Great Dane Dark Mild

Brewed by Great Dane Pub & Brewery
Style: Mild Ale
Madison, Wisconsin USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

Cask at downtown location. Pours a deep brown with ruby at the edges. A dissipating off white head as well. Nose is toasty, edging on roasty, and lightly sweet. Taste has a tartness to it that comes from the dark grain used, most likely. Minimal bitterness, mildly sweet and chocolatey. Light bodied. Okay.

On nitro charge at the downtown Madison Great Dane brewpub. Pours a semi-clear reddish dark brown colored brew with a nitro creamy dark beige head that just does not go away. Aroma of caramel and chocolate malt, floral hops, some hazelnut and a touch of dark berries. Taste is medium bodied, smooth, creamy with flavors of caramel and roasted nuts, a hint of chocolate and dry floral hops. Finish is semi-dry with a toasted caramel malt and floral hop aftertaste.

[Tap] Sampled back in mid-December. Pours an opaque black color with a nitro tan head. Dry roasted grains in the aroma. The taste is like a weak stout. Roasted grain, burnt caramel, light vanilla and some cocoa in there. A dry and somewhat metallic finish. Low level of carbonation, but the nitro pour gave it a smooth and creamy mouthfeel.

Though it said this was on cask at the downtown location, it was served with a huge, creamy head. Nitro pour? Regardless, it looked beautiful, a clear dark brown with that massive tan head. Smells chocolatey with a nice hop twinge, some dark malt, and a little lactose. Taste is dry and malty, with a hazelnut flavor. Finishes with lactose sourness. Felt like velvet in the mouth--smooth and creamy. There was nothing spectacular about this beer, but I wanted to drink another.

Sampled on cask: Poured a dark dark brown with no head. Aroma is pretty malty- chocolate and faint hops on the nose. Taste is super disapointing. Metallicy, thin and watery in the finish- it left an awful gritty taste on my mouth, definately something i won’t be having for a while.

On cask. Beautiful dark brown with a real nice head leaving great lacing. Nice malty aromas, pumpernickel, brown sugar, some roastiness. Some decent chocolate and caramel flavors in the taste some roastiness, not too much to it, but nice. Almost no carbonation and thin bodied, but still pretty nice. A nice brew, and one I would most likely order again.

Dark brown/ruby hued beer - nitro-pour creamy head - a really flavorful combination of roasted malt, doughy character, and light hints of black cherry - a little diacetyl on the back makes it slightly less enjoyable, but this is quality stuff.

On the nitro-tap at Great Dane downtown Madison and served in an English pint glass. This mild poured a nitro-infused brown with a few ruby/amber highlights and a lasting one-finger thick head of creamy foam. Tons of nice lace. The aroma of the beer was made up of muted caramel and chocolate as well as a bit of dark fruit and smoke. The flavor was much the same (also a bit muted by the nitro). The mouthfeel was light-bodied and extremely creamy. Nicely sessionable, but not amazing.