A couple of months ago I made the trip into Manchester city centre and back out again to The Crescent, a pub with a justifiable reputation as one of the very best real ale venues in the Greater Manchester area. I used to drink there on a regular basis when I was a student at Salford University, but haven’t been back for about fifteen years, for various reasons, so I was keen to see if the old place was anything like I remembered it (it was pretty much the same, yes).

I was at The Crescent, on a rare mid-week outing, to see my mate Howard Sherrington play his first solo gig (acoustic guitar & voice), supporting a band called Rising 44, with whom he also plays (much louder) guitar. Howard’s set was excellent – he’s a very technically gifted guitarist and can write a mean tune as well – and Rising 44 were, frankly, deafening (damn it, I must be getting old). And of course, I sampled a couple of beers while I was there… it would have been unforgivably rude not to, especially as it was National Cask Ale Week at the time, if I remember correctly.

The Crescent had an impressive array of beers on tap – around twelve or so, I think – as well as a decent-looking selection of bottled beers in their fridges (a couple on the table next to me were supping a Kwak and I’m sure I spotted a couple of Maredsous bottles and a few Duvels as well). Perusing the beer menu on the wall I opted for a pint of Sharp’s Spring Mild to ease me into the evening. According to a mention on Ratebeer.com this one is brewed with gorse, but there’s no info on the Sharp’s website to confirm. In any case, it was an interesting, fruity dark mild with hints of both apple and pear and a slight sourness developing towards the end of the pint. Not bad, but not one I wanted to rush back to.

Instead, I opted for a pint of 3Rivers Delta Dark, from just down the road in Stockport. This was one of their 2009/10 seasonal ales, brewed specifically for CAMRA’s Mild Month, so it was only available in April and May. Which is a real shame, because this was an extremely tasty little number.

At 5% ABV, Delta Dark weighs in a fair bit stronger than a typical mild and I think it’s fair to say it had a much more interesting flavour than I’ve encountered in most of the milds I’ve tried so far. Delta Dark is a distinctly dark, ruby-tinted mild that’s packed with chocolate and malt, with just a touch of coffee to give it a sharper edge. Great mouth-feel, extremely smooth and easy-drinking, I didn’t hesitate to go back for a second pint and would have happily settled in a for a session, if I didn’t have to head off and find a bus back into town. Well, it was a school-night after all.

Anyway, I’m sorry you missed it if you have missed it, but with any luck 3Rivers will brew it again next Spring. I know I for one would be highly tempted to track it down again if they did.