08/03/1977. KINGS ARMS, 4-10 Guildford Road, CHERTSEY, Surrey, England (COURAGE). Brewed by Courage at the Anchor Brewery in London

5

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5

Keg at the Bugle, Reading. Pitch black with a thin ring of cream head, tawny brown when held to the light; dusty malt aroma; watery texture with chocolate malt flavours and a milky coffee finish. An OK keg mild, but not a patch on the modern cask alternatives.

6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

[Keg at The Bugle, Reading] Astonishingly, in all the time I’ve worked in Reading amongst its many Courage pubs, I’ve never come across this beer before, and as a lover of milds I was quick to try it. It pours deep brown, almost black, with a moderate but lasting creamy head. There’s very little smell, which makes your first taste more of a surprise. This is dominated by beautiful deep, roasted malts, with a hint of coffee in the background. Unfortunately, once you’ve enjoyed the first hit of flavour you realise that it is a little weak and watery, and feel that it could have been much improved by being cask conditioned rather than merely kegged. That said, it still has a few surprises up its sleeve. There is an unusual twist of lemon in the finish, and a growing gentle smokiness in the aftertaste. It leaves an odd mixture of dryness and syrup on the inside of your mouth. There are certainly many better milds out there than this, but considering this is a relatively low ABV kegged effort invented by a brewer whose other beers weren’t that much cop, this is actually a pretty decent effort. I wonder if, now that Wells & Youngs have taking it over, they might produce a cask version…? We can but hope…