Dark Star Victorian Ruby Mild

Brewed by Dark Star
Style: Mild Ale
Horsham, England

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Dover Beer Festival. Mmmmm. A very pleasant, soft, flavoursome dark beer. This has the soft berry fruit of a mild, with the low bitterness, though there is a little bit of rough in the swallow. Lovely flavour and lots of it. Very gulpable - this doesn’t feel like a 6% at all, and could catch out the unwary.

21st May 2012
Old Fountain. Clear red - brown beer, nice pale tan head. Smooth palate, slightly soft and with just a touch of dryness. Creamy malt, a little dry. Mild toffee and a mild fruity tang undrneath with equally mild red berry fruits. Smooth finish. Nice mild!

Cask at the Cask and Kitchen. Pours a black colour with a thin tan head. Good malty aroma with a hint of fruit, the taste is malty with some caramel with a dry bitter finish.

Dark color with a brownish head that disappears quickly. The nose is roasted malts, forest fruits, and bitter chocolate. The taste is somewhat acidic and ashy, but still retains a pleasing light sweetness. The body’s a but thin and somewhat watery. Overall, another strong effort from Dark Star.

Half pint at the Sheffield Tap. Dark brown with red highlights and creamy head. Good mild taste with a bit of alcohol too. Aroma is roasted with a bit of nut. A bit sweet and bitter as roastedness leaves the palate. Very nice mild, glad someone’s still making them.

{thoughts} Assertively malty and rich without cloying, though the floral finish feels too light and out of place in this setting.

{elements} Hazy, dark brown hue; firm, light tan froth. Toffee and dark bread malts with notes of chocolate, plums and licorice. Instant, firm, mouth-coating malt sweetness complemented by mildly acidic stone fruit flavors and ending with a soft bitterness and lingering floral and bready aftertaste. Creamy texture, low carbonation, medium body. 50 cl real ale @ O’Connell’s.

Cask @ O’Connell’s, Tampere.
Pours a dark mahogany colour with a white foamy head. Aroma of toasted malts, chestnuts and some sweet fruits. Flavour of quite rich malts, English hops, chocolate, sweet dried fruits and some spices. Rich mouthfeel and a long, bitter, malty and nutty finish. One rich real ale, me likey.

Cask @ O’Connell’s Irish Pub
Forms a head, which is suprising for a real ale. Rather light aroma with sweet malt and caramel. Flavour is malty, slightly spicy and rather rich. Did not expect this kind of richness from a real ale.

Cask (Gallows Bird, Great Baltic Adventure)
7 Very rich grainy aroma. A little cakey, some fruity sweet hops too.
4+ Deep reddy brown, lovely persistent spongy head.
7+ Exceptional full taste, great balance. Big on the grainy malts. Feels old style, not some refined ghey modern sanitised clean taste. Fresh bitter hops, pleasantly tangy. A bit nutty in places too.
4 Smooth palate, carbonation low. Huge immediate finish. Husky grains and tangy hops, almost pungent, herby and grassy. Rich roastiness in the late finish.
15 Really characterful strong mild. Has such a great olde-worldey feel to it.

Cask at the Craft Beer Co. It pours hazy dark brown, with a thick, fluffy beige head and low carbonation. The nose is leather, wood, roasted malt, chocolate and toffee. The taste is sweet caramel, milk chocolate, brown sugar, ripe dark fruit, decent bitterness, roasted malt, wood, polish and leather, with a dry finish. A very flavoursome mild.

Cask (handbottled, thanks K.K.!). Murky rubyish brown colour with a small off-white head. Aroma is roasted malts, ashes, toffee, caramel, some fruits and mild nuttyness. Flavour is rather similar with also quite much bitter hopping.