Apr 14thThe Mild Month of May

Every May CAMRA celebrates ‘Mild May’, an initiative to celebrate and highlight the beer style Mild, which was recently under threat of extinction due to a drop in popularity.

Since this year our festival is running from the 17-18 May it is slap bang in the middle of Mild Month, so we are, of course doing our bit.

Mild is a beer style which developed in the late 18th and 19th centuries as drinkers started to demand a slightly sweeter and less aggressively hopped beer than Porter. Goodness knows what they would make of the modern style of beers, which bring the idea of aggressive hops to whole new heights!

Early milds were much stronger than modern versions, which tend to fall into the 3% to 3.5% category, though a number of brewers are bringing strength back into style. Mild is usually dark brown in colour, due to the use of well-roasted malts or roasted barley. Look for a rich malty aroma and flavour, with hints of dark fruit, chocolate, coffee and caramel, with a gentle underpinning of hop bitterness.

Our beer list is still in progress and so subject to change, but at the moment we are planning to bring you ten different milds. If you are not familiar with the style this will give you the ideal opportunity to give them a try! Our milds are:

• Bespoke (Mitcheldean, Glos) – Beware the Bear – so new we have no tasting notes for it yet.
• Canopy (London) – Grafter – 4.3% – Ruby Mild (Vegan)
• Charnwood (Loughborough, Leics) – Ermintrude – 4% – This Milk Mild has a pure white head and is deep brown in colour with a smooth subtle sweetness.
• Churchend (Nuneaton, Warks) – Grave Digger’s Ale – 3.8% – Dark black and red in colour, with a complex mixture of chocolate and roast flavours. The use of two different hops, gives the beer a complex feel and smooth finish
• Great Heck (Great Heck, N.Yorks) – Voodoo Mild – 4.3% – Very flavourful dark mild brewed with lots of roasted malts balanced perfectly with finest English hops.
• Hal’s (Dursley, Glos) – Mick’s Mild – 3.8% – No tasting notes yet
• Potbelly (Kettering, Northants) – Beijing Black – 4.4% – A strong dark mild, Mild but not Meek!
• Salopian (Hadnall, Shrewsbury) – Divine Comedy – 3.9% – A contemporary twist on a mild, a dark opulence with a soft bitterness and toasty malts that delves into an ethereal crescendo of passion fruit, citrus and pine.
• Sarah Hughes (Dudley) – Dark Ruby – 6% – Combines a balance of intense colour and flavour, making it an award winning festival favourite.
• West Berkshire (Yattendon, Berks) – Maggs Mild – 3.5% – A traditional rich, dark mild with big hitting biscuit malt flavours, a light earth hop aroma and a velvety smooth finish.