Courage Dark Mild

[Keg at The Bugle, Reading] Astonishingly, in all the time I’ve worked in Reading amongst its many Courage pubs, I’ve never come across this beer before, and as a lover of milds I was quick to try it. It pours deep brown, almost black, with a moderate but lasting creamy head. There’s very little smell, which makes your first taste more of a surprise. This is dominated by beautiful deep, roasted malts, with a hint of coffee in the background. Unfortunately, once you’ve enjoyed the first hit of flavour you realise that it is a little weak and watery, and feel that it could have been much improved by being cask conditioned rather than merely kegged. That said, it still has a few surprises up its sleeve. There is an unusual twist of lemon in the finish, and a growing gentle smokiness in the aftertaste. It leaves an odd mixture of dryness and syrup on the inside of your mouth. There are certainly many better milds out there than this, but considering this is a relatively low ABV kegged effort invented by a brewer whose other beers weren’t that much cop, this is actually a pretty decent effort. I wonder if, now that Wells & Youngs have taking it over, they might produce a cask version…? We can but hope…

Keg at The Plough, Little Bourton, Oxon. Very dark brown with beige head. Thin, almost flavourless mild, although there is a touch of heavy roasted malt. Quick and carbonated on the finish. Not great.

Draught at Mariners Arms, Braunton, North Devon. It pours a very dark beer with a nice creamy head. Initial flavours of olive oil. Watery. A rather weak finish follows. Decent, nothing more.

Draught. A black mild with a whitish short-lived head. The aroma is dry and a bit thin. The taste is decent: roasted malts are very prevalent. Mild tasting like it should be, with a short finish. Does the trick and better than expected.