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Beer Mild
As we approach the month of May my mind starts to think of this underrated beer style, with CAMRA designating this month ‘The Month of Mild’.
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Normally, during May, good local real ale and craft beer establishments celebrate by ensuring that they have at least one mild on at any given time, with many breweries brewing this beer seasonally for just this time of year.
Modern mild ales are mainly dark-coloured with an ABV ranging between 3% to 3.6%, although there are lighter-hued examples as well as stronger examples reaching 6% ABV and higher. With a predominantly malty palate, it originated in Britain in the 17th century and originally meant a ‘young’ ale as opposed to a ‘stale’ aged or old ale. It is now more often interpreted as a beer that is mildly hopped.
Once sold in most pubs, mild experienced a sharp decline in popularity in the 1960s and was in danger of completely disappearing, but the increase of microbreweries has led to a modest renaissance and an increasing number of milds (sometimes labelled ‘dark’) being brewed.
Until the 1960s, mild was the most popular beer style in England. Pockets of demand remain, particularly in the West Midlands and North West England, but it has been largely ousted by bitter and lager elsewhere.
If you can find any of these beers, they come highly recommended:
Boxcar – Dark Mild 3.6%
Boxcar, based in Bethnal Green, pride themselves on making fresh, seasonal and experimental beers for a modern world. And this mild is a great example of doing just that. The malt profile brings fruit, chocolate and nut flavours to the fore and, by adjusting the water profile, Boxcar have been able to enhance the mouthfeel and body, making it a beer that really has a lot of flavour for one with a modest ABV.
Sarah Hughes – Dark Ruby 6%
On many people’s list of beers to ‘try before you die’, this Dark Ruby mild combines a balance of intense colour and flavour, delivering a deep malty backbone complemented with hints of caramel and chocolate and a finish of fruit cake. Still brewed on the original premises at the Beacon Hotel, in the shadow of the Sedgley Beacon hills, this English Heritage listed building with a national important historic pub interior is still a place where time stood still.
Ampersand Brew Co – Forenoon 3.5%
This mild ale is brewed with additions of milk, sugar and cold steeped coffee beans. Previously they have used a mocha blend of beans roasted in Norfolk by local roaster Tropic Coffee. Expect a smooth full body from the lactose with dark caramel and chocolate flavours from the coffee.
By Sean McKeown
