Provincial Mild ale after WW II

Outside London, especially in rural areas, Mild Ale started the war already as a very low-gravity beer. The war didn’t make it any stronger, but also didn’t make it that much weaker. It just didn’t have anywhere much to go.

There remained considerable regional variations in Mild Ales. Particularly in terms of colour, rate of attenuation and strength.

For example, in the Midlands, where the style was probably more popular than anywhere else, Mild Ales tended to be stronger, drier and paler in colour than in London. The combination of relatively high OG and a high rate of attenuation left many examples around 4% ABV, which was very stronger for a Mild in the immediate post-war period.

Midlands Mild Ales 1949 - 1951
Year	Brewer	Price per pint (d)	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1949	Ansell	13	1035.4	1007.4	3.64	79.10%	50
1950	Ansell	13	1034.8	1005.2	3.85	85.06%	48
1951	Ansell	15	1038.3	1005.7	4.25	85.12%	45
1949	Atkinsons	13	1034.6	1004.8	3.88	86.13%	50
1950	Bass, Burton	15	1041.4	1008	4.34	80.68%	40
1949	Dare	13	1034.6	1006.9	3.60	80.06%	57
1949	Davenport	13	1032	1007.9	3.12	75.31%	57
1949	Frederick Smith	13	1035	1008.6	3.42	75.43%	57
1949	M & B	18	1034.6	1003.9	4.00	88.73%	35
1949	M & B	13	1034.5	1003.5	4.04	89.86%	38.5
1950	M & B	17	1034.5	1003.8	4.00	88.99%	38
1950	M & B	15	1038.4				41
1950	Offilers	13	1031.2	1004.7	3.45	84.94%	71
	Average	14.2	1035.3	1005.9	3.80	83.28%	48.3
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252.

In the North of England, the situation was more diverse. There was considerable variation in colour and generally lower gravities than in the Midlands. Though there were few examples at the really weak end of the spectrum, that is below 1030º.

What’s most striking is the high degree of attenuation – all are over 80%. Which must have made for quite dry and relatively thin beers. Compare this with the London examples, where only one was over 80% attenuation and many were below 70%. This must have made for beers of a very different character.

In terms of colour, there’s everything from pale amber to dark brown. It’s obvious that Mild wasn’t necessarily assumed to be dark. Again, quite a contrast with London, where all the examples, except one, were dark brown.

Northern Mild Ales 1949 - 1951
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (d)	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	colour
1951	Groves & Whitnall	Mild Ale	14	1030.6	1004.1	3.45	86.60%	50
1952	Hull Brewery	Mild Ale (bottled)	16	1032.1	1005.6	3.44	82.55%	85
1946	Lees	Bot. B		1030.0
1946	Lees	K		1028.0
1946	Lees	BM		1033.0
1952	Lees	Bot. B		1035.0				35
1952	Lees	K		1031.0				34
1952	Lees	Best Mild		1034.0				100
1951	Mitchell	Mild Ale	15	1037.2	1004.8	4.22	87.10%	60
1952	Tetley	X	13	1031.3				58
1953	Tetley	X	13	1031.4				58
1955	Thwaites	Mild Ale (bottled)	16	1032.2	1006.1	3.39	81.06%	40
1951	Vaux	Mild Ale	15	1035.6	1002.9	4.27	91.85%	24.5
1951	Wilsons	Mild Ale	14	1034.8	1005.3	3.84	84.77%	50
1949	Burtonwood	Mild Ale	13	1027.5	1003.5	3.12	87.27%	80
	Average		14.3	1032.2	1004.6	3.68	85.89%	56.2
Sources:
Lees brewing records held at the brewery.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
Truman Gravity Book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/C/252.