[Gravity cask at Chippenham Beer Festival 2009] I’ve been getting quite excited by stouts and porters of late, to the extent that I’ve been wondering about updating my favourite beer style. As a result, at the Chippenham beer festival it was the stouts and porters I hit first, which were unconvincing. Returning to milds, I was reminded of how great this style is - my doubts are over, milds reamin as my favourite style! This one is slightly smokey with a hint of coffee and a bit of toffee. Finishes with sweet malts and goes down a treat. Good stuff!

Cask-conditioned at the Bell, Bath 28/9/07. A standard strong bitter. Bronze coloured with a slight off-white head. Sweet malt aroma followed by a flavour of caramel with a dry finish. Ok.

Cask gravity at Reading BF 2007. It’s a mild, fine, but not very exciting. Some choc/coffee.

Cask handpull at Fly in the Loaf, Liverpool. Amber colour with slight haze and thin beige head. Pale ESB style beer. Some yeast on aroma. Good rounded slightly sweet fruit. Like a sweet nectarine, followed by balancing tingly hop. Bit of alcohol sweetness with a touch of burn. Slightly sticky sweet palate. Nice enough.

Cask (gravity dispense), St Albans Beer Festival 2005. Deep orange colour. Orange flavours, not bad. Bood hop, some choco matl. Hoppy spicey finish. Alcohol doesn’t dominate it.

Gushing to oversized yellow-brown head; very dark, nearly black brown ale, opaque. Quite vinous nose with some liquorice, lactic acid, maybe some fusels. Stout-like, with strong acidity, lactic andy wheaty, end a bit orangey. Some liquorice and varnish-thinner. Rather sharp, even adstringent acidity, medium to well bodied. BBD is this month. Still, I fear this has been prematuraly ageing, and not in a nice way. Definitely too sharp.