Smokestack Lightning
Fenland Brewery Limited

This was the 3rd beer tasted at the Pembury Tavern in Hackney, N. London, during its 3rd Beer Festival earlier this summer (18-22/07/2007). This spacious pub had rightly accumulated plenty of praises and awards for its contribution to the real ale scene in London. This time round, 15 festival beers were served on the handpumps at any one time plus 9 others on stillage displayed right beside the entrance! I was there on the last day so, alas, some beers were gone already. But still I had around 13 real ales to choose from!

A: served by a handpump w/o a sparkler, it pours a deeply dark brown hue, with some caramely glows; the puffy & thick beige froth lasts well, whilst the carbonation is low.
S: smoked and chocolatey malts hold lots of aroma besides the more usual suspects for a Dark Mild (mainly caramel), I wonder if smoked malts are used, hence the name? A swirl gives rise to treacles, and a surprising touch of overripe bananas.
T: profoundly sweet-nutty, smokey (with hints of cigarette butts), chocolatey and coffee-ish in the foretaste; moving on towards a long, lightly bitter and dryish aftertaste (which somehow is weaker than most Dark Milds I've tasted), while the deeper layer of sweet maltiness lends more weight and make it taste more like a Sweet Stout than a Mild to me.
M&D: the minimum amount of fizziness ensures a smooth texture but just enough for a good fresh Mild; this med-bodied and easy-drinking Mild is utterly enjoyable. Well worth a try!