All About Beer Magazine

Portsmouth typically serves its British mild in the fall or winter because people think it’s a huge, dark beer and it pours the American mild three times a year. Mild, pointed out Mott, is easy to brew: it only takes five to seven hours, another three-day primary fermentation then about 10 days of conditioning.

Dave McLean is brewmaster and owner of Magnolia Pub and Brewery in San Francisco and serves mild, he said, because he loves it. Since he opened the pub in 1997, it’s had a strong English influence.

Magnolia pours two milds: Sara’s Ruby Mild is a deep red/amber color and has a sweetness from crystal malts. Dark Star Mild is a brown to black, almost opaque beer, whose color comes from black and chocolate malt rather than crystal, rendering it a little more crisp and sharp. The hops are fairly similar. Both have a base of floor-malted Maris Otter barley and are fermented with the house strain of an English ale yeast.

Sara’s Ruby Mild is the most popular, but McLean said that is, in part, because he’s been making it for nearly 13 years, it is regularly available, and it won a gold medal last year at the Great American Beer Festival.

We’ve been successful in developing a reputation for lower gravity, English-style beers, so many of our customers are conditioned to check in and find out which beers in that category range are currently on tap,” he said. “We also use these beers to educate newcomers about the styles and how we approach our craft. Sara’s, especially, is a great introductory beer for this.”

Regarding milds, specifically, I love the way in which premium, heirloom barleys like Maris Otter really get a chance to shine when they are used in a balanced beer like a mild,” he explained. McLean is hopeful for the future. He hopes session beers will become as popular as they once were, both as everyday ales and good food pairing beers.

The future looks bright on both sides of the Atlantic.

It’s in the past decade, and especially the last couple of years, that mild has really gained traction with the British public. In fact, according to CAMRA, there are now more than 200 milds brewed in the U.K.

According to Duncan Woodhead, CAMRA national beer styles coordinator: “Some of the U.K.’s leading brewers have reverted back to calling their renowned brands a ‘mild,’ and with the overall growth of the real ale industry coinciding with figures showing 50 percent of U.K. drinkers have now tried real ale, there’s a real opportunity for the mild to return to its former glory, when in the 1950s it was the nation’s most popular beer style.”

It’s unlikely mild will ever be that popular again, but with the increasing demand for local products, session beers and support for local breweries, it could have a little more sticking power the second time around.