Mighty Oak Oscar Wilde

Brewed by Mighty Oak
Style: Mild Ale
Maldon, England

Cask conditioned. Mild yet bagged with flavour. Pick this. Pick this. All in the bag. Juicy juicy juicy. A smokey wandering seductive little black beauty with sweetness, nuttiness and a snap of hops.

Cask at the Viper, Mill Green. In excellent condition. Almost black with red highlihts cream head. Quite sweet with balance from roast malts and some hops. One of the best milds I had for a while certainly up there with Batemans and Brains. Surprised by the other comments about being thin as this is stronger than many milds. The Viper is a lovely pub well worth visiting if you are in the area, just off A12 north of Ingatestone.

Gravity, Oxford CAMRA Festival. Pours a dark, almost opaque carmel. Small light tan head. Toasty biscuit aroma--much bigger aroma than the low abv would forecast. A nice touch of butter, soft and beguiling all around. Biscuit flavor, lots of dark carmel flavor, almost to the point where it could be described as roastiness. More toasty biscuit in the finish. My expectations for this were pretty low. If it weren’t for the somewhat thinning selection on the last day of the festival I probably would have passed this up, which made the pleasure of discovering this ale all the greater. If I could get this in one of my local pubs, I would be very pleased to have this as my usual pint. Jam-packed with flavor. It’s stunning really, when you think that the ubiquitous pale lagers of the world are generally stronger than this, but have less flavor in a pint than a spoonful of this. Boring pale lager brewers--this is the sort of beer that should make you ashamed of yourself.

Half pint pulled at The Wenlonk Arms in Islington (London), dark with a light beige head. A light toffee aroma. A light and smooth palate, some sweetness in the easy malt flavour.

Cask at GBBF 08. Very, very dark brown. There’s not much to say about this. It has a simple soft malt aroma and flavour, with just the right weight. It’s just a really good classic English mild and rightly lauded.

Cask Conditioned at the Bedford Beer Festival 2004 (Wednesday Session).A mild that is heavy on the chocolat. Very, very good.

Cask@GBBF07. Strong moccha aroma. Almost black color, beige head, good lace. Sweet, moccha and blackberries, little dusty. Very flavorful, very nice balance. How do they do that with only 3.7% ABV and on cask?

Cask at the Wenlock Arms, London
Very dark color. Nice aroma: roasted malt, toffee. Medium body, delicate roastiness, never aggressive, quite harmonious. Not extremely complex, but fully enjoyable.