Once Upon A Time 1832 XXXX Mild Ale
Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project

Poured from a 2012 bottle into the modified tulip glass.
A - Tangerine, honey colored, vibrant carbonation feeds a quickly dissipating cap. Lacing rings
cling perfectly to the glass.
S - Orange marmalade, strong citrus nose, honey on cracker, fascinating and complex, The age has
transformed this offering well.
T - Initial bitterness, trails off quickly, leading into an orange and white peach frenzy, dark flower honey
and some wonderful malt elements include warm toast.
M - Medium bodied slightly viscous and round on the palate. The coating is complete, with a linger that is a touch sweet, Wonderful feel and finish.
O - I have had this fresh, and now with a few years on the bottle, the trajectory has been fun to follow,
The offering is a 10% ABV hidden well. The offering has been a delight to explore over this time.
Cheers

Split a bottle with my uncle. Both thought it was an all around solid ale. Pale malts, lemon, stone fruit, and toasty peach round out the strong EPA booze. No bells or whistles, good drinkability, slightly warm texture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm a fan of English milds, but they're usually on the order of 3-4% abv and full flavored, but then again this follows the history of the style. I love that Pretty Things is doing that, so I hope this recipe is good.

Pours a nice large fluffy 2 finger head that sticks around for a while, reinforced by all the bubbles streaming from the etch at the bottom of the SA PP glass, fades eventually with nice layered and soapy thick lacing, quite clear amber-ish orange color.

Nose starts with a bit of booze actually, some phenols with that booze aroma, some golden blond style malts under that, fair amount of sweet malts, hint of citrus zest like and maybe a touch of clementine, hint of esters, mild grassy hops and grassy hay like malts even, fairly earthy like aroma.

Taste starts with malts this time at first, little grainy with grassy and earthy chewy malts, strange like malts actually, a bit of a golden blond style too. Then jumps into phenols, the booze with that, typical Belgian yeast like phenols and a hint of fusel booze, as well as a little estery. Fruits come along with those, mild green apple, touch of pear and tangerine. Hops cut in surprisingly as I didn't think they used that many hops back then, with slight herbal vegetal hop, typical hedgerow U.K. style like, little grassy and earthy as well, and fair bitterness. The bitterness turns spicy as it finishes, although not as dry as I expected, little sweet sticky, and some lingering golden and grassy malts, long lingering earthy herbal spicy hops, and some phenolic booze.

Mouth is med to fuller bodied, fluffy carb, plenty of warming booze but not quite tingly, maybe a bit too much carbonation.

Overall OK, but not great. Nothing by what could even closely resemble today's milds, although this is the XXXX variety, so strong and big. I do like the bite of booze bringing the phenols, and grassy herbal earthy hops are a nice touch although not my fav hops by any means, and fairly tasty but not amazing. Fairly balanced though for the booze, sweetness, and bitterness.