Commercial Suicide is a Mild and, as many of you know, I don’t like Mild.
But this is a Mild aged in oak barrels and so I was intrigued, and the barrel ageing does make a difference.
IT begins with the aroma which is the usual light chocolate and fruity biscuits, but here it has a hint of antique wardrobe, a little like secretly drinking your grandfather’s beer in your grandmother’s bedroom.
And then as you sip you find that the barrels have added some very nice wine-like tannin dry bitterness, almost sourness, and a big chunk of damp mildewy wood.
I admit that written down that doesn’t sound very appetising, but it adds a very welcome extra dimension to a beer style that I generally find mind numbingly boring.
In fact I’d like to ask that all Mild be aged in wood.
Just to keep me happy.
Oh, and by the way, this beer worked very well with my braising steak casserole and mashed potatoes.