Old Familiar
Ravens Brewing Company

I see I'm adding this one for the first time, but this brewer has a beer on here listed as "retired" called "English Dark Mild". I assume this Old Familiar is a revival of that beer. It pours a nice mid-dark orangey amber, with a rather generous three-finger light brown head that leaves spotty lacing as it receds. It is translucent rather than perfectly transparent. The nose is dominates by a certain earthy, musty aroma that I also noticed in Hobgoblin and Eagle Bombardier. Maybe it's an English thing? Maybe something to do with a certain type of hops? I'm not sure. It's not unpleasant though. Other than that, there's a hint of caramel malt, and that's all I really get. On the palate, more of the same: that earthy mustiness, caramel malt, a subtle hint of that typically English orange marmalade flavour, and a bit of bright hops on the finish. The mouthfeel is quite good, though the carbonation is surprisingly prickly for an English ale. Maybe it's pumped in? Who knows. Anyway it doesn't really detract, though it will make you belch if you neck it. Overall quite a good beer, and a decent example of a style that's quite rare around these parts.