Gales Festival Mild

Pours with a big fluffy tan head that is kind of loose but shrinks to about half itt’s inital size and tightens up a bit. The color is a very very dark brown and pours just a little hazy. The aroma on this is not somehting I am used to, very aromatic but it seems to be the malt expressing it’self very pungently, some cola aromas but also some good mollasses and chocolate. Flavor is very good, rasins and good molasses notes. Fruity and just mildly spicy certinally some berries. If this is a good representation of the style I am very much impressed and I can understand why Jackson mourned it’s decline in popularity.

Dark color with off-white head. An unusual style which I enjoyed. Has a sweet/sour taste of hops and roasted coffee. Has a lingering aftertaste for a mild ale. A very interesting brew.

Cask at GBBF 08. Very dark ruby with a great dark fruit aroma. Has the expected pretty thin mild palate but a good lingering aftertaste. A very enjoyable mild.

Pours dark brown with a hint of an off white head. Smells of sweet malt with some earthy undertones. Tastes slightly tarte with some sweet caramel malt. Mouthfeel is slightly thin.

(Cask at Kuikka on 2008-04-26) Almost black with some hints of red. Medium a tan-coloured head. Sweetness in nose. Medium palate. Some hops and bitterness from roasted malts. Some sweetness, too. Body could be stronger, it was a bit watery. Burnt aftertaste is not pleasant.

I thought this was a great example of this style, but then again I have not had much experience with it, but it was really easy to drink. Pretty and not pun intended mild on the palate, with a really creamy mouthfeel, some light caramel and toffee maltiness, a bit of fruit sourness (grape) Pretty good like nothing else I had in the past.

500ml bottle. Dark brown mahogany body with a tight brown head. Mildly sweet nose, lightly nutty. Mildly sweet toffee flavors, a bit of nuttiness and fruit. An excellent mild.

Bottle shared by theisti. This was my first mild. This may be an extremely common style in Britain, but here, in the States, it’s about as common as a UFO sighting,--perhaps less. So, thank you, Tim, for giving me the opportunity to try this one. It pours a deep mahogany with a light wispy swirl of bubbles at the surface but no head whatsoever. Initially, it smells a lot like a doppelbock, with dark or burnt caramel dominating the nose, but it gradually takes on a red grape-like note. Light to medium-bodied, thin and slick with a clean finish. Sweet, grapes and caramel malt with a smoky cocoa flavor towards the finish. I made the mistake of pouring the sediment into my glass to finish off the bottle. That completely destroyed the nose and the flavor profile for me. I guess that I should read bottles more carefully, because the label actually warns against drinking the sediment. Regardless, before I screwed it up, it was a very enjoyable and sessionable beverage. I can see why these are so popular off-cask in the UK and look forward to sampling other milds when I eventually make the journey across the pond. Thanks a ton for sharing this with me, Tim.