Southwestern and Welsh Mild Ale 1950 – 1951

We’re just about done with early 1950’s Mild. Don’t worry, that just means we’ll be moving on to late 1950’s Mild soon.

It’s a bit of a small set. Shouldn’t take too long.

I’m not totally sure Flowers belong here. It’s before their merger with J.W. Green, so I know the beer didn’t come from Luton. It’s probably from Stratford-upon-Avon, which I suppose really counts as the West Midlands.

Which immediately highlights something surprising: how strong the remaining Southwestern Milds are, averaging almost 4% ABV. I’d have expected the opposite. Especially remembering St. Austell and Devenish beers from the 1970’s which were pretty weak. Though you paid a price. Literally. Rather than 13d or 14d a pint, these were 17d or 18d. Other than the Starkey, Knight & Ford beer which looks excellent value.

You’ll note that the real Southwestern beers are quite pale and fairly highly, but not ridiculously so, attenuated. Odd thing is, I remember Plymouth Heavy, which is what Plymouth Breweries Mild was called when I drank it. I recall it being very dark. And very nice. It was a real shame when Courage closed the brewery and it disappeared.

It’s hard to draw many conclusions based on just two beer. So I don’t really know what to say about the Welsh Milds. Other than that I would have expected them to be darker.

Southwestern and Welsh Mild Ale 1950 - 1951
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint d	Acidity	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1950	Plymouth Breweries	Mild Ale	17	0.10	1038.1	1006.9	4.06	81.89%	43
1950	Starkey, Knight & Ford	Mild Ale	14	0.08	1037.8	1008.5	3.80	77.51%	50
1951	Flowers	Mild Ale	15	0.07	1030.7	1003.9	3.49	87.30%	120
1951	Plymouth Breweries	Mild Ale	18	0.07	1040.3	1009.5	4.00	76.43%	42
	Average		16	0.08	1036.7	1007.2	3.84	80.78%	63.8
1950	Clubs Brewery Ltd	Mild Ale	13	0.05	1030	1007.5	2.92	75.00%	55
1951	Brains	Mild Ale	15	0.11	1033.9	1004.3	3.85	87.32%	85
	Average		14	0.08	1032.0	1005.9	3.39	81.16%	70
Source:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

Late 1950’s Milds next.