English Mild..

I wish it was more socially acceptable to drink beer (even if it is session beer) at lunch over here in the US. It's very frowned upon at the places I've worked at, even menial jobs. Like c'mon one 3.5% beer with food isn't going to incapacitate me. I won't even feel a buzz.

 

the only I have access to is Brawler, and that I can only buy when I pass through Jersey. I love Brawler, but I can venture to guess that it pales to most milds on tap in England

 

I'm afraid that this article has so many errors in that I don't know where to begin. The writer is totally confused.

Those who have read my posts in the past will know that the present day division of beer into "ale" and "lager" by some people annoys me more than a little.One result of this division is to drive a coach and horses through the evolutionary thread of brewing and tracts such as the above are one of the results.
Porter never was an ale and certainly wouldn't have been considered one when "mild" first appeared.Ales and Porters were entirely separate items in the brewing world.
Here's an American poster from the time;note the "Ale and Porter" bit

Mild was simply unaged ale (not unsoured) and until WW1 was strong (around 6% ABV) , pale (records show that they were brewed entirely from pale malt) and heavily hopped. Not however hopped as highly as other brews . Hopping was necessary as a preservative and done to the extent that British brewers used half the entire world's hop supply.
Regarding present day hopping, many milds are simply bitters (Pale Ales) darkened and sweetened with caramel.The use of very dark brewing sugars is also fairly common.

 

I'd be interested in trying some except that I can't find a single example of the style anywhere in any liquor store I visit in the Los Angeles area.

It's one of the few remaining styles I haven't tried.

 

They're awful and some stores refuse to carry them.

I went to go check out their location because it is a gorgeous facility, and someone working there was mad about how 10th Ave Burrito wouldn't carry them.

10th Ave Burrito. Across the street. Who carries craft beer. Refuses to carry Beach Haus.

I think you can figure out the quality of their product from that.

 

This is one of my favorite session styles. Roasty, Nutty, low alcohol. Very unsung style. Most local breweries around metro Detroit have these on tap, but not packaged much.

One decent example that is packaged is Motor City Ghettoblaster, recently came out in cans. OP I'll send some your way for some Carton stuff!

 

I absolutely love 'em, but there aren't all that many packaged versions. Even some of the well known draft examples aren't always available. My local brewery has 3 GABF medals (including a gold) and they only have theirs on for a few weeks out of the year.

 

OP, take a look at black ales. New Belgium's 1554 is a good one. Another one that is from Brazil (I think) is Xingu.

Also consider the entire bock family -- bocks, dopplebocks, weizenbocks and maibocks. The maibock style is probably the lightest-flavored one of this group, and it is also the lightest in color. You might still see some on store shelves from the spring releases. (Don't worry that they may be 6 months old now; they'll still be very tasty.)

 

Seriously underappreciated in the UK as well.

I've only been chasing milds for a couple of years but in my experience they are not any weaker in flavour than your average bitter, and the gamut of flavour is just as broad.

They can be sweet to dry, uber malty to fairly hoppy, usually nutty, sometimes smokey and occasionally chocolatey. These qualities are usually more than just a subtle nuance. Mild almost always has a great mouthfeel and stylistically it almost crosses over with stout, but it's quite a different animal. It's usually black in colour with a reddish tint.

What has always defined the style for me, if nothing else, is the distinctive fruity/grassy finish. If I had to choose a type specimen it would be Thwaite's Dark Mild. Also, of all the Englsh styles I think this is the one that most emphatically needs to be had on cask. Never had a good bottled one.

A friendly warning, don't touch Sammy Smith's Light or Dark Mild with a barge pole!

 

Brawler is pretty good, at (i think 4%) it's a nice brown color mild ale. looks pretty good in a glass! something i've enjoyed at 7:45am watching the BPL. COYS

and i'm gonna go "somewhat" off-topic to suggest another few beers.

-Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale is pretty damn good, and English
-Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale is a beer i LOVE closer to Thanksgiving (the beer i had last Thanksgiving and Christmas) and goes great in cold weather, it's a mix of a scotch ale, IPA, and brown ale which actually creates a pretty sweet beer
-Goose Island Honker's Ale is an english bitter but i started last Christmas with this; low abv, warming, and easy drinking

milds and especially bitters are a style i want to get into, for the time being i haven't found a lot of either. most beers are of the "main" styles, which i love! but sometimes an easy drinking pale ale is desirable

 

I love the Schwartzbier recommendations, but there are a few other seasonals that might do the trick (at least while they are still on the shelves)- have you tried Southern Tier Harvest (ESB)? or Victory Moonglow (weizenbock)?

 

Oops actually this the British/Irish coursebook for the Cicerone.

 

...not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

Thumbs up for Yards Brawler. I'm no expert on English Milds, but it's an easy drinker for sure. I know you said you are not into stouts anymore, but Yards also makes an English stout called Love Stout which is on the lighter and drier side for a stout and really well balanced. A favorite of mine during the winter.

 

Marquis, do you know of anywhere in Lincolnshire that serves Belvoir? I'm intrigued.

 

Dude, you need to get yourself over to the UK in spring. Your average mild is nothing like watery.

 

Don't know offhand. The brewery isn't that far from Grantham so I reckon you would find it there.But in the nature of small breweries their beers will appear as guests , here today and gone tomorrow.Perhaps an e mail to the brewery might help.
[email protected]
What part of Lincolnshire do you live in ?

 

I'm a bit dismayed by this. I would have expected a more professional, researched document particularly as it leads to a qualification. I hope the rest of the coursebook is more accurate , a cicerone should know what he's talking about