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We Went Mild for May
From: InnSpire - Issue 67 – August 2007

So what went on in the Branch area to promote this overlooked style of beer…?

My personal Mild experience started on May 1st in the George at Youlgrave where we had Theakston Mild whilst listening to the bellringing at the parish church across the road. This was followed on May 3rd by Jennings’ Dark Mild at our AGM and Branch Meeting at our current Pub of the Year: the Blue Bell at Bolsover. The next day a few of us went to Whittington Moor and called in at the Derby Tup for Kelham Island Because the Night, before heading to the Red Lion for Old Mill Mild.

The first official Mild Month bus trip took place on Wednesday May 9th, with 16 of us heading off to four local pubs - all of which had at least one Mild! We started the evening at the Blue Bell, Bolsover for more Jennings’ Dark Mild, and then visited the Arkwright Arms at Sutton-cum-Duckmanton for a choice of no less than FIVE Milds (showcasing light, dark, weak and strong varieties). Next up was the Hay at Shirland for Kimberley Mild, and we ended the night at the Old Poets’ Corner in Ashover, for Bateman’s Dark Mild and a chance for many of us to sample Ashover Brewery’s Malthouse Mild for the first time. The highlight for me was the Eastwood & Sanders First Light at the Arkwright - a lovely light Mild with a good flavour for a 3.7% beer.

The following Wednesday we reconvened at the Arkwright to present Kathy & John with their award for Summer Pub of the Season. There was still a good selection of Milds, including the wonderful Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby: a strong dark Mild at a mighty 6% ABV.

Next came a mammoth weekend for beer in general, but also for Mild! The Blue Bell at Bolsover held their ever-popular ‘Neglected Shed’ Beer Festival. Along with a good selection of other beer styles, Milds were featured. Highlights of those on offer for me were the Jennings’ Tom Fool (a golden amber coloured Mild with a lot of character) and the Spire Ruby Tuesday. At the same time, another treat was the Barrow Hill Rail Ale Festival - which reportedly broke all ‘box office’ records! Here drinkers had the chance to do the Mild Trail and choose from a list which included Ashover Malthouse Mild, Spire Ruby Tuesday and Funfair Dark Mild, along with some classic choices from further afield like Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby and Bateman’s Dark Mild. Meanwhile, in the grounds of Bolsover Castle at the Derbyshire Food and Drink Fair, the CAMRA beer tent offered Ruby Tuesday, specially brewed by some of the committee in conjunction with Spire brewery.

Due to ‘technical problems’ with the bus (sadly putting paid to our intended visit to the Royal Oak at Millthorpe), our second Mild Wednesday Wobble became a mini-Walkabout in Chesterfield, beginning at the Industry in Newbold. We had the choice of Spire Ruby Tuesday and (a new one for me) Springhead Black Tom. Heading up Sheffield Road, unfortunately there was no more Mild until the Red Lion on Whittington Moor (the Tup’s batch of Kelham Island had run out). Thankfully, there was Old Mill Mild in plentiful supply!

Other pubs in our patch offering Mild during May included the Wellington, New Whittington (Jennings’ Tom Fool); the Temple Hotel (Taylor Golden Best) and the Princess Victoria (Bateman’s) at Matlock Bath; the Bull’s Head, Monyash (Tetley) and the Old Bowling Green, Winster (Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby). There was also Mild available at the Devonshire at Baslow, the Plough at Two Dales and the Waterloo at Biggin. The drinkers and pubs of Derbyshire did us proud. Thanks to all the licensees who opted to stock Mild in May, and thanks especially to those who support Mild all year round!

We’ll certainly be back next May, to do it all again… but, don’t forget - you don’t have to wait until next May to drink a Mild!

Andrea Waterhouse

What exactly is a Mild?

We keep asking you to try it, but often forget that some people may not know what a Mild is.  To go back to basics, Milds are normally classed as beers that are brewed using fewer hops than bitter beers. They are generally brewed with darker malts, or sugar and caramel to give them a darker colour, although light coloured Milds can be found (such as Timothy Taylor’s Golden Best).

