Dark Mild - George Bateman and Son Ltd. / Batemans Brewery

woosterbill

Connecticut

4.48/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Gravity halfpint at the London Drinker festival.

A: Almost black garnet body with a solid cap of fine tan head. Ok retention, nice lace. Attractive.

S: Delicate yet robust aromas of fruitiness and roastiness. Plums, coffee, and some minty hops. Excellent.

T: Smooth, flavorful, and primarily malty: dark fruit (rather jammy, with some fig joining the plum), chocolate, coffee, and crisp bitterness. Incredibly flavor for 3.0%. Wow.

M: Creamy, nicely carbonated, smooth. Great.

O: Why, oh why don't more breweries make milds like this?

Cheers!

Serving type: cask

03-29-2012 23:22:33 | More by woosterbill

marquis

United Kingdom (England)

4.45/5  rDev +7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

This beer is a revelation about getting flavour from a very low gravity beer.
Black as sin with a tight creamy head , as with most cask beers not a lot of aroma but still inviting. For its weight it's astonishingly complex , nutty and fruity yet with a dryness. Drinkability? There can't be any beer on the planet with more.

Serving type: cask

12-09-2010 22:05:02 | More by marquis

StJamesGate

New York

4.15/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

On cask at the Belfast Beer Festival.

Pours opaque brown-black with beige foam. Coffee grounds, earth and barrel on the nose. Prune and a bit of ash in the malts, with cold tea, kola and hops spice to end. Dry finish. Very creamy, medium, some chew.

Excellent English mild. How it drinks full but finishes dry, with lots of flavor yet a low ABV, is a bit of a wonder. Good breakfast or session brew.

So not retired - why do so many English ales say this on BA?

Serving type: cask

12-01-2010 14:46:40 | More by StJamesGate

BlackHaddock

United Kingdom (England)

4.13/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Why are there so few reviews of this British Classic Dark Mild?

This review is from a pint had at the 30th CAMRA, Cotswold Beer Fest (last month).

The dark, almost porter black colour is only the start of your journey to Mild perfection. It's creamy off-white head should be thick and if poured correctly, stay until the end of the pint, sticking to the glass.

Some Milds are thin and taste weak, Bateman's is the opposite, rich and strong tasting, the ABV does not give a true picture of it's complexity or character.

Roasted nuts,ripe fruit and hops hit your nose and the taste is of the same intensity. This is a dark Mild that is well worth tracking down and drinking!

Serving type: cask

08-09-2006 09:16:44 | More by BlackHaddock

Doiv

United Kingdom (England)

3.93/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

For a mild, this is very original indeed. Emerges a dark ruby colour with a big tan head, and almost looks like a porter or a stout.

The aromas were ambiguous but malty, and roasted.

The taste was very peculiar - roasted hops and malts combined with a mature, almost cheese sort of bite and a chestnut undertone. Finish is surprisingly strong and unique.

Nice mouthfeel, perhaps a little gassy, but otherwise very drinkable too.

Serving type: cask

05-11-2004 20:17:20 | More by Doiv

downes51

Cyprus

4.22/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

I'm really not a mild drinker at all, but this one is special. The colour is very dark, with a thick foaming head. The smell; fragrant and sweet. Taste; excellent, with dark malts predominating. This is actually the perfect beverage for a hot summer day. Highly reccommended.

Serving type: cask

03-23-2004 15:53:30 | More by downes51

Mark

California

3.95/5  rDev -5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

I jumped at the chance to try this as mild is hard to find now days. Color was very deep bown and could have passed for a stout at quick glance. Head retention was O.K. but lace nice. Taste was kind of benign, it was hard to pick oput any thing of note, but it works. Malty and very smooth with minimal hops. A little more spritzy than I'm used to in the U.K. and I think that might be a little strange as I remember another mild not being that way (Highgate). Would rate a 5 on the drinkable scale if not for that 'soda like mouthfeel".

Serving type: cask

12-06-2003 03:42:42 | More by Mark