Big win for mild beer at British Beer Festival
The best beer in Britain is a mild ale. So say the judges at this year's Great British Beer Festival.
Rudgate Ruby Mild of York, North Yorkshire, was proclaimed this week as the Champion Beer of Britain at the annual festival in London of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale.
Ruby Mild, which has an ABV of 4.4 percent, is described in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide 2009 as a"'nutty, rich ruby ale, stronger than usual for a mild," according the group's Web Site.
The win is a big boost for mild brew, said Roger Protz, editor of the Good Beer Guide and one of the judges.
Rudgate's brewer Craig Lee was described by The Times of London as "bemused" by the win. The Times Jack Malvern pointed out that mild beers, which were "originally created to slake the thirst of miners" and have recently suffered in popularity, being bypassed by the more fashionable golden ales. Now mild is in vogue.
"We've certainly not changed our tastes," the winning brewer told Malvern. "Perhaps tastes have caught up with us."
Do you think this move to mildness will transfer to the U.S.?
What is your favorite mild brew? I like the ESB from Evolution Brewing in Delmar, Del.
Are you ready for mild brews?
Are you willing to drop the hop bombs?
These mild beers are said to be "more popular with the ladies" in Britain. True with American women as well?
Photo: Getty Images
Comments
Think of it as trading a hop bomb for a malt bomb.
BTW an ESB is not a Mild. ESB being more in the pale ale category, while a mild is more in a stout category, with more roasty, coffee types of malt flavors.
Posted by: David | August 7, 2009 10:42 AM
Milds are great for sessions. If I can only have one or two, however, I'm going for the hop bomb. My all time favorite was Taylor's Landlord, but I don't think you can get it in the states.
The Evolution is delicious, but I've only had it at Grand Cru on tap. Can you buy bottles in Bmore?
Posted by: Cheese | August 7, 2009 10:45 AM
Here at Oliver's we've been brewing a dark mild (Dark Horse Ale) for many years.At 4% abv with a light body, low hop but delicious roasted malt flavors it's an excellent session beer. It's on tap at The Pratt Street Ale House year round and is also available at Bertha's in Fells Point. It is also regularly on rotation on the Brewer's Choice cask at the Ale House.
Posted by: steve jones | August 7, 2009 4:00 PM
Steve Jones at the Pratt Street Ale House makes a phenomenal Dark Mild from time to time. It is one of my favorite styles, but very hard to find here (and, sadly, increasingly hard to find in England). I had a delightful JW Lees Mild in Heathrow once, which made my 4 hour stopover a lot easier (OK, I had more than one...)
I fear that some beer drinkers have a hard time with anything that may be perceived as, well, mild, or, as you imply in your original post, Rob, feminine...
No mild in the house, but I'm off to my Welsh bitter (4.5% by vol),
V
Posted by: Volker | August 8, 2009 9:04 PM