Mild Ale

Mild Ale or Mild, a malty, low-alcohol session ale, is one of England's most traditional beer styles. A beer uniquely suited to cask conditioning and dispensing through a hand pump, it is enjoying a revival thanks to the efforts of CAMRA and the Real Ale movement. Recently, a Mild Ale, Hobson's Mild, was named Champion Beer of Britain at the 2007 Great British Beer Festival.

History of Mild Ale

Mild is one of, if not the, oldest beer styles in the country. Until the 15th century, ale and mead were the major British brews, both made without hops. Hops were introduced from Holland, France and Germany after this time. This also started the trend on reducing the gravity of ale, as the Hop is also a preservative, and beers had to be brewed very strongly to try to help preserve them. The hop also started the rapid decline of mead, which is only made in a very few places today.

During the First World War, malt rationing and pressure from the temperance movement led to brewers rapidly reduced the strength. Following the Second World War, as prosperity returned, mild`s popularity as a cheap ale began to fade, not being helped by being kept badly in run down pubs as the Big Brewers began to heavily promote their keg lager brands. Coupled to this was a gradual, but steady decline in heavy industry in the North and Midlands of Britain, mild`s great marketplace.

By the 1970s, the keg lager boom had seen mild's share of the market fall to around 13% and it was a shame to see a bland gassy and overpriced product, which was generally weaker than the mild it was trying to oust, succeed in many cases.

Modern Mild Ale

So what is Mild? It is a beer which has tastes and textures all it’s own. Usually dark brown in colour, due to the use of well-roasted malts or barley it is less hopped than bitters and often has a chocolatety character with nutty and burnt flavours. Basically it is a beer that is less hopped than bitter, etc. The darkness of Dark Milds, such as Greene King XX Mild, comes from the use of darker malts and/or roasted barley which are used to compensate for the loss of Hop character. "Chocolate ", "fruity", "nutty" and "burnt" are all tastes to be found in the complexity of Milds. However, not all milds are dark. Yorkshire brewed Timothy Taylors Golden Best is one of the best examples of a light coloured mild, as is Bank's Original, the name changed from Mild to try to give it a more modern image. In Scotland, 60/- ale is similar to mild (Belhaven’s being a good example).

Milds today tend to have an ABV in the 3% to 3.5% range, with of course some notable exceptions. In fact, a lot of the Microbreweries who try their hand at mild are bringing the alcohol content back up somewhat! Mild wasn't always weaker though. In the latter half of the 19th Century, milds were brewed to about the same strength as bitters as a response to the demand for a sweeter beer from the working classes and in those days most bitters were around 6 to 7% ABV.

Types of Mild Ale

For the most part, the term "Mild" or "Mild Ale" is used to refer to a traditional dark mild. However, other

Dark Mild

Pale Mild

Ruby Mild

American Mild

Mild ale is one of the few traditional English beer styles that does not have a corresponding "American" beer style. This is probably because of the nature of Mild. American versions of English beers tend to be more bitter and higher in Americanized hop character and alcohol; but low alcohol, low bitterness, and no hoppiness are the hallmarks of Mild. Most American brewers who have tackled the style have done so in a very traditional way. It remains to see whether the growing popularity of Mild in England will lead to the development of a uniquely American version. In the meantime, the closest equivalent of Mild on the American market is the American Bock, a darker, slightly maltier version of an American lager.

Historical or Throwback Mild

Brewing Mild Ale

Mild ale is one of the easiest styles to brew, especially for beginning brewers. Its low gravity and bitterness makes it especially suitable for doing a partial boil with extract and specialty grains. It is an excellent session beer which can make a nice change from the higher-octane styles many homebrewers favor.

Competition Styles

Both the BJCP and the GABF style guidelines recognize at least one style of Mild.

BJCP Style Guidelines

The BJCP defines a style guideline called simply "Mild", but which truly encompasses only a pale English mild.

Mild

GABF Style Guidelines