A Mild Revival?

 National Mild Day, held on Saturday 8 May was to celebrate one of Britain’s finest traditional beers Mild.  But what is Mild? To put it simply,  Mild is a beer that is brewed using less hops than bitter beers.  Usually brewed using darker malts, and sugar and caramel (for that darker colour) and traditionally with an ABV of between 3% - 4% although there are some exceptions. 

 Despite the fact that this traditional style of beer, which incidentally dates back over 400 years has disappeared from many pubs, there are still 132 breweries regularly brewing 152 Mild brands.  

 Although Mild has an image of men in flat caps, that is certainly not true in North Oxfordshire!  A large number of female friends like to drink Mild and even the darker bitters, although it is not always easy to find a pub that serves Mild – not just in May, Mild Month, but all year round.   

So to celebrate Mild Month in May, and in recognition of being able to buy a pint of mild 365 days of the year, we are pleased to announce that The Bell, Middleton Road, Banbury is the 2004 North Oxfordshire Branch of CAMRA Mild Pub of the Year.  Congratulations to licensees Dave & Shirley Andrews on this accolade. 

 The presentation was made on a “mild” (excuse the pun) evening on Tuesday 18 May.  Dave & Shirley’s success was celebrated by members of the Branch and also their friends and customers.  A buffet was laid on which was extremely well received, as was the special promotion of a pint of Mild for £1 – it tasted good too!  We even managed to persuade customers who had not tried Mild before to have a pint, which they seemed to enjoy. 

 So if you have not tried Mild before, you know where to go to know to try it.

 Jackie Parker

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