To generalise, modern Milds tend to have an ABV of around 3 to 4%, but again this is not true of all Milds ~ Gales Festival Mild is 4.8% and Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild is 6%! The weaker Milds are easy to drink, lighter in texture and make really good Session beers!  For a long time Mild was facing an uncertain future, and was overshadowed by the popularity of lager and bitter. In recent years more Brewers seem to be producing a Cask Mild, although there is still a long way to go before we can say Mild has shaken off the image of “old men in flat caps”. Mild is definitely more popular than it was, but it still needs to be promoted and supported by drinkers everywhere, so we don’t lose this style of beer altogether ~ we need all the choice we can get!

If you haven’t tried Mild yet, then May would be a great time to seek one out. Local stockists of Mild include: The Crispin at Ashgate, Kings Head at Bonsall, Barrow Boy at Chesterfield, Boythorpe at Chesterfield, Boathouse at Matlock, Duke William at Matlock, Bulls Head at Monyash, Hay at Shirland, Red Lion at Whittington Moor, George at Youlgreave.

Occasional Milds are also available at The Barrel at Brampton, Victoria at Brampton, Rutland at Chesterfield, Portland at Chesterfield, Market at Chesterfield, Derby Tup at Whittington Moor.

If you know any other pubs that serve Cask Mild please let us know and we will try and visit them too.

Andrea Waterhouse

That was Mild Month, that was!
From: InnSpire - Issue 61 – June 2006

As Mild Month has drawn to a close, it is time to reflect on what we did to celebrate this, often under-rated, style of beer.   Looking back, we managed to get out quite a bit, both on our own and as a Branch, to enjoy some rather nice Mild.

The month’s Mild quaffing began on CAMRA’s designated ‘National Mild Day’ (May 6th) with a small select band doing a tour around a few of our Mild pubs which were accessible by public transport and also supported the whole of Mild Month. They started in the Wellington at New Whittington with Jennings Tom Fool Mild, Banks’s Chocolate Mild and Marston’s Merrie Monk available. It was then on to Whittington Moor, calling at the Red Lion for Old Mill Mild (regularly available, not just during May) and then the Derby Tup, for some Copper Dragon Black Gold and Kelham Island Fat Cat Mild.

After having the treat of Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby and Thornbridge Kastor on the bar for our AGM and Branch Meeting at the Old Poet’s Corner, Ashover, our next trip out was a Friday night Social that took in the Nottinghamshire Beer Festival at the Hay, Shirland. Among the beers on offer were a couple of Milds. I tried the Holland Chocolate Clog and Hardys & Hansons Cursed Galleon - very nice they were too. Next up was the Wednesday Wobble on May 17th - Happy Birthday Gareth! - we were well in luck and all five pubs had at least one Mild on offer.

Meeting up in the Industry in Newbold we started the evening with Thornbridge Pollox (they had also been offering its ‘twin’ Mild, Kastor, the previous week), which went down a treat. We were settled and happy there, but duty called and we had lots of other pubs to visit before the night was over! A short drive away and we found ourselves at another pub that had taken the trouble to support Mild Month: the Arkwright Arms at Sutton-cum-Duckmanton. Here I tried JW Lees’ GB Mild, before we had to make tracks once again. The next stop was Brimington, at the Prince of Wales. This is another pub in our area that keeps a Mild permanently: the extremely reasonably priced Old Tom - see picture above.

The penultimate pub on our evening tour was the Wellington at New Whittington, where we caught the end of the quiz while sampling some Banks’s Chocolate Mild, before ending at the Barrack at Apperknowle (our Spring 2006 Pub of the Season). Here we ended the evening as we began with the excellent Thornbridge Pollox!

Next on our agenda was the Rail Ale Festival at Barrow Hill. With around ELEVEN Milds on the Beer List it was inevitable that we would be doing our very successful Mild Trail once again! If you bought four halves of those on offer you could claim a free half pint of any Mild. The Trail seemed very popular and we had over 100 completed Mild Trail slips handed in. I can now reveal that the choice for Mild of the Festival was Kelham Island Fat Cat Mild! My particular favourites were Pot Belly Beijing Black and Thornbridge Kastor.

