Dark Mild

Historical Development

Trends in beer are a very funny thing. In the 1980s and 90s, the craft industry made a concerted effort to produce bigger, more flavorful beer than what was available through macro producers. Although it has only been a small percentage of most brewers' production, big beer was in many ways another American industry arms race, with the largest, most flavorful stouts prized for their blatant disregard for moderation. In the past year or so, we've begun to see a subtle correction in that trend, with many brewers–Deschutes, Dogfish Head, and Bell's Brewery among them–producing low-calorie, sessionable offerings as a part of their regular lineups, and we here at Black Flannel are very excited about that trend.

Whether you're drinking sessionable beers because you're a little more health-conscious or because you'd just like to have more than one pint and be a functional human the next morning, smaller beers are a perfect break from massive 16% bourbon-aged imperial stouts. After all, you can only have so many of those before your palate, wallet, and work ethic are crushed under their boozy grandeur.

Cue our British drinking friends, who will gladly chime in with choruses of, "welcome to the pub scene." As we discussed in our posts on bitters, there are several historical, cultural, and social reasons why British beer is generally lower gravity than American beer, but one of those is sessionability. If anyone on earth has the low-strength brewing process on lock, it's English brewers. Bitters are still the dominant session beer across the pond, but dark mild is a unique category that fills the gap for drinkers who want something crushable, but with a malty twist.

Historically, "mild ale" was used not to designate low-strength beer, but young beer ("running" ale was used synonymously). "Stock," "old," and "stale" were used to designate the opposite…typically bigger beer that had been aged in casks. Just before the second world war, Mild was significantly more popular in England than it is today, accounting by some estimates to be 75-90% of beer consumed. Since it didn't have to be stored, it was generally cheaper, possibly leading the charge on marketability. Whatever the reason for that earlier popularity, mild fell out of favor after the war, as consumers turned toward the now-popular bitters as an alternative. Mild is now quite a bit harder to find in English pubs depending on the season (I speak from experience there…I spent several days drinking my way across London last summer and found only two of them on draught), but it's no less compelling a style. Brewed to be enjoyed over multiple pints, this beer still has the fuller body and flavor profile that craft drinkers want out of their glass without the ABV or calories.

We'll be focusing a fair amount of attention on session-strength beers with big flavors at Black Flannel, and we've got a wonderful Dark Mild that we'll be putting through the brewhouse from time to time, so ask for it when you stop by.

Modern Evolution

Historically, 'mild' was simply an unaged beer, and could be used as an adjective to distinguish between aged or more highly hopped keeping beers. Modern milds trace their roots to the weaker X-type ales of the 1800s, although dark milds did not appear until the 20th century. In current usage, the term implies a lower-strength beer with less hop bitterness than bitters. The term 'mild' is currently somewhat out of favor with consumers, and many breweries no longer use it. Increasingly rare. There is no historic connection or relationship between Mild and Porter.