Mackeson's Brewery
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Mackeson's Brewery is a former brewery in Hythe Kent. It began commercial production of in 1907, and the beer was available nationally by 1930, and was copied by many other breweries.
It is one of the few surviving examples of the old southern English style of sweet stout once known as milk stout, so-called because it contains lactose, a sugar derived from milk. Because lactose is unfermentable, it lends character and calories to the finished beer. Contemporary labeling standards prevent the use of the term today (except in Guernsey), but the beer still wears on its label the milk churn that has been its trademark on and off since it was first brewed. Whitbread acquired the brand in the 1920s and eventually turned it into the market leader of its style.
The beer is now brewed by "under supervision" of Whitbread by Interbrew (including a brewery in Cincinnati, Ohio). The Mackeson recipe itself is touted as being around since 1801, although milk beer was patented in 1875.
The beer is pasteurized but unfiltered, and thus contains some yeast debris. It pours a very dark brown, nearly black, with a little lacy, loose, cream-coloured head. The aroma is tarry, burnt-curranty and coffeeish, most closely resembling sweetened Turkish-style coffee, with some hints of vanilla and strawberry. The palate is very full, a little like dandelion and burdock soft drinks, and also has that Turkish coffee quality; there are raspberry notes, and a definite milky texture and flavour with a sharp creaminess reminiscent of powdered milk or milk gums. The overall sweetness is well-lifted by a burst of bitter chocolate and hop bitterness on the swallow, and the beer finishes with tangy, fruity hints.
In addition to the triple ('XXX') stout, the Mackeson line includes an XXXX stout. Two versions are brewed, a 3.75% ABV version for the United Kingdom market, and a 5% ABV version for the American market.