We've had the stouts and we've had the dubbels. And this Friday the third in the beerapalooza of a monthly series called "The Session" will focus on milds. Jay will be host over at Brookston Beer Bulletin and he has posted a great introduction to the style there today.
Trouble is, I can't find any. Look at Lew's post of yesterday. He pops in a bar near State College PA and, whammo, he's got a half-pint of mild in his mitt. And look what Stonch wrote yesterday as well: down the pub, drinking a good 3.6% mild and then taking in a little opera. Me? I never got around to bottling my own in time. Plus I haven't had a Southern Tier Mild, the rarer pale version, since the fall of 2004 and the nearest one to me now is two and a half hours to the west. So I will have to improvise - perhaps with an odd bird of a beer at the back of the stash, a 4% Dunkle Weizen from Saint Arnould of Mont-Trembrant Quebec that I picked up at Marche Jovi a few months back...unless I can find something else quick as only 1/4 of BAers give it a thumbs up. Yikes. I need help and Friday's coming fast.
Comments
tedo - May 1, 2007 11:29 pm
Alan,
In the same boat as you are. Can't seem to find any examples of a Mild down in Texas. I have one last place to look, but after that I'll be left scratching my head at what to do.
Knut Albert - May 2, 2007 9:17 am
I had the same problem here in Norway, but my old friend PC dropped by with a few bottles of Swedish Easter beers the other day. Among them is a mild.
But, generally, this is a style I associate with cask drawn pints in some remote corner of England or Wales.
Stephen Beaumont - May 2, 2007 9:28 am
Me, I'll be moseying over about 2 1/2 hours to your west, or roughly 15 minutes to my east, and revisiting a beer I haven't had for all too long. (It was recently reformulated, BTW.) But I do sympathize, Alan. As I'll explain on Friday, my most recent encounter with something (American) called a "mild" was plenty far from the case. Lew's experiences notwithstanding, mild is just not a style that's been embraced by North America's craft brewers.
Alan - May 2, 2007 9:49 am
I had an arguably reasonable facsimile lined up (other than the Saint Arnould) but I suspect that it will more confirm your point, Stephen, rather than establish any breakthrough. Oh to be in New England when May is mild month.
Stonch - May 2, 2007 1:31 pm
"But, generally, this is a style I associate with cask drawn pints in some remote corner of England or Wales."
Yes, it's a style you don't find much outside of England & Wales. That's all the more reason for it to be given some airtime!
Bailey - May 2, 2007 5:22 pm
It's not impossible to find a pint of mild in Britain, but it's not as easy as it should be. CAMRA's big push on mild last may seems to have done some good, though - lots of pubs (including my local) put a mild on as a guest ale, and never took it off, such was the demand for tasty and not-too-strong beer.