Milner's Mild
Away Days Brewing Company

2026-01-23
16oz can served in a stemless rastal. Dated 08/12/25.

Pours a dark ruby brown color, clear and translucent, medium sized head and medium carbonation. Smell is medium roast coffee, very nutty, lots of grain in the background.

Taste is more bitter, stronger than I expected. Lots of nuts, heavily toasted. Grainy, wood, maybe a hint of wet cardboard oxidation.

Mouthfeel is a little crispy, dry, but not thin. Really tasty low ABV beer.

 

Poured from 16oz can into a dimpled mug. Canned 9/26/23.

Appearance: deep, rich amber hue, with a nearly hazeless body and a thick finger of frothy tan foam. The brewery doesn’t say whether this is supposed to be a dark mild or a pale mild; in my mind its appearance falls more into the dark category than the pale (as listed here on BA), but since the brewery itself doesn’t specify, I’m just gonna go with “it’s pretty”.

Smell: toasty and just a little sweet, with some very nice caramel and toffee aromas coming in around the edges. It’s a bit bready, and quite good — and probably more “pale” than “dark” in its aroma.

Taste: a little nutty, a little toasty, and a little bready. Kind of like an altbier or amber ale in a lot of ways, but much lighter due to the chill 3.7% ABV. Bitterness is relatively low, befitting the style, but nicely balanced against the malt flavors. I’m usually not a huge fan of red ales, but the overall subtlety and lightness in this one really appeals to me.

Mouthfeel: medium-light body with a good carbonation and decent creaminess. Of course, being only 3.7% does limit what you can do with the beer’s texture.

Overall: I dig this beer; its lightness is probably what’s missing for me in most other red ale type beers. A very drinkable beer indeed, as are most milds.

 

5 month old can.

Brown with a dense, beige head with good retention and lacing. The nose is soft, with toffee, burnt toast, caramel, a clear English hop profile. Mildly dusty. The palate opens clean with mild bitterness, a moderate toffee and butterscotch note along with burnt wheat toast. A mineraly, hard water profile is noticeable here, complementing the mild dusty and leafy hop notes. Drying, mildly bitter finish. Solid, could be lovely on cask.

Ruby light brown body. Smell is fairly light, mostly just a bit of sweet caramel and cracker. Taste is initially lightly sweet, caramel like the nose, and backed by a light fruity hoppiness. It becomes a bit bitter in the the body, but I can’t tell if it’s really a hoppy or malty bitterness, somewhere in between, almost dry in a way. A few sweet buttery notes on the finish. Moderately carbonated.
Certainly inoffensive and sessionable, almost too light for me to distinguish much, but maybe that’s the point? Really low ABV after all. Anyway, I could see it growing on me after a few.