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I'm still on the hunt for early references to Dark Mild. It's thrown up some interesting stuff.

Like this notice of an auction. It seems to be the stock of some sort of clothes shop. But why the hell would a clothes shop have a football two barrels of Mild in stock?

The more I look at the list of items, the more it resembles my annual silly Drinkalongathon list. Especially as it includes string.


"SHORT NOTICE
GRANVILLE-PLACE Off TRENTHAM ROAD,
Under execution from the Hanley and Stoke-upon-Trent County Court.
Re LUCY GRINDEY.
MR. CHARLES ONIONS, Court Broker, will SELL BY PUBLlC AUCTlON, on TUESDAY, 29th NOVEMBER, 1921, at the above address, the Whole of the STOCK IN TRADE, &c., comprising;- One hundred and thirty ladies' Tweed skirts, 2 ladies' coats, 1 lady’s costume, gents.' boots, caps, Tweed hats, hard felt hats, 1/2-doz. collars, quantity of spoons and prongs, doz. balls of string, clothes and hair brushes, 8 boxes of cigarettes, 1 football, two 36 gallons of Younger's dark mild beer, 1 small gas heater, quantity of shelving, &c., &c. The above is all new stock.
Sale at 11 30 a.m. prompt.
Cash on fall of the hammer."
Staffordshire Sentinel - Friday 25 November 1921, page 4.
I'm particularly surprised that the Dark Mild was Younger's - I'm assuming William Younger - as it was never much of a thing in Scotland. Most Scottish brewers abandoned Mild Ale in WW I and instead just brewed Pale Ales of several different strengths.

William Younger was a bit of an exception as they continued to brew Mild up to WW II and beyond. I assume because they had considerable trade in England, where Mild was by far the most popular type of beer. But they didn't brew Dark Mild in the 1920s. They did brew two different strengths of Mild, but both, as brewed were pale. The grists being simply pale malt and grits.

Scottish brewers loved colouring up their beer with caramel at racking time. Which is what I assume Younger did.

These were their two Milds in 1921:


William Younger Mild Ales in 1921
Beer Style OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation lbs hops/ qtr hops lb/brl
XX Mild 1035.3 1009.6 3.39 72.73% 4.55 0.57
XXX Mild 1041.9 1011.4 4.03 72.73% 4.55 0.65
Source:
William Younger brewing record held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number WY/6/1/2/63.


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