You're in a taproom and you're sitting there and all of a sudden you look up and you see a Champagne Tortoise

Karben4's English mild returns to the taproom today.

I am looking forward to sampling as I helped brew it! Here I am adding the grain. Barley! Oats! Rye! Oh my!

I sparged and did a lot of cleaning too. Look at the wort - it boils!

I heard that it got kegged a couple days ago and turned out well. This evening I shall judge for myself. The plan is to also sample their Kölsch which, I am told, received a nice, long lagering as is proper.

I've got good news

A Nice Pair: Sumatra by 3rd Sign Brewing

As I mentioned last month when reviewing 3rd Sign's Madagascar, the brewery's motto is "Dually Brewed" and its logo is the zodiacal symbol Gemini, the Twins. And so they take on beer styles in pairs. Madagascar is a vanilla mild ale and its companion brew is called Sumatra, a coffee mild ale.

As I also noted last month 3rd Sign Brewery is the in-house label of Octopi Brewing. Octopi is located in nearby Waunakee (the only Waunakee in the world, mind you) and devotes itself to contract brewing. 3rd Sign allows the crew at Octopi to flex their muscles and showcase their talents for prospective customers; it gets a product on store shelves and gives thirsty patrons of Octopi's tasting room something to drink.

The beer pours a lovely medium dark mahogany that is quite clear. I managed only a small tan head that went away rather quickly which seems to be typical of the style. There was a medium amount of bubbles inside going upwards.

Sumatra contains cold pressed coffee from the eponymous Indonesian island by way of Madison's JBC Coffee Roasters and you can't miss it in the aroma. Taking a whiff my nose was struck by the big rush of fresh, strong coffee. There was a little malt sweetness in there as well but the nose was all about the coffee which smelled wonderful.

The coffee was right there to greet my tongue too. While I generally like African coffees the best because of their earthy, chocolatey tastes, I also enjoy Sumatran coffees. They tend to not be as earthy tasting as African ones, but more so than South American coffee which often have brighter, vaguely fruity flavors. In this beer, the coffee tasted fresh and the brewers did not skimp on the joe. While there was plenty of coffee flavor, it was complemented by some light toffee from the malt as well as just enough grassy hop flavor to let you know it's there. The hops didn't give much bitterness but the carbonation added a hint of acidity and tanginess. The beer had a pretty clean flavor overall.

The wonderful coffee flavor lingered on the finish while those grassy hop flavors swelled and added some bitterness to the picture. My glass was left with a moderate amount of lacing including some nice thick strands of foam.

Sumatra emphasizes the coffee a bit more than Madagascar did its vanilla. The coffee comes on very strong at first but it mellows out as you continue to drink. It remains out front but find eventually the other flavors find complementary spots on your tongue. While the balance of the flavors is shifted a bit, you do get a fantastic fresh coffee taste full of earthy and nutty tones that are simply delicious. I also really enjoyed the grassy hop flavor. It was a nice contrast to the coffee as well as the toffee flavor of the malt. This beer is 4.5% A.B.V. and is very easy drinking. The coffee never overwhelms so you can quaff a few Sumatrans in your next session.

Junk food pairing: The coffee means that Sumatra will go well with some sweets such as dark chocolate-covered pretzels or a Take 5 bar. On the savory side try some Extra Toasty Cheez-Its. Those additional Maillard reactions will play well with the coffee on your tongue.

A Beer CAMRA Could Love?: Madagascar Vanilla Mild Ale by 3rd Sign Brewery

Waunakee's (the only Waunakee in the world, don’t forget) Octopi Brewing opened its door back in October. The brewery is the brain-child of Isaac Showaki, co-founder and former co-owner of Chicago's 5 Rabbit Cervecería. When that situation went south, Showaki headed north to the Madison area. His experiences with contract brewing while at 5 Rabbit left something of sour taste in his mouth and he was determined not to let other brewers suffer as he did. Hence Octopi which aims to be there for brewers who need extra capacity yet don’t' want to sacrifice quality.