Sunday 28^th saw us supporting the Bolsover Fun Run and ‘Neglected Shed’ Beer Festival at the Blue Bell. As well as the charity event and a good selection of beers, we had an excellent choice of SIX Milds to sample too! Dark Star Mild for May and Holden’s Black Country Mild were my particular favourites. There were some great costumes in the Fancy Dress - would the real Kev Maidens please stand up! - and a great afternoon was had by all! At the time of going to press, we still had one final Mild event, the Wednesday Wobble on May 31^st, which had the Lathkil Hotel at Over Haddon, amongst others, on the itinerary - an ideal way to end to the month’s celebrations.

And so, Mild Month is over! Thank you to all the pubs in our area that I haven’t yet mentioned, such as the Crown & Station at Matlock, the Portland Hotel and the Rutland in Chesterfield town centre, which supported us and gave us plenty of Milds to get our taste buds around. You have all done us proud!

Join us next May to see if we can top it!

Andrea Waterhouse

It’s Been a Mild Month!
From: InnSpire - Issue 55 – June 2005

Thankfully the weather was rather mild when we caught the bus up to Bolsover to launch Mild Month on the 1st May. A group of hardy branch members had decided to brave the crowds and do the Bolsover Fun Run. It wasn’t as fool hardy as it seemed because we were ending the run (or rather wobble as it turned out) at The Blue Bell. It seemed to us that a Beer Festival with no less than FIVE Milds on would be an appropriate way to launch a month of celebrating this wondrous style of Beer!

Unfortunately the Sarah Hughes had run out earlier in the Festival but we were able to gather our strength for the two mile amble, and restore ourselves afterwards, with Mansfield Dark Mild, Highgate Dark Mild, Batemans Dark Mild and Enville Nail Maker Mild. A good day was had by all and we sampled considerable amounts of the beer on offer. My favourite of the day was Enville Nail Maker ~ a traditional Mild with a hint of sweetness at 4.0% ABV.

Our bit of exercise was completed for the month so we decided our next Mild Excursion would be a Wednesday night minibus trip to two of our local pubs which would each be serving two Milds for us to enjoy. Our first port of call was The Old Poets at Ashover. Here we were treated to Fullers Hock Mild and the rather delicious, yet strong, Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild. Both were in excellent condition and set us up for our trip to Shirland to visit The Hay (which incidentally has just been awarded our Summer Pub of the Season). At the Hay we also tried the Fullers Hock, accompanied by some well kept Hardy & Hansons Mild. A good night and some
good Mild!

Mild Month was in full swing when a few branch members met in Sheffield, at the Cask and Cutler, to do the serious business of presenting the Mild of the Festival Award for Port Mahon Brewery’s Moorgate Mild+ ~ a dark fruity Mild that was a hit at February’s Chesterfield Beer Festival. While we were there it only seemed polite to have a couple of pints of the other Milds on offer. Phoenix Monkey Town Mild and Greenwoods Mild May-hem were the choices on offer…yummy!

Next on the Mild agenda was the Mild Trail at the Barrow Hill Rail Ale Festival. With no less than SEVEN Milds on offer Mild fans were definitely very well catered for. By Saturday evening the Milds were running dry ~ so plenty of people had given them a go, and it seems they certainly came back for more! The Derby Brewery Dark Delight and Fuller’s Hock were my particular favourites, and it was nice to have so many different Milds to choose from.

On our next Wednesday minibus trip we decided to stay a little closer to home and visit a couple of local pubs offering Mild. During our tour we called in at The Three Merry Lads at Cutthorpe and The Red Lion and The Derby Tup, both on Whittington Moor. The Three Merry Lads is a recent convert to Mild and now has Mansfield Dark Mild on the bar. The Red Lion is an Old Mill pub and one of our few regular stockists of Mild. On our trip we had a pint of Old Mill Mild ~ and very nice it was too! The Derby Tup offered its support to the Mild cause with Timothy Taylor Golden Best - an excellent example of a light coloured Mild - and Castle Rock Black Gold. A great night was had by all!

