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07-01-2014, 07:16
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Seeing as I've written about Ansell's Mild, I may as well discuss its West Midlands evil twin, M & B Mild.
As I said in my last post, I wasn't a huge fan of M & B's beers from Cape Hill. A shame, as it was the largest producer of cask beer in the world in the 1970's and 1980's. The Mild was better than Brew XI, but that's not saying very much. The Springfield Brewery in Wolverhampton produced much better Bitter. But last time I forgot to mention the oddest brewery in the Bass group: Highgate.
Why odd? For two reasons. First, it was by a long way their smallest brewery. Second, it only brewed Mild. Which for most large brewing groups would have put it top of their closure list. So why did it stay open? Because it made money and was cheap to run. And its Mild was very popular locally. It wasn't worth their while to close it. Which is how it managed to outlive Cape Hill, something I don't think anyone would have anticipated in the 1960's or 1970's.
Highgate Mild was in a different league to the usual M & B Mild. Probably one of the best Dark Milds in the country. And, believe me, I drank a lot of different Dark Milds in the 1970's and 1980's. Only problem was, outside of the occasional appearance at beer festivals, you had to go to the Black Country
It's always fascinating to compare beers that were direct rivals, which was certainly the case with M & B and Ansells, especially in Birmingham itself. More often than not, such beers have very similar specs. That's definitely true here.
Let's kick off with the gravity. Ansells Mild was 1034.8º in 1950, 1038.3º in 1950, 1038º in 1960, and 1033.9º in 1971. That's remarkably similar to the gravity of M & B Mild. And a sign that the two breweries were probably analysing each other's beers. I've a feeling that a large number of breweries must have kept Gravity Books. It's just that most haven't survived.
The degree of attenuation and ABV don't differ much, either. 85% plus attenuation in the 1950's, falling to a more typical level of 70-odd% by the 1970's. And the ABV was around 4% in the 1950's, pretty high for a Mild of that period, falling to a more typical sub 3.5% by the 1970's
The colour of the two beers is also very similar, in the 40 to 45 EBC range. Or not really very dark. More on the cusp between amber and brown.
Looking at the gravity, you might suspect that Highgate Mild was similar to M & B Mild. I suppose they were, but only in a very general sense. When it came to flavour, Highgate was a clear winner.
Mitchell & Butler Mild Ale 1935 - 1993
Year
Beer
Price
size
package
Acidity
FG
OG
colour
ABV
App. Atten-uation
1935
Family Ale
pint
bottled
0.05
1008
1040
34
4.16
80.00%
1949
XX
1/6d
pint
draught
0.05
1003.9
1034.6
35 Brown
4.00
88.73%
1949
Mild Ale
1/1d
pint
draught
0.10
1003.5
1034.5
38.5 B
4.04
89.86%
1950
Mild Ale
1/1d
pint
draught
0.04
1005.4
1034.6
37 Brown
3.80
84.39%
1950
Mild Ale
1/5d
pint
draught
0.05
1003.8
1034.5
38 B
4.00
88.99%
1950
X
15d
pint
draught
1038.44
41
1961
Keg Mild
19d
pint
draught
0.04
1009.9
1038.5
45
3.58
74.29%
1962
Keg Mild
22d
pint
draught
0.05
1007
1038.3
50
3.91
81.72%
1963
Keg Mild
20d
pint
draught
0.04
1010.2
1037.9
50
3.46
73.09%
1966
Mild
19d
pint
draught
0.05
1005
1036.9
45
3.99
86.45%
1972
Mild
11-13p
pint
draught
1009.8
1034.5
3.20
71.59%
1977
Mild
pint
draught
1034.6
1977
Highgate Mild
pint
draught
1034
1979
Mild
pint
draught
1034.6
1979
Highgate Mild
pint
draught
1034
1981
Mild
pint
draught
1034.6
1981
Highgate Mild
pint
draught
1036
1982
Mild
pint
draught
1036
1983
Mild
pint
draught
1035
1983
Highgate Mild
pint
draught
1036
1986
Mild
pint
draught
1036
1986
Highgate Mild
pint
draught
1036
1989
Mild
pint
draught
1009.8
1036
3.40
72.78%
1989
Highgate Mild
pint
draught
1011.3
1036
3.20
68.61%
1993
Mild Ale
draught
1008.1
1033.5
48
3.3
75.82%
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
Daily Mirror July 10th 1972, page 15.
1993 Real Ale Drinker's Almanac
Good Beer Guide 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987 and 1990.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n0TAmMZiNVk/UsUyfu3ltSI/AAAAAAAASxM/fYKzxWotztM/s320/M&B_Mild_1935_1993.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n0TAmMZiNVk/UsUyfu3ltSI/AAAAAAAASxM/fYKzxWotztM/s1600/M&B_Mild_1935_1993.jpg)
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Seeing as I've written about Ansell's Mild, I may as well discuss its West Midlands evil twin, M & B Mild.
