Here’s my third beer from Grimm Artisanal Ales of Brooklyn, New York: Grimm Seconds Dark Mild Ale. The second one I tried I have still to post a review for, though I do have my tasting notes. The first was Grimm Maypole Maibock, and I am a little sheepish in admitting that when I wrote that review I said Grimm had no information on their beers on their website. I don’t know if I was asleep at the wheel or mayhap Grimm took notice and updated, but there are now fully 15 pages of their beers. Not one per page, mind you. MANY per page. Go check it out and see for yourself.

OK, now that that is out of the way, on to Grimm Seconds Dark Mile Ale. I’ll confess right away I fell in love with this beer from the first sip. It’s a Dark Mild Ale of 3% alcohol by volume, just right for the style. With the fifty million IPAs, weirdo stouts, and sours American craft brewers have time to brew, you would think they would be able to put out an honest to goodness mild ale once and a while. For the most part, though, you would be wrong; this is a style I rarely see. Kudos to Grimm for making one, and making one this tasty.

Grimm says:

Seconds is a richly flavored dark mild ale conceived as a nod to historical English brewing practices. This roasty, crisp, and refreshing quencher of a session ale updates the traditional practice of partigyle brewing.

Partigyle brewing is brewing more than one batch of beer from a single mash. The name comes from parti (as in partial) and gyle (wort or batch of beer). Grimm Seconds takes its name from the fact that is brewed with the second runnings of a mash. This is usually used for small beer like Grimm Seconds, which Grimm says is brewed from the second runnings of an imperial stout. I think, too, of Anchor Small Beer, which is (or was, I have not seen it in many years) made from the second runnings of Old Foghorn Barleywine. Conversely, Kirin Ichiban claims it is brewed from the “first pressing of the malt”, whatever that means.

I paid $3.69 for my can of Grimm Seconds from Craftshack though I have no idea how much it retails for. My can is stamped as Canned on 07/06/20, so a little over six months old. My package of beer containing it arrived on Friday, February 12^th and I drank it that very night.

Grimm Seconds Dark Mild Ale pours to a dark brown color with a thick rocky tan head and a soft cookie malt nose. A thick layer of Brussels Lace formed on the sides of my glass and followed the liquid all the way to the bottom. Taking a sip, the beer is chocolaty, toasty nutty, cookie malty, and delightful. Like a beery chocolate chip cookie, until it finishes delightfully bitter, not overly so, but more than enough to balance off the sweet malts.

I am giving this a full five stars because it is wonderfully true to style, and just for the fact that Grimm brewed it in the first place. Just magnificent. Don’t miss it if you see it. After all, you might not get a Seconds chance to try it.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

(G)=Growler

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