Saranac Black and Tan
Saranac Black & Tan is a judicious melding of our classic irish stout with an all-malt german-style amber lager. The result is a brew that is hearty, pleasantly bitter and full of flavor, yet can be enjoyed bottle after bottle. Our unique Black & Tan has multiple flavor notes... you may enjoy counting them. Enjoy!
3.1
771 reviews
Utica, United States
Community reviews
The beer is kinda black and kinda brown. Imagine that. The head is beige in color, standing in at 1/4" and leaving a nice, thick sheet of lacing on the pint glass. The aroma brings chocolate, roasted malt, and caramel. The flavor is pretty sweet, with a large chocolate presence. The beer is medium bodied and finishes dry. Overall, a decent beer.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 07-09-2011
I really enjoy Saranac’s Black and Tan, and I feel it is one of the superior ones to be found in Upstate NY.
pours a clear dark brown with a small tan head, and some lacing.
smell is of grain, cocoa, and malt.
taste is creamy, cocoa, grain, and a touch of caramel. ends smooth and slightly bitter.
Pours brown...not much head...bitter malty roastedcaramel aroma..taste is has a sour to it not good imo
Good weighty body, but has an after taste too close to cleaning products. Looks good, smells ok, taste surprisingly sub par
A - pours dark chestnut brown with no head. S - aromas of toasted grains, fresh grains and dog food, toasted malts and strong malts. M - light medium body with High carb. T - watery dark fruits, toasted malts, grains throughout. O - alright less than average. 4
Originally reviewed: 5/30/08. Poured into a conical pint glass. Nice dark chocolate color with a good head. Dissipated to a nice ring with good lacing about mid way through. Smells of chocolate and malt. Nice creamy taste to it. Finished on the bitter side. I was impressed as I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would probably drink this again.
12oz bottle in a shaker. Pours deep brown with a lacy, cream-colored head. Aroma of roasted, pale, and caramel malts, plus a little bit of hops and some smokiness. Flavor about the same. A decent beer.
12 oz. bottle. Pours a very dark brown with clear transparent edges. Thin-moderate tan head that lasted through the first quarter of the glass and left partial lace. Mild aroma of roasted malt and not much else. The flavor is roasted malt and is somewhat ashy. Dry finish with mild-moderate bitterness. Light-medium bodied.
bottled, thanks to skykob for lugging this back to plzen. anyways,dark brown with a small but lasting beige head; some prune and burnt porridge aroma; decent dry bitterness with some caramel; quite drinkable even if a tad simple
12 ounce bottle that pours a dark ruby brown color, almost looks like coke. Aromas of malt, grass, grain, and some dark fruit. Flavor is bland, almost cokish as well with roasted malt and grass comming through.
Aroma- roasted malts, grain, metallics, faint chocolate
Appearance- dark brown with lighter hues, thin head, slight lacing
Taste- roasted notes, some malt backbone, porter qualities
Palate- lighter bodied for a dark beer
Overall- Drinkable but not special whatsoever. Better than most macro’s but not something I would ever seek out.
Pours a lovely dark reddish brown with almost no head. The aroma is comprised of roasted coffee and malt sweetness. Roasted coffee with hints of chocolate start off the flavor along with a nice hop flavor. Extremely easy to drink and very enjoyable.
Last bottle from the VA mixed pack. Pour looks a little light; kinda like Coke with a foamy off-white head but nice lacing. Aroma is light but has nice malt notes. The flavor is pretty thin though. You get some light bitterness and fullness from the malt but it is limited. Okay
Bottle from a mixed box at the BevMo in Roseville, CA. Pours ruddy dark brown with a creamy beige head. Aroma is dark toasted malt with some cooked dark fruit undertone. Med body. Flavor is roast malt with some medium dark fruit. It has that burnt toast flavor in the aftertaste. It’s definitely a bitter drink. Malt sweet keeps popping up, but something (hop?) keeps bittering things up. Interesting drink.
Bottle from a variety 6 pack. Pours a very dark brown, with a fine fluffy head. It actually leaves some nice intricate lacing. The aroma is slightly roasted malt, root beer, and pine. The body is medium, with high, prickly carbonation. Slight roasted malt profile, nowhere near a stout, not much complexity, bitter finish with some dried dark fruit notes. Rather bland.
