Originally published in What’s Brewing May 2004.
Origin: Shefford, Bedfordshire, England
ABV: 4.3 per cent
Buy from Specialist stockists, brewery’s pubs, direct sales (tel 01462 815080, www.banksandtaylor.com)
Banks & Taylor Black Dragon Mild
As I noted this time last year, real mild in a bottle must be one of Britain’s rarest styles. Historically, “mild” refers to hopping rather than alcoholic strength, but these days people expect milds to be weak, and low strengths generally don’t bottle well. Some determined craft brewers are now reviving draught milds at more robust strengths, but few of these find their way into the bottle as live beers.
One that does is Black Dragon, from the B&T Brewery in the Bedfordshire market town of Shefford. This enterprise was launched as Banks & Taylor back in 1982; in 1994 it was sold to new owners and renamed B&T, though the full name is still used on labels. It now brews a range of over 30 beers including some excellent specialities.
Black Dragon was originally introduced in both cask and bottle conditioned form as a seasonal to celebrate Mild Month 2002 and has been revived every year since. At 4.3% ABV it’s the strength of a premium bitter, though still easily quaffable and several notches down on the strong milds of yesteryear.
It’s made from specialist mild malt, with 10% crystal, 8% black malt, 4% roasted malt and a touch of wheat malt for head retention, and hopped with Goldings. The bottled version is the same as the draught beer with a light sugar priming.
The result comes out a dark caramel brown, with a pale mushroom-coloured head that subsides to bubbles and lace, and a lively carbonation. The aroma is malty with slight roasted tones, and traces of treacle toffee, yeast and raspberry and redcurrant fruit.
The palate is light but full with an overall malty accent, but there’s also smoke and liquorice toffee. The rich malt is nicely balanced by acid sourness rather than hop bitterness, with sourish physali fruit giving the beer a slightly porterish character, and herbal flavours reminiscent of dandelion and burdock soft drink.
The beer finishes with an appealing and very moreish fruitiness, alongside more malt, smoke, and a drier, roasty edge with a touch of minerals. It’s notably long lasting and quite complex, with aromatic fruit tones emerging.
Overall this is an excellent interpretation of a rare and precious style that has evidently met with some deserving commercial success: B&T’s Mike Desquesnes tells me it’s likely to become a permanent, year-round fixture of the brewery’s range. Inspiration, I hope, for someone else to revive a strong bottled mild, so I’ll have something to review in next May’s column!
Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/b–t-black-dragon-mild/39712/
Leave a Reply