Mild ale

Mild experienced a sharp decline in popularity in the 1960s, and was in danger of completely disappearing, but the increase of microbreweries has led to a modest renaissance and an increasing number of milds (sometimes labelled "dark") being brewed.

In the United States, a group of beer bloggers organised the first American Mild Month for May 2015, with forty-five participating breweries across the country.

[2] In the 19th century a typical brewery produced three or four mild ales, usually designated by a number of X marks, the weakest being X, the strongest XXXX.

Gravities dropped throughout the late 19th century and by 1914 the weakest milds were down to about 1.045, still considerably stronger than modern versions.

[3] The draconian measures applied to the brewing industry during the First World War had a particularly dramatic effect upon mild.

In order to be able to produce some stronger beer - which was exempt from price controls and thus more profitable - mild was reduced to 1.025 or lower.

[8] Outside Britain, mild is virtually unknown, with the exception of New South Wales and microbreweries in North America and Scandinavia.