Dr Johnson's Definitive
Whim Ales

500ml bottle. Pours a clear mahogany with a decent, frothy light brown head, good lacing. Aroma is caramel malts, wood, a hint of smoke, bread, also roasted. Flavor is lightly roasted/toasted. malts, caramel, and a hint of earthy and citrus hops. Mouthfeel is medium, thin and bitter at the finish. Sort of plain, but drinkable beer.

500 ml bottle, bought in Edinburgh. ABV is 5.0%. Copper coloured beer, large and lasting off-white head. Malty aroma with vinous notes, also plenty of caramel, notes of bakery. Soft mouthfeel. Malty flavour with caramel and hints of dark fruits, but not as sweet as expected. Very moderate hops, the finish feels a bit "empty". Still a nice enough beer to drink.

500ml bottle bought from The Vintage, Antrim...

Poured a nice deep dark browny copper colour... Slightly off white head poured quite thick then fades quickly to nice thin layer. Barely any carbonation... some light patchy lacing...

Aroma - Quite strong alcohol soaked fruits (raisins, prunes, figs and some oranges), some faint chocolate notes, lightly toasted malts, leathery notes, nutty sweetness, peppery hop bitterness, some winey hints, fruit loaf, bready...

Taste – Not quite as good as the aroma indicates although it improves as the beer warms up... slightly watered down fruits (raisins, prunes, light blackcurrents), alcohol not as pronounced as aromas suggest, nutty / brown sugar sweetness, some light wine / sherry notes, nice peppery hops, light Christmas cake spiciness...

Feel - Pretty smooth and creamy.. Medium bodied. Fairly quaffable...

Overall - A very good example of a dark mild ale... definitely worth a try...

Pours from nicely designed bottle a chestnut to mahogany colour with significant head. Has a sweet demerara sugar nose with a hint of molasses.

Quite substantial for a mild with decent carbonation or robust as the bottle claims, and after a malty start, a full brown sugar flavour with just enough of a hoppy edge to give it some bite. This is at least worth trying.

Pours a reddish, chestnut brown with a bubbly off-white head that diminishes down to some bubbles on the surface fairly quickly. Strong notes of caramel and some nuts in the nose with some very very faint hops peeking through. Same nutty and caramel flavours in the taste leading to a very faint and slightly lingering hop bitterness. Not much development, but pleasant enough. The mouthfeel is rather thin and harshly carbonated. This doesn't seem to live up to its touting itself as Dr. Johnson's Definitive, and he certainly wouldn't have called it as such in his dictionary. Nevertheless it is a pleasant ale on cask. If you see it on cask, give it a try, but on bottle, you're not missing much.