Nice & Mildly Does It – in Hertford
Our annual Hertford celebration of Dark Mild (now in its 14th year) is soon to be with us once again. Gentle people being Mild all over town. On Tuesday 21st May four friendly town centre pubs will be presenting at least one Mild:
8.00pm – Black Horse, West Street
8.45pm – White Horse, Castle Street
9.30pm – Old Barge, The Folly
10.15pm – Old Cross Tavern, St Andrew Street
Or, Go Mild in St Albans
Same night – Tuesday 21st May – a new St Albans venture – four pubs close together in the centre of the city, each offering a different Dark Mild and where you can be at your Mildest:
8.00pm – Farmers Boy, London Road
8.45pm – Beehive, Keyfield Terrace
9.30pm – White Lion, Sopwell Lane
10.30pm – White Hart, Holywell Hill
Fun with Mild – Everyone Welcome!
All about Mild
By the time of the late 1970s Mild was in serious decline in the south of England though there were one or two pockets still holding out. The beer style had gained a poor reputation as the beer that some unscrupulous landlords poured spent beer back into, to claim ullage from the brewery – and the breweries did little to counter this perception, as bitter largely became the cask-conditioned beer of the day. Local brewer McMullens had discontinued Mild in the 1960s and by 1980 Ind Coope and Courage had followed suit. Yet in recent times the wave of new breweries in Britain has reignited the style. Rudgate Ruby Mild and Bank Top Mild are recent winners in the Mild Category of CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain competition – Ruby Mild and Oscar Wilde even winning the Supreme overall Champion Beer of Britain award.
South Hertfordshire Branch was in the vanguard of Mild campaigning in the mid-1970’s when, with the slogan “Make May A Mild Month”, we fought to save Mild from extinction, as the big brewers constricted their brewing operations to the brewing of standard bitters.
The branch spearheaded a successful campaign to save Greene King XX Dark Mild leading to the beer being retained – and it survives today as one of the company’s best beers. Mild may still remain a minority style of beer but with so many small breweries now around there are some tasty options to be found. In these days of golden beers we need to protect Mild and promote it – the perfect counterbalance to a citric ale – or just a great beer in its own right. We would like to see Mild available on a much wider basis and certainly relish a pint when it is available. Examples include Mighty Oak Oscar Wilde, Elgood’s Black Dog and Wolf’s Woild Moild. From Hertfordshire there’s Tring Mansion Mild and 3 Brewers Dark Mild. And McMullen’s have recently rebranded their AK as Original Mild.
But what will you find on Tuesday 21st May?
