OK, here is a further last note about my best bet for a bottle of mild or a mild like product made in Ontario - Black Oak's Nut Brown Ale from Oakville to the west of Toronto. In the early 1970s, David Line (the grandfather of all homebrewing and thereby the great-grandfather of the modern craft brewing industry) in his critical text The Big Book of Brewing captured the essence of mild that I might find in this beer:
Mild ale is renown for its luscious sweet flavour and thirst quenching properties. The other distinctive characteristic of it is that it is very low in alcoholic strength, and is usually the weakest beer turned out by the breweries.The trouble we face with this beer is it abides by the tedious rule that Canadian beer must be exactly 5.0%.
So it is a bit too strong by about 25%. But I have hope as the brewery describes their brew this way: "Rich smooth taste, slightly roasty and chocolaty. It's a bit less hopped, but still has a fantastic balance with the malt." See that wee bit about less hopped? That is my hope. US browns like these are far more sharply hopped that their UK cousins and that makes them not so much on the "luscious" scale as on the "robust" one. Which way will it go?So how does the Black Oak Nut Brown Ale stack up? It is a nice clear mahogany with a lace leaving cafe au lait froth. Check mark. At its front end it is right on target for a mild with a watery dry rich malted introduction. Another check mark. Plenty of hazelnutty bread crustiness. Check check check. But then it goes in another direction exactly mid-mouth. It has quite a minerally rather than moreish centre which opens into a bitter end with quite a strong yeast sour tang and even a bit of heat there in the middle of the end. The effect is close, not really close, then not close at all...but within the ballpark. Good sweetness and good graininess but with less hopping (and maybe more interesting hopping)...and a more toned down fruity yeast strain...and a bit less hardness in the water...and a little less heat, this would be a mild.
But it isn't. So it ain't.
Comments
Alan - May 8, 2007 11:31 PM
When beer bloggers fight.
Pootz - May 9, 2007 8:08 PM
Alan: I sense a deep longing for a local source for a favored beer style and endless disappointment in trying "substitutes".
Alan: I empathize.
My to-die-for beer is classic Vienna lager....
Not a "big" or radical beer by today's micro standards but a style that is fairly pedestrian by these standards and a style that takes great patience, time and craft to reproduce properly...a style that is malt forward and subtly complex which is a showcase for the malter's art as well as the brewer's...a beer where hops are complimentary and sit just in the background...a very drinkable ,flavorfoul satifying session beer...in short, very much like "mild" except for flavor profile specifics .
I understand the angst of craving a certain style of beer which seems to not be on the radar screen of local crafters....this is what started me brewing years ago...and to date, my Vienna is probably the only near authentic one made in this classic beer desert we call Ontario....and there's only enough for me and by beer droids ;-)
So I empathize with your tounge for fresh malty session beers traditional session beers my brother....because there sure as heck in't the diversity in style in this market yet to reproduce even a classic 2 dimentional classic session beer.
I particularly feel sorry for those with a craving for "big" IPAs or the inperial "double" beers...they certainly will be disappointed in Local craft offerings.
So, as far as milds are concerbed ( adheeering to the guidelines set out by Dave Line) learn importing or learn to brew.
BTW: you want a real malty, hop attenuated brown you go to Hockley.
In Canada probably the best mild made is in BC on one of the many brew pubs or possibly Paddok wood's seasonal offering. As a bottled tale homre product you're SOL unless you find an English import.
My suggestion is to brew....it;s better stuff anyway ;-0
Alan - May 9, 2007 8:55 PM
I now brew. Oh how I brew. Mild is in the cellar and next and ESB followed by a hefe.
Liam H - May 10, 2007 8:08 PM
I miss a good mild. Coming from Lancashire I noticed it dying out in the 1990s. My grandfather was a great believer in both bitter and mild being weak. He was devoted to his local. He wanted to be able to go to the pub everynight and drink all night. So a good tasty low alcohol beer was his thing. On Sundays he was known to drink 10 pints at lunch and 12 in the evening !!!
One thing I also miss is a pint of mixed "50:50 bitter and mild". That was the first drink I bought legit in a pub.