United Kingdom: Mild beer seems to be returning to its former glory

Some 64% of drinkers have seen an increase in the number of mild beers served at British pubs and beer festivals over the past five years, The Eat Out magazine cited on April, 30 a research by CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale.

Similarly, 75% of those surveyed also noted the availability of mild beers in pubs and brewery shops within a 30 mile radius of their home.

In the same survey, CAMRA asked real ale drinkers to name their best loved Milds. The top three most popular from the sample of 500 drinkers were Rudgate brewery's (of Tockwith, York, North Yorkshire) Ruby Mild, which is CAMRA's current Champion Beer of Britain, Sarah Hughes brewery's (of Sedgley, Dudley, West Midlands) Dark Ruby, and West Berkshire brewery's (of Yattendon, Berkshire) Maggs' Magnificent Mild.

Duncan Woodhead, CAMRA National Beer Styles Co-ordinator, said: "This new research really reinforces the fact that today's discerning drinkers are helping to bring back traditional beer styles such as the Mild into pubs, and from a broader perspective, as a conventionally less bitter, lower in alcohol alternative to other beers, this wider availability of the Mild is great news for getting more drinkers to try the delights of real ale for the first time.

"In the last 6 months alone, some of the UK'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% of UK drinkers have now tried real ale, there's a real opportunity for the Mild to return to its former glory, when in the 1950's it was the nation's most popular beer style."

30 April, 2010