A Celebration of Cask Mild
Where to find Mild by brewer
May is Mild Month
Every year, Camra celebrates May by promoting Cask Mild, one of the long-standing beer styles unique to the British Isles. In the Keighley & Craven Area we actively campaign for Mild beers during May and promote them through our principal event which is a pub trail (Link to mild trail section) entitled 'Take A Walk On The Mild Side'. It runs from the 1st to the 31st of May.
What is cask mild?
Mild beers are normally characterised by being brewed with less hops than bitter beers and often using darker malts. Some may also have added sugar or caramel to provide their typical dark colour. Not all milds are, however, dark. Taylor's Golden Best is a classic light mild. Milds are generally speaking the lowest gravity beers brewed, apart from some unmentionable tinned supermarket beers. They are therefore light and easy to drink, hence the name Mild, and they make excellent session beers. You can have a sociable evening out with friends and consume several pints of most cask milds without falling over or worrying about getting to work the next morning.
While it is certainly true that one or two unscrupulous brewers may use fewer and/or inferior ingredients in their milds, resulting in sweet, bland tasting beers, most milds are outstanding beers in their own right. Some excellent examples include Moorhouses Black Cat, which was voted Champion Beer of Britain 2000, Taylor's Golden Best and Batemans Dark Mild.
However, it is a misconception to think that all Milds are low in strength. A number of new Strong Milds have been launched in recent years. These include such delights as Rudgate Ruby Mild (a regular guest beer over the last few years in the Cricketers Arms in Keighley), Gales Festival Mild (outright winner of 'Beer of the Festival' at Keighley Beer Festival 1996) and the infamous Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild. You certainly could not last a full session on the last of these!
In Scotland mild beers are often referred to as 'Light' or 60/-. The 'light' refers to their gravity not their colour. They are extremely rare in cask form now and Belhaven 60/- is probably the only one regularly available.
Prize-winning milds
At the Great British Beer Festival, held each year at Olympia in London, judging takes place for Champion Beer of Britain. Milds are judged in a class of their own. In 2003 the Gold Medal for Mild was awarded to Lidstones Rowley Mild from Suffolk. It was also placed 3rd in the overall Champion Beer Of Britain at the same festival. The late lamented Man in a Boat from the Boat Brewery in Allerton Bywater, near Castleford took the Bronze Medal for Mild in 2001 and went one better in 2002 taking the Silver Medal for Mild. In 2000, the Gold Medal went to Moorhouses Black Cat from Burnley, which went on to win the overall Champion Beer of Britain, the first time a mild had won the accolade for 20 years. Timothy Taylor's Golden Best has won the Gold Medal in the mild category in the past.
The strong milds (greater than 4%ABV) are judged separately at CAMRA's National Winter Ales festival held in January.
Pubs Selling Cask Mild on a regular basis in Keighley & Craven :
(Apologies for any omissions or mistakes - if we've got any wrong, why not email us to let us know.)
Practically all Taylor's tied houses sell Golden Best, a light-coloured mild. For a list, try Timothy Taylor's own web-site. In addition, Golden Best can be found in a number of free houses in our area including the Quarry House at Crossroads, near Keighley; Bay Horse, Sutton-in Craven; the Golden Lion, Horton-in-Ribblesdale; the Red Pig, Keighley; the Hare & Hounds (GBG listed) at Black Lane Ends, just above Colne in East Lancs area.
Taylor's Dark Mild Is being actively promoted by the brewery and should be available at: The Dog and Gun, Sutton-in-Craven; New Inn, Cononley; Fleece Inn, Haworth; Boltmakers Arms, Keighley; Brown Cow, Keighley; Friendly Inn, Keighley; Globe Inn, Keighley; Grouse Inn, Oldfield; Woolly Sheep Inn, Skipton.
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Tetley Mild is available at the Railway in Skipton; the Foresters Arms, Grassington; White Lion, Kildwick, Broughton Road Bowling Club, Skipton. The much rarer Tetley Dark Mild is currently available at the Commercial, Skipton; Lamb, Leeming;
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Moorhouses Black Cat Moorhouses Black Cat often appears at the Narrow Boat, Skipton, and the White Lion, Cray. It has also been seen at the Cross Keys, East Marton.
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Copper Dragon Black Gold is available at Broughton Road Bowling Club, Skipton, The Crossroads inn, Crossroads, Keighley and makes frequent appearances at the Devonshire Hotel, Grassington; Narrow Boat, Skipton; Royal Shepherd, Skipton.
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Jennings Mild Jennings Mild can be found at the Narrow Boat, Skipton on occasions.
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Theakston Mild Theakstons Mild was available at the Cavendish Arms, Embsay.
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Thwaites Dark Mild is available at the Craven Hotel, Skipton; Golden Lion, Settle(summer only), and occasionally at the Narrow Boat, Skipton.
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Websters Green Label Best, another light-coloured mild can be sampled at the the Swan, Carleton; the Marquis of Granby, Riddlesden.
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E&S Elland brewery of Elland between Huddersfield and Halifax produce a light mild called First Light. It is occasionally found at the Narrow Boat, Skipton; Brown Cow, Keighley. They also have a dark mild called Born To Be Mild that appears as a seasonal guest in some free houses.
Naylors brewery of Crosshills between Keighley and Skipton produce a dark brown mild called Pinnacle mild. It is mainly found at the Old White Bear, Crosshills & occasionally at the Brown Cow, Keighley.
