Mild in May - Campaign for Real Ale CAMRA

At the worst of the recession, more than five pubs a week were closing in the U.K. Sales of alcoholic drinks have also been declining, despite some heavy discounting in supermarkets. Nevertheless, in pubs the sales of cask ale has seen least decline and an increase in some.

This must have put a spring in the step of the Campaign for Real Ale, without which British drinkers would not have the variety or quality of beers they can now enjoy.

CAMRA is encouraging the pub trade and beer drinkers to make May the month for enjoying Milds, a style of beer that has always been appreciated in the Midlands.

Ten years ago dark ales were losing popularity. Seen as a beer of the older generation, companies like Banks’s in Wolverhampton and Highgate in Walsall even changed the names of their beer in the belief that drinkers outside the West Midlands felt that anything called “mild” must surely be for wimps.

Times change and younger drinkers are cottoning on to the many delights that real ale offers, and the range and complexity of flavours that are available compared with over-chilled mass-produced lagers and over-sweet alco-pops.

So, what is a Mild and what can you expect?

Milds range from black to dark brown to pale amber in colour, and alcohol levels are usually low with a notable local exception. Years ago, they were the favoured drinks of factory workers who needed to quench their thirst without getting too drunk to work in the afternoon.

While bitters can live up their name, a Mild is an easier drink. The main ingredients of beer are malted barley, hops, water and yeast. When the barley is malted, it is roasted. Modest roasting produces an ingredient with definite malt flavours similar to Horlicks and Malteasers. The more it is roasted, the stronger the flavour of the barley until is tastes almost burnt. Very dark milds take on aspects of this burnt taste (noticeable in the award-winning Hobson’s Mild for example), though not as much as Stouts.

It was Highgate Mild brewed in Walsall that first gave me the taste for real ale. With an alcohol level of 3.6%, it has a good mix of malt and hops, which provide fruitiness in beer as well as bitterness. The roasted flavour comes through as a subtle aftertaste. A similar delicate balance of fruitiness and roasted malt can be found in other local favourites such as Holden’s Black Country Mild and Batham’s Mild.

The low alcohol and delicate fruitiness of mild ales make them a good alternative to lagers for quenching the heat of a curry. They are also good with chilli con carne and other stews.

While most local Milds are dark brown bordering on black, we are blessed with a couple of Milds that are quite different. This year Banks’s Original has reverted to its old name of Banks’s Mild. It’s a great beer that is part way between a mild and a bitter, taking the best of both worlds. It offers malt with more fruit than you would usually find in a mild while being gentler on the throat than a bitter.

The other local mild that pushes the boundaries is brewed in Sedgley behind the Beacon Hotel. Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild packs a punch with both flavour and alcohol. It is a dark beer, as the name suggests, full of flavour and 6% alcohol --- stronger than many special bitters.

There will be plenty of Milds to try in the Midlands during May. The Wolverhampton branch of CAMRA will make its annual award to a pub known for serving good mild ale. The Great Western in Sun Street is this year’s recipient, while Dudley branch are running a Mild Pub Crawl.

Banks’s will be brewing a dark Mild in May as well as its regular Mild, and making other Milds within the Marston’s portfolio available.

Good pubs will offer you a small sampler if you are unsure and they are not too busy, and Wolverhampton’s 35th Beer Festival takes place in the Wulfrun Hall between 2nd - 4th June.

So, if Mild is not you’re usual tipple, give it a try and enjoy some of the special Milds only available this month.

David King



David King presents the weekly food and drink programme on 101.8FM Wolverhampton City Radio. He also edited the Black Country Good Beer Guide.