Inside 1970s Mild Ale

I’m lucky enough to have quite a few brewing records for different Milds. No such a surprise, as just about every brewery was still making one in the 1970s. They come from diverse set of breweries, in different geographic locations and of different sizes. That heterogeneity is reflected in the character of the beers.

The gravities come from a very narrow band – 1030º to 1033º – despite there being a Best Mild (Boddington BM) present. Though wildly differing degrees of attenuation leave a broader spread of ABVs. Ranging from just 2.38% ABV to a mighty 3.9% ABV.

Five of the fourteen examples come in under 3% ABV. Which isn’t great. That’s in the waste of time drinking range. Interesting how many different results there were from very similar starting gravities.

Talking of differences, the hopping rates are all over the place. From a very minimal 2.62 lbs per quarter (336 lbs) of malt to a pretty hefty 6.49 lbs. With the average about splitting the difference at 4.43 lbs. Though there only a couple of beers that really had hopping at around that level.

I’m reluctant to draw too many conclusions from the IBU numbers, as most are calculated. With quite a few unknowns involved. Around 20 IBU would seem to be fairly typical. Though with some examples a good bit lower.

All three shades of Mild are represented: pale, semi-dark and dark. Fallstaff, Boddington and Whitbread being examples, respectively. I find it fascinating that the move of Mild from pale to dark, started at the end of the 19th century, has never been fully completed. With some beers stuck halfway and others not even started on the journey.

Don’t pay too much attention to the colour listed for Drybrough 60/-. It being Scottish, I’m sure that it was coloured up to a variety of darker shades at racking time.

Mild Ale 1969 - 1985
Year	Brewer	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	colour	IBU
1977	Adnams	XXX	1032.0	1014.0	2.38	56.25%	5.73	0.78	17	20
1971	Boddington	BM	1032.5	1003.0	3.90	90.77%	5.11	0.67	41	19
1971	Boddington	XX	1030.5	1003.0	3.64	90.16%	5.67	0.76	75	19
1970	Drybrough	B 60/-	1030.8				2.62	0.33	22	11
1975	Elgood	MM	1030.0	1005.5	3.24	81.53%	4.00	0.47	60	13
1969	Fremlin	XX	1033.0	1006.0	3.57	81.82%	6.49	0.65	56	19
1968	Fullers	H	1031.2	1009.4	2.89	69.86%	4.98	0.58	84	17
1972	Higson	H	1030.0				3.61	0.46	60	12
1971	Shepherd Neame	MB	1031.3	1010.5	2.75	66.45%	3.26	0.44	100	13
1969	Truman	LM	1031.9	1010.8	2.79	66.09%	4.13	0.52	105*	17
1972	Whitbread	B. Mild	1030.8	1007.9	3.03	74.35%	3.10	0.41	105*	15
1985	Tetley	Mild	1032.0	1007.0	3.31	78.13%			56*	24*
1985	Tetley	Falstaff	1032.5	1006.5	3.44	80.00%			29*	26*
1971	Watney	Special Mild	1032.0	1010.0	2.91	68.75%		0.80	76*	21
	Average		1031.5	1007.8	3.15	75.35%	4.43	0.57	63.3	17.6
Sources:
Adnams brewing record held at the brewery.
Boddington brewing record held at Manchester Central Library, document number M693/405/134.
Drybrough brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number D/6/1/1/9.
Elgood brewing record held at the brewery
Fremlin brewing record held at the Kent Archives, document number U3555/2/F/Bx2/1/93.
Fullers brewing record held at the brewery.
Higson brewing record.
Shepherd Neame brewing book held at the brewery, document number 1971 H-5O5.
Truman brewing record held by Derek Prentice.
Whitbread brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/09/141.