Yes, this sounds like a terrible idea. I mean, beer mixed with wine? In the same glass? But the Black Velvet was just perverse enough to be worth trying.

I wound up with eight pints of Guinness in my fridge, and the half bottle of champagne left from my French 76 and Juniper Royale experiments was calling to me. Perverse or not, it had to be done.

4 oz chilled Guinness or stout
4 oz chilled sparkling wine

Pour the Guinness into a champagne flute, then top with wine and serve.

This is one of the biggest surprises yet. Stout mixed with champagne sounds like a bad—if not utterly terrible—combo, but the light effervesence of the wine counters the Guinness’ heaviness, tempering the beer with a lighter, sweeter taste. Again, I think a higher quality wine would do wonders for this drink, but it was not a bad experience with some average sparkling wine.