Hockley Valley Brewing Company part one of two

I picked up a three pack of cans the other day from a nearby Brewery that used to be based in Hockley Valley and has since pulled up stakes and moved to the nearby, and larger town of Orangeville. Hockley Valley is most noted for it's many horse farms, famous golf course and ski resort. Also it served as the early stomping grounds for a young James Cameron, who when he directed "Titanic" named his villain "Caledon Hockley" after two villages in the area of his youth. Five years after Titanic in 2002, a small group of dedicated quaffers tried unsuccessfully to distill whiskey using horse manure instead of peat as a fuel source. Great idea in principle for there certainly are enough horse farms in the area. Though I think that people would start saying... "don't give me any of your sh!tty whiskey..." with out giving the product a taste. Fortunately for us whiskey takes way to long to make so the same group of entrepreneurs took their rented space behind the Hockley Valley General store, and turned it into a cottage brewery www.hockleybeer.ca. Hockley Gold and Hockley English Ale were the first two beers I believe. I remember visiting the tiny brewery years ago it was very hard to find, a tiny cramped space and a little disorganised I recall. However, the beer was good, and they have the awards to prove it and since they have moved to larger digs they are doing well. Tonight we will taste:


Beer # 24 Hockley Valley Brewing Company Black and Tan

Now truthfully a black and tan is something you can *really* only have in a pub. Go into a pub in England and ask for a Black and Tan and your Innkeeper will pour a half glass of a pale or bitter ale, followed by a half glass of Guinness Stout on top. He will accomplish this feat with a "black and tan spoon" a spoon that has a bend in it that hooks over the edge of the glass and is used to slow down the flow of Guinness so it floats on top to the lighter coloured pale ale, giving that all important "black and tan" appearance. A similar beverage of 3/4 of a glass of hard draught cider and 1/4 Guinness is called either a "Black Velvet," a "Preist Collar," or a "Snakebite," depending on which pub to happen to be drinking in.


Well we know that Guinness makes up the top black portion, what makes up the tan? well either Harp Lager, Bass Pale ale, Smithwicks Red, or even Newcastle Brown, once again depending on where your barstool is at the given moment, plus any number of combinations depending on your taps-master. There is even one called "Black and Trash," where Budweiser Lager makes up the tan part (hey I don't make this stuff up... don't shoot the messenger!)

Tonight's offering is made from equal portions of Hockley Valley Stout, and Hockley Valley Dark Ale (both of which I will try tomorrow in part two). The beers are blended at the brewery and then canned (yes ugh I know) in 473ml tall boy aluminum cans. The beer is 4.7% ABV and a dark brown amber with an off brown generous head. Rich bitter malt coffee smoke and chocolate pervade the aroma First sip give us very light sweet caramel slight effervescence hints of licorice or demerara sugar. Aeration gives us soft muted malts, earthiness. Finish is malt sugar and smoke.

Overall results: (Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional)

Taste: Pass
Cost: Pass ($7.95 for three cans $2.65 a can)
Colour: Pass
Beer Style: So-so
Re-order: So-so
Experience: Pass

Final thought: It's a good beer it's just not really a black and tan, Black and tan is an experience and the wow factor of seeing the pitch black Guinness hovering over the lighter coloured bitter ale in the glass without mixing. A good Black and tan will actually change flavours every time you drink it depending on if you get more black, or more tan when you sip.

Tomorrow I will try the two component beers of the Black and Tan, Stay tuned!

Cheers
CJT