Dark Mild Tasting

A couple months ago I was doing an inventory of my beers in kegs and bottles and realized almost every beer was over 7%. I decided it was time to brew a session beer. Since I have recently visited the UK, milds and bitters immediately came to mind. While there I had few beers that were labeled dark milds. These beers had a more full flavor than regular milds, more roasty and slight chocolatey flavors. After remembering how great these beers tasted I decided this was what I wanted to brew.

Dark Mild

Appearance - Dark brown with reddish hues when held up to the light, almost opaque. Beautiful tan head that slowly compacts to a creamy cap.

Aroma - Roasty, dark chocolate, hint of coffee, butterscotch, cream.

Taste - Roasty followed by an unsweeted chocolate bitterness. A hint of butterscotch and finishes semisweet with a lingering roasty aftertaste.

Mouthfeel - Very soft on the carbonation with a good input of microscopic fizz. Very refreshing and not thin by any means.

Drinkability & Notes - Really solid beer. This is what I remember drinking pint after pint of in the pubs around London. At 3.8% ABV you could have many of these without feeling guilty.

Recipe Specifics
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Batch size: 12 gal.
Total grain: 16 lbs.
Original Gravity: 1.039
Final Gravity: 1.010
Estimated SRM: 18.4
Estimated IBUs: 19.3
ABV: 3.77%

Grain
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81.2% - 13 lbs. Maris Otter
6.25% - 1 lb. Crystal 80L
6.25% - 1 lb. Caramunich
2.37% - 6 oz. Chocolate 350L
2.37% - 6 oz. Roasted Barley 300L
1.56% - 4 oz. Special B

Hops
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2 oz. Fuggles (Pellets 4.50% AA) @ 60 min.
1 oz. East Kent Goldings (Pellets 5.00% AA) @ 15 min.

Yeast
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Wyeast Labs 1968 - London ESB Ale
Made a 1L starter to pitch into fermenter.

Mash Schedule
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Saccrification rest - 60 min. @ 152
Mash out - 10 min. @ 168