Cask at County Hotel (JDW) Ashford, I certainly agree with SilkTork’s 2nd review when experienced as cask. Dark ruby in colour, the nose is chocolate and toffee in nature, with some coffee. Strangely over carbonated on the mouthfeel, but the finish is excellent with good chocolate malt. Slightly grainy and roasted, but I really liked it. Definitely worth having a 2nd pint

CasK@Crosse Keys, Central London. I found this to be quite roasty, with a fairly substanial coffee bean/mocha flavour. Light bodied but a decent amount of flavour. Earthy characters, with some slight acidity and bitterness, which give the finish some length, quite tasty, but not quite the full package, needs, some more body i think.

<i>A Mes rate: Cask at Baker St. ’Sporks.</i><br />Dark brown with a thin tan head. Coffee, chocolate, roasted malt and a fair bit of caramel are the order of the day. Plenty of fruit. Slight bitterness in the finish. Pretty straight forward but very quaffable and way above the usual serving standards of this way below par &#40;even for a JDW&#41; pub.

I can’t say I thought there was anything particularly wrong with the bottle conditioning of this one, I just found it a rather odd beer. Not for the first time with these strong milds, I might have had it down as a thin porter, or even an old ale, had I not known otherwise. It’s a deep garnet/tawny brown colour, with virtually no carbonation. The aroma has an "old" feel to it, with mushrooms, wine and just a hint of roast coffee. Sweetish malt arrives first on the palate, but it becomes woody rather than fruity and finishes quite tart and bitter. There’s some licorice in there too, but, overall, I thought the flavours were a bit muddled. An interesting, but not entirely appealing beer. 500ml bottle &#40;bottle conditioned&#41; from beersofeurope.co.uk. BBE 31 July 2004.

Cask conditioned - handpump - JDW, Northampton. Wow, what an interesting beer this is. Black with whitish head and lacing. The aroma is really fruity. Citrus and sherbert notes in the nose. And then you get mild roasty flavours and orange fruits in the mouth. Nice hops and good sweetness too. Very drinkable.