REVIEW #15: Black Dog Mild (Elgood & Sons)

Pours black, black, black. This is easily as black as some of the imperial stouts I've tried. The head hangs around for a few minutes but soon fades leaving a few beads of lace. Shortbread biscuit, sweet custard-like scents. The biscuit note follows on in the taste and is accompanied by vanilla, caramel, earthy, stale bread (sounds bad but actually good and commonly found flavour of the mild) notes and a dry, grainy, moderately bitter finish.

Elgood & Sons is one of the the oldest brewers  still in operation in the UK. The company began life in 1795 when (mad) King George III was on the throne. The brewery is based in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire on the banks of the river Nene. Unusually, Black Dog mild is the brewery's flagship beer despite being a very traditional style of ale currently out-of-favour with the masses. Random fact: Elgood's used to brew 'Flag Porter' from yeast recovered from an 1825 shipwreck in the English Channel! Black Dog won silver for mild at the 2006 CAMRA awards.

• MALTS: CRYSTAL, ROAST BARLEY
• HOPS: FUGGLES
• IBU: LOW
• ABV: 3.6%

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