ABV: 4%
Origin: Kislingbury, Northamptonshire, England
Website www.hoggleys.co.uk
Originally published in BEER May 2007. For more bottled milds see previous post.
CAMRA North London tasting 2010
Hoggleys Mill Lane Mild
Meanwhile if Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby (see previous post) remains impossible to obtain, there are an increasing number of other good bottle conditioned milds to console yourself with, including this one from a relatively new micro in a village west of Northampton that has just started bottle conditioning after success with cask.
Hoggleys, opened in 2003 by former home brewer Roy Crutchley with Julie Hogg (thus the name), proclaims itself dedicated to quality, and it certainly shows in Mill Lane Mild, brewed from mild, crystal, black and chocolate malts, torrefied wheat and Challenger and Fuggles hops.
At 4 per cent it’s strongish rather than strong, and pours a very dark brown, almost black until held to the light, with a mushroom coloured head. Pastilley malt, roast coffee and sharpish fruit make for an inviting aroma.
A complex palate has dark fruit, malted milk, spice, chocolate and a faint hint of burnt rubber. The roasty finish turns powdery dry with emerging hops, ash and coffee.
It’s on the dry side compared to more traditional milds – a common trait in more recent interpretations – but you can’t fault the quality and richness of flavour, particularly if, as the bottle advises, it’s drunk at room temperature.
This beer also featured as a mild for May in BEER May 2009 in a much shorter review. For the previous review in this piece, see Teignworthy Martha’s Mild.
Hoggleys at Litchborough, Northamptonshire, once claimed to be the smallest brewery in Britain but has since expanded to more commercial proportions, thanks to the sort of quality evident in Hoggleys Mill Lane Mild (4 per cent), a very dark, creamy and pastilley example with blackcurrant, coffee and burnt rubber notes, its roasty bite soothed by a lovely malted milk texture.
For the final beer reviewed in this piece, see Tryst Brockville Dark.
Postscript: I featured this beer at a tasting hosted for North London CAMRA in February 2010 to much appreciation from the attendees, some of whom including a couple of CAMRA veterans had never heard of it. The beer was an easy second favourite (after Fuller’s Vintage Ale and in stiff competition with some former Champion Bottled Beer of Britain winners), reinforcing my admiration for the Hoggleys and their craft.
Read more about this beer at ratebeer.com: http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/hoggleys-mill-lane-mild/54708/
See next post for more bottled milds.
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