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.