Mild ale

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Mild ale is one of the oldest styles of beer from England, and originally meant a young or immature ale. The word mild at the time meant "new" or "fresh".

Due to expanding population and demand for beer in the 18th century, some brewers began to sell beer before it was ready, at a lower cost than fully matured ales which could require cellaring in the bottle for up to a year. This young beer was called "Mild". The harsh sour beer was sometimes mixed with fully aged or "stale" beer to make the product drinkable. The standard 9 to 1 ratio became known as "Porter's ale", because it was popular and affordable by the working class.

During the 19th century porter grew into its own style, while brewers developed recipes for mild ales that didn't require mixing with aged beer to taste good. Chocolate malt, oatmeal, torrified wheat, and unmalted barley became standard ingredients for the style. New, less bitter hop varieties and new yeasts made the flavors less sour.

Today, mild is less bitter, lighter bodied, but darker in color than brown ale. Some traditionalists such as CAMRA consider mild to be only a draft version of brown ale. Traditional mild had a higher alcohol content than today, which has dropped over the years to avoid higher excise taxes. Milds are still popular in the West Midlands, Wales and Northwest England, but are less popular than bitter in the rest of the world.

Common mild ales

• Banks's Original
• Brain's Dark (very popular in South Wales)
• Greene King XX Mild
• Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild
• Theakston's Mild
• Timothy Taylor's Golden Best (a light mild)
• Timothy Taylor's Dark Mild
• Tolly Mild

External links

• CAMRA's special campagning group for mild
• Homebrewing a Mild Ale