquid relatively light, giving the added stout negative buoyancy.  Releasing some of the gas from the ale should give the stout positive buoyancy.  To test this theory, I opened another bottle of Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale and rapidly poured it into a glass.  I spent several minutes swishing the glass around and tipping it on its side until the large head grew thin and the bubble activity subsided.  I then lowered a bent, upside-down spoon to just above the ale's surface and poured the Guiness stout over it.  Sure enough, the liquids maintained separation to form a quality Black & Tan beverage.  I tried this method 5 more times, and it has worked every time (I found out that the spoon isn't absolutely necessary, but it does help). 

I've probably only discovered what many bartenders have kept to themselves for years.  However, I feel obligated to share this information with the public.  I surmise that the bartender trick is to pour the ale rapidly so that most of the bubbles arise to the surface to form a head, and then tip the glass on its side for a minute or so in order to increase the surface area of the liquid and let the bubbles escape faster - then they add the stout.  Of course, it may not even be an issue for bartenders, since their tap Guiness draught is likely much more carbonated than the canned version (giving the stout lighter density by default).  In any case, I hope you will enjoy mixing your next Black & Tan. 

Cheers,

Lan Fisher
Your Black & Tan Specialist

P. S.  - I'd recommend using Bass for the ale, but it's your call.