Branded Mild in 1953

Boak and Bailey reminded me of a source I’d neglected with a recent tweet. The Brewery Manual, a trade publication full of factual information. Right down my street.

Luckily, I could recall where I’d stashed my copies. Even better, one was from the 1950’s, the current focus of my obsession. I quickly got scanning. In particular a section I hadn’t noticed until Boak and Bailey pointed it out: a list of beer brand names.

Having spent a decade or more picking through analyses and looking at labels, most names aren’t new to me. A couple I’ve even drunk. Amongst the draught beers there are a few unfamiliar ones. And even amongst those I knew, there are those I would struggle to pin a style on.

I was slightly surprised to see so many branded Mild ales. Brewers often gave their Bitter a fancy name like London Pride, while imaginatively marketing their Mild as Mild. I will add one caveat: some of the classifications are rather, well, eccentric. Trubrown – Truman’s Brown Ale – is called a “Dark Ale” for some reason.

The beers come from all over the country. I was particularly surprised to see some from areas not traditionally that strong on Mild, such as South Yorkshire. Other points? Interesting to see Heavy used as a term for Mild. Plymouth Heavy is the only example I’d ever come across before.

I’d always considered Old Harry a Strong Brown Ale. Though it was parti-gyled with Mild. And there were several other beers called Amber Ale in the table, but only this one is classed as  Mild. Not the most consistent system they employed.

Anyway, here’s the table:

Branded Mild in 1953
Brewery	Beer	Type
Everards Brewery	Old Bill's Brew	Best Mild
Higson's Brewery	Trojan	Best mild and draught
W. Butler & Co.	Molineux	Bottled Mild Ale
S. A. Brain & Co.	Red Dragon	Dark Mild
Fuller, Smith & Turner	Hock	Draught Mild
B. Cunningham	Golden Malt	Mild
H. & G. Simonds	Heavy	Mild
H. & G. Simonds	London Heavy	Mild
Tennant Brothers	Fltzalan	Mild
Thomas Ramsden & Son	Stone Trough	Mild
Ind Coope & Allsopp	John Bull	Mild Ale
Nottingham Brewery	Rock	Mild Ale
Richard Whitaker & Sons	Strong Shire	Mild Ale
W. Butler & Co.	Amber Ale	Mild Ale
Fuller, Smith & Turner	Old Harry	Mild Ale, bottled
Norman & Pring	City Special	Mild Ale, bottled
Taylor, Walker & Co.	Main Line	Mild Ale, Cask
Buckley's Brewery	Stradey Ale	Mild, bottled
Duncan, Gilmour & Co.	Crown Ale	Mild, bottled
Timothy Taylor & Co.	Northerner	No. 1 Mild Ale
Wolverhampton & Dudley	Fox	Strong Mild Ale
Duncan Gilmour & Co.	Hallamshlre	Strong Mild draught
Duncan Gilmour & Co.	Balaclava	Strong mild, bottled
G. Ruddle & Co.	Old Bob	Strong Mild, bottled
Source:
Brewery Manual 1953-1954, pages 382 - 394.

Any guesse whjich is the one I've drunk?

Plenty more still where this came from.