Railway Tavern Brewing Reviews

Grumbo	3.9 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Extra Cask at the 2018 Colchester Winter Ale Festival. 4.3% abv brewed stronger than the original hence the Extra tag. Pours dark maroon brown with a small bubbly beige head leaving good lacing. Aroma of milk chocolate, light roasted malt, lactose, vanilla and dark fruits. Medium plus sweetness, light bitterness. Medium to full bodied, slightly oily texture, soft to flat carbonation. Very good. Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Grumbo	3.8 Railway Tavern Bladderwrack Extreme Cask at the Harwich & Parkeston Winter Ale Fextival 2017. Pours almost black with minimal head. Aroma of chocolate, roasted malt, dark fruits, molasses, touch of coffee. Medium sweetness and bitterness. Full bodied, silky smooth texture, soft to fine carbonation. Good brew. Sunday, November 26, 2017
Garrat	1.9 Railway Tavern Bladderwrack Stout Cask at EABF 10.Black with a small head,Good roasted aroma with dark chocolate,some herbs too,taste is herbal,chocolate and coffee,bit mixed up. Thursday, April 22, 2010
Garrat	4.4 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Mild Cask at EABF 10.At 4% - Almost black with little head,aroma of chocolate smoke wood leather and dark malt,taste of wood,chocolate coffee and roasted,dry finish. Thursday, April 22, 2010
BeerViking	2.9 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Mild Cask/gravity at Pig’s Ear 2009, and listed as 4%. Deep brown and apparently slightly cloudy, with a fine white head that vanished fast. Sweet chocolate on the nose plus a hint of tartness, smooth, dry and a bit fruity and tingly on the tongue, slight sourness in the dry aftertaste. Chewy yet light bodied. Friday, December 4, 2009
madmitch76	3.4 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Mild 29th May 2008. Very light even for a mild. Semi creamy with a very light finish. Saturday, November 14, 2009
DruncanVeasey	3.5 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Mild Gravity dispense, ’All Creatures Great and Small’ festival, The Merchant’s Inn, Drugby. Haloed mahogany with murky red edges. Raisiny cocoa, faint coffee and woodsmoke aroma. Lovely dusty cocoa and milky coffee notes beyond; salty and vinous with lingering smoky afters. Mellow chocolatey mild with smoke, coffee, and splashes of aged complexity. Good one. Thursday, April 23, 2009
harrisoni	3.2 Railway Tavern Bladderwrack Stout Cask handpull at Railway Tavern, Brightlingsea. Standard stout with some juicy fruit, some liquorice sourness. Decent lasting finish. Friday, August 3, 2007
MesandSim	3.5 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Mild A Mes rate: Cask at Chelmsford Beer Festival. Black body with a tan head. Lovely coffee and dark chocolate malt. Let down a little by some plasticy notes but over all a lovely mild. Sunday, July 15, 2007
chriso	3.7 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Mild Cask (gravity dispense), London Drinker Beer Festival, March 2006. This beer had been eluding me for a long time. Its only regularly available at the one pub in Essex and it always seemed to be not ready, or already gone, when its been listed at festivals I’ve been to. The wait was worth it. Making a mild your main product is not a usual move for a brewpub and demonstrates a real devotion to the product. Very dark colour - almost black, but with a hint of red when held up to the light. Quite rich, with lots of burnt, smoky malt and a fair amount of coffee. A touch of bitterness too. Being a low ABV mild, its all fairly restrained of course. If there’s any downside, the mouthfeel is just a touch ashy. A top class mild. Tuesday, June 13, 2006
dnas2	3.6 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Mild Cambridge Beer Festival. A headless stout-lookalike when gravity poured! Apparently, this is a hard-to-find beer. Scent of chocolate and coffee. General aromas are smoked, burnt chocolate. Smooth on the palate, almost like a good whiskey in the taste. A little thin, but the biggest problem is that the aromas are so powerful that I’m not convinced anyone could have much more than a pint of this: I can still taste in an hour later! Tuesday, May 23, 2006
duff	2.9 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Mild Cask@London Drinker. Smokey bacon characters. Like a malty bitter, with an ashy/roasty quality, sweetish, with some lactic sourness in the finish. Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Joeh	2.9 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Mild Cask at London Drinker Festival 2006. Roasted chocolate aroma. Ashtray (nasty smoke). Some buttery fruit in the background. Monday, April 10, 2006
kook	3.7 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Mild Cask (London Drinker 06): Nice coffee, roast and cocoa nose. Flavour is dominated by coffee, though some choc and cara show through. Bit thin, but very tasty. Thursday, March 30, 2006
harrisoni	3.8 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Mild Cask gravity dispense at London Drinker BF 2006. Up there with the Malt Shovel Mild in terms of flavours. Black beer with beige head. Coffee aroma with smooth darkness. Lots of smoked coffee after. Really good mild with lots of interesting flavour. Had this in bottle about a year ago and it seemed less salty. Monday, March 27, 2006
DJMonarch	3.2 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Mild Cask Handpump at the Smithfield Hotel, Manchester 16/04/2005 Dark coloured and slightly rich on the palate with a fruit aroma. Slightly bitter lasting roast finish. Tuesday, February 28, 2006
MrWalker	3.4 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Mild Cask @ Oxford Beer Festival, UK Backlog 22 Oct 2004 Very full. I kind of like to refer to imdownthepub below. "Smokey slab of bacon, bonfire night and toffee..." I don’t know about the apples though. Burnt was the initial and spontaneous reaction for me. Friday, January 7, 2005
Spiesy	3.8 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Mild Cask Conditioned, at the Thurrock Beer Festival. A gift from the organisers who clearly saw my enthusiasm for the beer. Jet black, juicy roasted flavour. Succulent and silky. Very nice, thanks to John for buying me this one. Friday, June 4, 2004
imdownthepub	3.4 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Mild Cask Conditioned at Oxford Beer Festival. This was goingfast when I was serving at the Festival, so I had to try. It was like a smokey slab of bacon, bonfire night and toffee apples all in one. A very tasty mild, one to savour, where can I get another. Thursday, October 23, 2003
SilkTork	3.4 Railway Tavern Crab n Winkle Mild Oxford Beer Fest. Gravity Fresh. A smooth, nicely bodied and flavoursome mild. A decent example. Some sasparilla. Some fragrant, flowery notes which add to the interest. Good smokey nose with elements of raspberry. Good. The Railway Tavern brewpub is getting a small reputation for the quality of this mild - their main product. Sunday, October 19, 2003