3rd Sign Brewery is Octopi's house brand which demonstrates the brewer's abilities to prospective customers while also establishing a foot hold in the microbrew market. 3rd Sign refers to the third sign in the Zodiac, Gemini. With a twins motif, 3rd Sign brews beer in pairs and so their initial releases were a brace of IPAs and one of English mild ales, each with a slightly different twist than its sibling.

I give Showaki, brewmaster Michael Krause, and marketing director Adam Vavrick credit for brewing a style, the mild ale, that very few in Madison seem to give a rat's ass about. Indeed, the only person I know that gets really excited at the mention of English beers is a friend who spent a year in the UK during college. (You can lead him around by the nose with the mere promise of London Pride.)

My ignorance of English brewing history and tradition far outweighs my knowledge of it. For a primer on the mild check out Ron Pattinson's blog post "A Short History of the Mild". On my to-read list is Martyn Cornell's Amber, Gold, & Black: The History of Britain's Great Beers. While Messrs. Pattinson and Cornell can give you the straight dope on the style, I think of the mild as a low-alcohol dark beer that emphasizes maltiness but with enough hop bitterness and flavor to remind you that there are indeed hops in the brew.

Madagascar features vanilla from the eponymous island nation while it's sibling, Sumatra, is instilled with coffee from its island nation. My wife has taken a shine to Madagascar so we've had bottles of the stuff around the house since it was introduced last month. I finally got around to trying one relatively recently.

The beer pours a dark amber color, so dark, that it was close to being opaque. Putting my glass up to the light it appeared to be clear. I got maybe one finger's worth of khaki froth atop the beer. It didn't seem to be particular effervescent as I observed no bubbles inside. But, as I have mentioned, the beer is very dark.

My nose caught a pungent whiff of vanilla at first sniff. I became a bit worried that this was going to be the equivalent of a DIPA with Madagascar scoring above 100 on the International Vanilla Units scale. Subsequent inhalations revealed some nutty aromas and woody ones too. Bringing up the rear was a hint of toffee.

On my first sip the vanilla was quite pronounced but it mellowed as I drank more. I was surprised at the body which was heavier than I expected. Then I read the label which said that lactose sugar had been added. In addition to body, I think the lactose had a large hand in giving Madagascar its very smooth mouthfeel. On the other hand, it didn't seem to add much sweetness to the flavor. There were some toothsome toffee and apple flavors, however. Grain provided roastiness plus there was oaky flavor too. Despite not seeing much effervescence inside the glass, the carbonation was evident on the tongue. Hoppiness was mild with some faint strains of grassy flavors and little attendant bitterness.

Those hops built up on the finish as the vanilla faded. Never assertive, there was just enough hops to add that nice grassy flavor along with some dryness. The lacing on my glass was wonderful with webbing all over the place.

Madagascar is 4.5% A.B.V. which makes it rather heady for the style. I would have loved to have seen 3rd Sign produce a mild at 3.5-4% to A) see how much flavor could be packed in there and B) just to go against the prevailing attitude in craft beer which is that more is more. (650+ I.B.U.s! Double! Imperial!) My dashed hopes aside, Madagascar is very tasty.

I cannot recommend to prospective drinkers enough to let this beer warm a bit after you pull it out of the refrigerator because it transmogrifies into one pukka brew. The vanilla, while sticking out like a sore thumb initially, eventually integrated itself into the woody and roasted grain flavors of the malt. Those malt flavors become more pronounced while the milk sugar softens and smooths the beer's body. The hops perk up too but never oust the vanilla from pride of place.

Junk food pairing: Despite the vanilla, Madagascar is still something of an unassuming beer. Thusly I recommend less ostentatious accompaniment. Go with some plain potato or corn chips. Dips should be kept at bay, if possible, though guacamole might work.