Over The Moon
Dark Star Brewing Company Limited

My first ever visit to ‘The Southampton Arms’ (London) and one of the many cask offerings was this beer: my third beer of a slow Saturday afternoon session was a hand-pulled pint of this, poured into an old ‘dimpled pint mug’, like all the cask ales are in this pub.

I like a good Dark Mild now and again, this fitted the bill nicely. Dark brown with an off-white wisp of bubbles on top it looked your typical beer of that style.

Roast/toasted malts in the nose, coffee and toffee like with some slightly burnt bits in the smells too.

The taste is also malts all the way, again roasted/toasted with some dried fruit and malt loaf flavours coming through as well. The finish is fairly dry and the beer is far from sweet, the hops coming into their own towards the end of each gulp (you don’t sip Mild).

Not the richest or thickest Dark Mild body wise, but very enjoyable non-the-less.

On cask at the Speaker, Westminster dispensed into a pint glass

A mid brown colour with a small head that had vanished after 4 or 5 sips

Smelt very hoppy, citrus nose, light malts and nuts, maybe another fruit (of the dried variety) or perhaps mild spices? Smelt very much like the legendary Hophead!

Tasted like an earthier/maltier version of Hophead, more emphasis on malt and nut, maybe a smidge of toffee/caramel, but similar hoppy pleasanteries!

Mouthfeel was fine, nothing to set the world alight, but did the job for a 3.8% bitter/mild

In summary a most decent beer, as with nearly all Dark Star offerings

Hophead in a brown winters jacket !

On cask at The Wenlock Arms in London.

A-Pours dark amber with ruby highlights and a light froth of off white bubbles.

S-Circus peanut candy, toffee, some light vegetal notes.

T/M-This is fantastic! Bready, with flavors of treacle and roasted cashews. The body is lush and smooth with low carbonation.

D-Wonderful.

I had a pint on cask at the Gingerman in Manhattan. The beer was dark brown, maybe 1/2 finger of foam. The aroma was mild roasted malts, maybe some light citrus hops but not much, the roastiness stands out the most. The taste is proper for a cask ale, a little nuttier and roastier than usual, but I suppose about right for an English Dark Mild. A hint of fruit at the end of each sip, but mostly defined byt dark fruits, roasted malts, and light bread. Nice smooth and undercarbonated mouthfeel from the cask, just an excellent session beer.

On cask at the Rake, Borough Market, London

Pours brown-red with a loose head that leaves great lace. Orange blossom honey nose. Some black strap molasses malt balanced by bright citrus candy notes. Warms into multi-fruit popsickle/Starburst flavors. Dry end, light to medium body.

I don't have much experience of milds, but this is hoppy for any English beer; almost like an American Amber. A very easy sipper.

Tasted by half-pint at the Rake, UTOBEER's bar opened barely two months ago. Ironically, I never saw it at the Evening Star when I lived down south in Brighton, yet luckily I spotted this ale on my first-ever visit to the Rake.

A: pours a very dark russet hue, clear, no head comes with the beer.
S: mildly vinous, grapefruit-hoppy, with a touch of flower... overall the smell reminds me a lot of Dark Star's Hophead!, with an extraordinary fragrance of fruits for a dark mild, added with a touch of caramel if probed deeper.
T: tangy and tannic hoppyness of grapefruits dominates from the beginning, very light-bodied, backed by a dryish roastiness as of tea-leaves, dark malts and a touch of bitterness from burned sugar... remaining extremely bitter towards the very end of tasting, revealing more and more chewy, tannic hops over there...
M&D: tongue-plucking dry and bitter, yet an added wedge of lemon zest makes this dark mild an utterly fruity and bitter one to quaff. A harmonious balance b/w dark malts & zesty hops is achieved in this dark nectar. If there's anything I should complain about, it's the flat body and lack of fizziness, yet overall it still makes a refreshing drink if consumed in the "right" weather~~