Scottish Mild Ale after WW II

Mild was as near as dead before the war in Scotland. By the end of it, with the exception of a couple of breweries like William Younger which had an extensive trade in England, Mild was pretty much stone dead. At least on the face of it.

In reality, things were a little more complicated. 60/-, the weakest Scottish Pale Ale, often did a pretty good impression of Dark Mild, as it was frequently coloured dark brown by the addition of caramel at racking time. I certainly believed that it was a type of Dark Mild until I got to see Maclay’s brewing records.

60/- certainly filled the slot occupied by Mild Ale South of the border in terms of price and strength. I suppose in a similar way that Boy’s Bitter did in the parts of the Southwest where genuine Mild had become scarce.

True to form, William Younger was the one exception. They continued to brew Mild, though by the 1940s it had been reduced to a single example, XXX.

It’s pretty similar to a typical English Dark Mild of the period: dark in colour and around 3% ABV.

The grist isn’t a million miles away from an English Mild, either. Pale malt, crystal malt, Flaked barley and sugar are the main elements. One version also includes some black malt.

Supplying many pubs in England, Younger had little option but no provide a Mild Ale. At least up until 1970, when sales went into a sharp decline.

William Younger Mild Ale in 1949
Date	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
7th Jun	XXX	1030.5	1008.0	2.98	73.77%	3.24	0.38
16th Jun	XXX	1030.5	1009.5	2.78	68.85%	3.06	0.38
Source:
William Younger brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/2/88.

William Younger Mild Ale grists in 1949
Date	Beer	OG	pale malt	black malt	crystal malt	MA malt	flaked barley	invert sugar	CWE sugar
7th Jun	XXX	1030.5	75.00%		5.77%	5.77%	5.77%	3.85%	3.85%
16th Jun	XXX	1030.5	73.58%	5.66%	5.66%	5.66%	5.66%	1.89%	1.89%
Source:
William Younger brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/2/88.