Mallard
W. J. King & Co. Brewers

Had on cask at the wonderful Coronation Hall. The beer pours a rather murky yellowy-gold with a few mm of head, not particularly confidence-inspiring, but it gets better from here. The beer has a pleasant sweet honey smell, but it is only slight. The taste however is impressive. There is a lot more floral sweetness in the taste than you might expect from the style, but it is balanced with citrus notes, and goes down very easily. Not quite sure where the duck comes in, however...

Bottle-conditioned. BB 29 July 06. Served cool in a straight imperial-pint glass.

A: lightly hazy dark orangey golden, coming with a thin, white beer head; carbonation is fierce at first, then sporatic and sparse big bubbles ascend from the bottom.
S: very vinegary and sourly lemony at first, almost to an unbearable extent... gradually softening, and until the sourness has almost gone, a faintly honeyish and creamy maltiness is revealed, underneath a prune-like fruity hops. Overall, quite thin, and the overall damp, vinegary note from yeasts is just rough and overpowering...
T: a pronounced smoked maltiness along with a deep flavour of chestnuts and hayish/floral hoppyness take me by surprise!! Contrary to the nose (to my relief...), there's not much sour taste on the palate, nor overly fizzy texture due to rough yeastiness; instead the smooth maltiness with burned straws and smoked flavour dominate the theme, leading to a soft and very lightly bitter-sweet nutty aftertaste.
M&D: a very smooth, softly carbonated, light and easy-drinking pale ale it is. The palate is much better than the aroma, and what a pleasant surprise it's been for me...