Tuesday 14 January 2014

West Midlands Mild Ales 1938 - 2004

Since I've already covered M & B and Ansell's Mild, I thought I may as well finish off the West Midlands. After all, it was a heartland of Mild.

Dare, Atkinson and Davenport were all in Birmingham itself. The other breweries are from the Black Country.

It's an odd set, this lot. I could find frustratingly few examples in the Whitbread Gravity Book. They don't seem to have analysed many draught beers in this part of the world. Which means I've only two from before WW II. Form Wall & District Clubs and Dare. Intriguingly, they're both around 1047 - quite a high gravity for a Mild in the 1930's. In London, Best Mild was only about 1042 back then.

Hang on. Why don't I work out the average OG of the Milds I have in my Mega Gravity Table? You can never have too many tables, can you?


Average values for Mild Ales 1936 - 2006
no examples Years Price Acidity FG OG ABV App. Atten-uation
184 1936 - 1938 5.07 0.06 1009.5 1036.5 3.56 74.20%
95 1948 - 1949 12.8 0.06 1007.3 1030.3 3.00 75.94%
170 1977 - 1979 1032.8
290 1981 - 1983 1033.4
113 1989 - 1994 1008.6 1034.0 3.30 74.50%
76 2004 - 2006 1009.0 1037.7 3.75 76.12%


That makes things clearer. The pre-war examples are more than 10 points above the average. I think that tells us something, as the Milds I used for the average came from all over Britain.

It's a similar story for the 1949 examples, two of which were 1034.6 and the other 1032. All above the 1030.3 average.

I should average out the values for the West Midland Milds, too. Make my life much easier. You can see that they remain above the average until after 2000. Fascinating, isn't it? If I didn't collect this type of information so obsessively, I'd never be able to observe this sort of regional variation.

Average OG of West Midlands Milds
Years OG
1972 - 1979 1035.1
1981 - 1986 1035.6
1989 - 2004 1035.8

I know from browsing through the entries in my Mega Gravity Table that Milds from country districts tended to be weaker. And that before WW II London Milds were above average strength. Though they fell back to about average after the war.

Other observations? From the 1970's onwards the gravities of the West Midlands Milds are grouped very closely in the 1035 - 1036 range. Presumably because the beers were in direct competition with each other.

It's also revealing how the average gravity of Milds in general has crept up since WW II, eventually ending up higher than in the late 1930's. I find that quite surprising. But I suppose it reflects a change in the role of Mild, away from being the working class's slurper. Though note how the level of attenuation is very constant at around 75%.

As at least one person seems to have liked the stuff I've been writing recently about Mild, I'll be doing more. Possibly based on the Milds of a particular region.

West Midlands Mild Ales 1938 - 2004
Year Brewer Beer Acidity FG OG colour ABV App. Atten-uation
1949 Atkinsons Mild Ale 0.07 1004.8 1034.6 2.5 + 40 3.88 86.13%
1972 Banks Mild 1008.3 1035.3 3.60 76.49%
1977 Banks Mild 1035.5
1979 Banks Mild 1035.5
1981 Banks Mild 1036
1982 Banks Mild  1036
1983 Banks Mild 1036
1986 Banks Mild 1035
1989 Banks Mild 1008 1035 3.50 77.14%
1994 Banks Mild Ale 3.50
2004 Banks Hanson's Mild Ale 1010.3 1035 3.2 70.57%
2004 Banks Bank's Original 1010.2 1036 3.35 71.67%
1972 Batham Mild 1007.1 1035.6 3.70 80.06%
1977 Batham Mild 1036
1979 Batham Mild 1036
1981 Batham Mild 1036
1982 Batham Mild 1036
1983 Batham Mild 1036
1986 Batham Mild 1036
1993 Batham Mild Ale 1008.3 1036 3.6 76.94%
2004 Batham Mild Ale 1009.5 1036.5 3.5 73.97%
1935 Dare Ale 0.05 1013.7 1047 4.32 70.85%
1949 Dare Mild Ale 0.08 1006.9 1034.6 4.5 + 40 3.60 80.06%
1949 Davenport Mild Ale 0.07 1007.9 1032 4.5 + 40 3.12 75.31%
1977 Davenport Mild 1033
1979 Davenport Mild 1033
1981 Davenport Mild 1034.5
1982 Davenport Mild 1034.5
1983 Davenport Mild 1034.5
1986 Davenport Mild 1034.8
1989 Davenport Best Mild 1010.25 1035 3.20 70.71%
1977 Hansons Mild 1035
1977 Hansons Mild 1035
1979 Hansons Mild 1035.5
1979 Hansons Mild 1035.5
1981 Hansons Mild 1035.5
1981 Hansons Mild 1035.5
1982 Hansons Mild 1036
1982 Hansons Mild 1036
1983 Hansons Mild 1036
1983 Hansons Mild 1036
1986 Hansons Mild 1035
1986 Hansons Mild 1035
1989 Hansons Mild 1008 1035 3.50 77.14%
1989 Hansons Mild 1008 1035 3.50 77.14%
1977 Holden Mild 1036
1979 Holden Mild 1036
1981 Holden Mild 1036
1982 Holden Mild 1036
1983 Holden Mild 1036
1989 Holden Black Country Mild 1010.2 1038 3.60 73.16%
1994 Holden Holden's Mild 3.70
1989 Sarah Hughes Brewery Original Dark Ruby Mild 1058
1977 Simpkiss Mild 1034
1979 Simpkiss Mild 1034
1938 Walsall & District Clubs Mild 0.06 1005.4 1047.9 0.5 + 40 5.56 88.73%
Sources:
The Best of British Bottled Beer
Daily Mirror July 10th 1972, page 15
Good Beer Guide 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984,1987, 1990, 2005 
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

3 comments:

Magnus Bark said...

Maybe I should get a bumper sticker who says "I'd rather drink mild".

Tom said...

You still haven't told us about the Whitbread Trophy origins!

Willie said...

Bathams is an interesting mild, it is a parti gyle of their bitter, which is all pale malt, they then add caramel and also dry hop with Goldings, I'm not sure if the copper hops are Fuggles and Northdown as in their bitter.

Batham's has a bit of a cult following here, because it's so good, but it's not readily available.

Keep up the great mild information, much appreciated