A great night was had by all and a fair few drinks consumed. This bought us to Tapton Lock and the National Trailboat Festival. We ended Mild Month as we had begun with a Beer Festival. Here we also had the chance to enjoy Enville Nailmaker Mild. I think everyone who attended one or more of the Mild related trips and Beer Festivals will agree that all were well worth the visit and that the Mild was well worth seeking out.

A big thank you to all the pubs in the area who supported the Mild cause! It was appreciated and has made me thirsty for next May already!

Andrea Waterhouse

Mild Campaigning Award - Chesterfield & District CAMRA
From: InnSpire - Issue 55 – June 2005

It was with a mixture of pride and astonishment that our promotion of Mild in the April 2004 edition of Innspire won an award! The award was accepted on the Branch’s behalf by East Midlands Regional Director, Julian Hough, at the National CAMRA AGM in Glasgow.

Julian is pictured (left) presenting the certificate to Innspire’s co-producer Nick Wheat at the branch AGM at the Barrel, Brampton.

Moving on to May 2005, members of Chesterfield & District Branch met at the Cask and Cutler, Sheffield, to present the “Mild of the Festival” award for Port Mahon Brewery’s Moorgate Mild+ (a dark fruity brew that included black cherries) which was so highly rated by punters at the Winding Wheel event.

Roy Shorrock is pictured presenting the Award to Neil Clarke (right).

Turned Out Mild Again!
From: InnSpire - Issue 54 – April 2005

Scene: down the pub...
“‘Ey up, working on your latest masterpiece?”
“Hardly - just making a few notes for our promotion of Mild during May.”
“Don’t tell me: everybody dons flat caps, buys a whippet and asks for drip-tray slops to be added to their pint ... aye, I can see the headline now: Old Codgers Binge-drink On Mild.”
(Sigh) “I’m not sure which is the more depressing: that old chestnut, or when folk cross the road to tell you they had a mediocre pint of Mild umpteen years ago.”
“Well, perhaps they did.”
“Maybe - but I’ve had the odd duff pint of Bitter; d’you hear me slagging off Bitter in general as irredeemable rubbish?”
“OK, point taken. So what’s the big idea this time?”
“As ever, we’re trying to support landlords who already stock Mild, and encourage those who don’t to give it a go. Most pubcos have a Mild on their list.”
“Where might I find the stuff round here?”
“For starters, how about our 4 nominations for Summer Pub of the Season: on Whitt Moor, the Derby Tup will offer a range during May, and the Red Lion often has Old Mill Mild available.”
“Fair enough. How about a pub that has Mild on all the time?”
“Now we’re talking - how about the Hay at Shirland, sir?”
“Ooh, suits you ... and the final nomination?”
“Bulls Head out at Ashford. Robbies do Mild. You never know ...”
“Haven’t you just stolen the editor’s thunder from the middle of the magazine?”
“You mean page 15? Probably. But he has broad shoulders and doesn’t mind too much if we go off on a tangent now and again.”
“Some more than others ...”
“Naturally - plenty of opportunities to try the dark stuff throughout May: :Arkwright at Sutton-cum-Duckmanton, Blue Bell at Bolsover, Old Poets’ Corner at Ashover (to name but three) ... as well as those we’ve already mentioned. Get yourself booked on a trip.”
“I’m tempted – run that magic CAMRA soundbite past me again ...”
‘Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!’ Goodnight Vienna.  Er ... can I get on with this flamin’ write-up now, please?”
“Doubt it - isn’t your bus due in 2 minutes?”
“D’oh!”

John Hassall

A Mild Revival?
From: InnSpire - Issue 54 – April 2005

Once again, CAMRA will be promoting Mild throughout May and celebrating National Mild Day on Saturday 8th May to support one of Britain's finest traditional beers.

At the recent Winter Ale Festival in Burton-upon-Trent, Gales Festival Mild flew the flag for this particular style of beer by being declared the runner-up to the Supreme Champion.

Availability in our area has increased over the last twelve months and Chesterfield & District CAMRA encourage landlords to stock Mild and see what their customers think. Many pub companies’ beer lists still contain a Mild so there are no excuses not to.

This webpage was last updated on Tuesday, 01 July 2008

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