As I said in my last post, I wasn't a huge fan of M & B's beers from Cape Hill. A shame, as it was the largest producer of cask beer in the world in the 1970's and 1980's. The Mild was better than Brew XI, but that's not saying very much. The Springfield Brewery in Wolverhampton produced much better Bitter. But last time I forgot to mention the oddest brewery in the Bass group: Highgate.
Why odd? For two reasons. First, it was by a long way their smallest brewery. Second, it only brewed Mild. Which for most large brewing groups would have put it top of their closure list. So why did it stay open? Because it made money and was cheap to run. And its Mild was very popular locally. It wasn't worth their while to close it. Which is how it managed to outlive Cape Hill, something I don't think anyone would have anticipated in the 1960's or 1970's.
Highgate Mild was in a different league to the usual M & B Mild. Probably one of the best Dark Milds in the country. And, believe me, I drank a lot of different Dark Milds in the 1970's and 1980's. Only problem was, outside of the occasional appearance at beer festivals, you had to go to the Black Country
It's always fascinating to compare beers that were direct rivals, which was certainly the case with M & B and Ansells, especially in Birmingham itself. More often than not, such beers have very similar specs. That's definitely true here.
Let's kick off with the gravity. Ansells Mild was 1034.8º in 1950, 1038.3º in 1950, 1038º in 1960, and 1033.9º in 1971. That's remarkably similar to the gravity of M & B Mild. And a sign that the two breweries were probably analysing each other's beers. I've a feeling that a large number of breweries must have kept Gravity Books. It's just that most haven't survived.
The degree of attenuation and ABV don't differ much, either. 85% plus attenuation in the 1950's, falling to a more typical level of 70-odd% by the 1970's. And the ABV was around 4% in the 1950's, pretty high for a Mild of that period, falling to a more typical sub 3.5% by the 1970's
The colour of the two beers is also very similar, in the 40 to 45 EBC range. Or not really very dark. More on the cusp between amber and brown.
Looking at the gravity, you might suspect that Highgate Mild was similar to M & B Mild. I suppose they were, but only in a very general sense. When it came to flavour, Highgate was a clear winner.
Mitchell & Butler Mild Ale 1935 - 1993
Year
Beer
Price
size
package
Acidity
FG
OG
colour
ABV
App. Atten-uation
1935
Family Ale
pint
bottled
0.05
1008
1040
34
4.16
80.00%
1949
XX
1/6d
pint
draught
0.05
1003.9
1034.6
35 Brown
4.00
88.73%
1949
Mild Ale
1/1d
pint
draught
0.10
1003.5
1034.5
38.5 B
4.04
89.86%
1950
Mild Ale
1/1d
pint
draught
0.04
1005.4
1034.6
37 Brown
3.80
84.39%
1950
Mild Ale
1/5d
pint
draught
0.05
1003.8
1034.5
38 B
4.00
88.99%
1950
X
15d
pint
draught
1038.44
41
1961
Keg Mild
19d
pint
draught
0.04
1009.9
1038.5
45
3.58
74.29%
1962
Keg Mild
22d
pint
draught
0.05
1007
1038.3
50
3.91
81.72%
1963
Keg Mild
20d
pint
draught
0.04
1010.2
1037.9
50
3.46
73.09%
1966
Mild
19d
pint
draught
0.05
1005
1036.9
45
3.99
86.45%
1972
Mild
11-13p
pint
draught
1009.8
1034.5
3.20
71.59%
1977
Mild
pint
draught
1034.6
1977
Highgate Mild
pint
draught
1034
1979
Mild
pint
draught
1034.6
1979
Highgate Mild
pint
draught
1034
1981
Mild
pint
draught
1034.6
1981
Highgate Mild
pint
draught
1036
1982
Mild
pint
draught
1036
1983
Mild
pint
draught
1035
1983
Highgate Mild
pint
draught
1036
1986
Mild
pint
draught
1036
1986
Highgate Mild
pint
draught
1036
1989
Mild
pint
draught
1009.8
1036
3.40
72.78%
1989
Highgate Mild
pint
draught
1011.3
1036
3.20
68.61%
1993
Mild Ale
draught
1008.1
1033.5
48
3.3
75.82%
Sources:
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
Daily Mirror July 10th 1972, page 15.
1993 Real Ale Drinker's Almanac
Good Beer Guide 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987 and 1990.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n0TAmMZiNVk/UsUyfu3ltSI/AAAAAAAASxM/fYKzxWotztM/s320/M&B_Mild_1935_1993.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n0TAmMZiNVk/UsUyfu3ltSI/AAAAAAAASxM/fYKzxWotztM/s1600/M&B_Mild_1935_1993.jpg)
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2014/01/mitchell-butler-mild-ale-1935-1993.html)