Lacks aroma of stout, I would classify as a black and tan and not a stout. Doesn’t have that burnt roasted malts that I love in a stout. Rather mild and meek for a stout, but decent. For Saranac...one of their better brews….still not saying a lot.
Bottle in NY. Smooth color and head, chocolate tones,hoppy palate and finish. Not bad.
Poured from a bottle into a pint glass. About ¾ inches of head. Color was black and coffee like. Small amount of film and much less than I thought. That changed later with uneven random spots throughout. Slight lacing on glass after initial pour. That dissipated pretty quickly.
Malty smell with coffee, caramel, toffee and chocolate dominating the way.
First taste was a buttery, coffee taste. Chocolate malts follow. Slight taste of caramel.
Nutty, bitter finish on the tongue. Mild to above average carbonation. Not the smoothest, but plenty of drinkability.
A decent beer overall. Saranac is one of my favorite beers, being from New York. I’d say this is on the top-half of my Saranac list.
This beer is slightly bitter but not very complex. It bosts a ton of flavors but I didn’t find to many of them.
12 oz bottle poured into a mug. With a dark chocolate, plum, cashew and dark rum nose this beer pours a see-through, root beer colored body with a long lasting, off-white head. A smoky, slightly watery bodied stout offers notes of dried tobacco and almonds. Not a bad stout, especially if you want one that’s not too hefty.
What an odd hybrid! It doesn’t look as aesthetically pleasing from the bottle as it does served from a tap over a spoon. Pours lehigh brown with a big white head that leaves a lot of lacing. Big bready nose. The taste is dominated by the dark stuff and it’s big chocolate notes. Finishes fairly clean.
9/6/2009
Pours a solid dark brown with deep ruby highlights and a huge creamy tan head that sticks around forever. Smells of roasted malts, cotton candy, some dark fruit, aromatic malts, a little toffee. Theres a strange bitterness in the smell that seems out of place. Taste is malty at first. Starts off like cold coffee and dark fruit then that harsh bitterness that was in the smell comes through. A finishes with a lingering chocolate taste that would have been great the whole way through. Creamy smooth mouthfeel, medium to thick in the body, medium carbonation. This one was only okay. I liked it at first, but as it warmed I liked it less and less. The astringent bitterness ruined this one for me.
12oz bottle as part of the adirondack mountain mix 6-pack. First thing I noticed was the alcohol aroma, so the modest 5.1% ABV is surprising. Pretty bitter and carbonated, not enough good flavor to back it up. A decent beer to accompany the grilled sandwich I just consumed with it. In all fairness, though, this is my first-ever stout, so I’m not really familiar with the style.
Pours a permanently covering head over a deep red, fairly clear body under a slick lacing that is as thick as the long-lasting head.
Aroma is caramel malt and notes of vanilla and roast coffee. Very impressive like North Coast!
Taste is a little bitter and little like flavored coffee. Again, very good. This is much better than the same brewer’s dry, Irish stout.
And I like the lively and forward palate like a friendly stout.
I definitely like this beer better than many and gives a break in ABV.
Bottle from a mixed 6-pack purchased at a Price Chopper in Lake Placid, NY on 03/26/2011. Colour: Dark dark dark red with brown undertones and small slightly grey head. Nose: Dark cocoa, seaweed, tar, whisky, toffee. Taste: Medium sweet, medium bitter, light sour. Really black sweetened coffee, charred malt, roasted pumpkin seeds. Finish is looooooooong and full of burnt notes. Delicious, if not a touch sweet.
Bottle. Pours a dark chocolate, slightly thin with a reddish hue. Aroma of chocolate malt, roasted nuts, and a touch of prunes. Flavor is slightly distant but a decent amount of roasted chocolate malt balanced by an earthy quality I couldn’t make. Very fizzy with roasted malt, chalk, and bitterness in the finish. One of my favorites from Saranac.
From a Saranac mixed 12 pack. Mild aroma of malt. Decent flavors of malt and cream, with a smooth palate. Not very exciting, but decent beer.
Not bad, can’t really taste the lager much, just a relatively watery stout. Decent maltiness, just can’t really get into Black and Tans that much.
Pours a light brown with a hint of red and medium brown foam. Smells lighly sweet and roasty. Initially tastes like a good black and tan, but ends with a bitterness that fades into old barley.