The recent New England snowstorm, Nemo, left me without power and hanging around the house next to the woodstove. Having just received a care package from Jameson, I figured it was clearly divine intervention and settled in to my very own beer and whisky pairing.
The simplicity of a whiskey with a chaser of beer – such as a Jameson washed down with PBR – works, but as a beer geek, the simple request for a beer and a bump has honestly been lost for me. That is until the folks at Jameson prompted the idea of exploring this angle with craft beer.
Honestly, I get a lot of press releases related to beer and whisky stuff, between this blog and the brewery and restaurant and bars, I often just glance over them or delete them unread. But I admit, this was something I hadn’t considered before and being we had 3Beans from Sixpoint (one of our favorite craft brewers) on at our restaurant – I set to try some of these combinations for myself.
As it was presented from the folks at Jameson:
1. The all inclusive approach: Jameson Black Barrel & Innis & Gunn Irish Whiskey Cask
What’s the perfect pairing for a dark beer matured for 60 days in Irish whiskey barrels….the whiskey that was in the barrel!
Jameson Black Barrel is filled with notes of dried orange peel, chocolate, maple sugar, and hazelnuts, and pairs beautifully with thechocolate and treacle taste of the Innis & Gunn
2. The alternative Guinness: Jameson Black Barrel & Milk Stout Nitro by the Left Hand Brewing Co
The All-American combination of Jameson Black Barrel matured in ex-bourbon barrels and a stout from highest state, Colorado
3. For the Irish in all of us: Jameson & Brooklyn Dry Irish Stout
The Irish Stout beer style was once produced by dozens of breweries in Ireland. These days it is only produced by three major breweries in Ireland, none of them Irish-owned
The blend of grains gives the beer an espresso-like bite, followed by coffee and chocolate flavors. Be sure to serve it with “two fingers” of foam, and a shot of Jameson
4. A new local beer: Jameson Black Barrel & 3Beans by Sixpoint
Brooklyn, New York-based Sixpoint Brewery has teamed up with fellow New York City companies Mast Brothers Chocolate and Stumptown Coffee Roasters to release a new brew, 3Beans. At 10% abv, 3Beans is made using Romano beans and cacao beans from Mast Brothers. Post-fermentation, the brew is blended with Stumptown cold-brewed coffee and then aged on toasted American oak.
The sweetness in the grain whiskey with the creamy richness of the pot still whiskey makes Black Barrel a match made in heaven for a chocolatey beer combination. Both the whiskey and the beer are aged in American oak casks working together to bring out the flavor profile.
My own takeaways – I personally felt that the best combination was the Jameson Black Barrel & Innis & Gunn Irish Whiskey Cask. I really enjoyed the beer and the whisky just took it to another level. Of course, a close second was the 3Beans which I just loved. Finally the Left Hand Milk Stout, which is a phenomenal beer, but I don’t think it was enhanced in any clear way by a whisky chaser. Of course, this could also be because I sadly dropped the glass while racing my dog down the stairs (he won)…
Either way, I seriously think that the idea of a craft beer with a whisky back is an itriguing one that leaves a lot of room for exploration. I plan to do some more exploring tonight…