Thwaites have just announced that their Dark Mild is to be renamed "Nutty Brown". In December, Manc brewers J.W. Lees dropped GB Mild in favour of "Brewer's Dark". Brains of Cardiff did much the same some years ago. Mild seems to be the beer style that dare not speak its name. Are traditional family brewers like Thwaites right to move away from tradition like this? Or are such rebranding exercises a wise move for a 21st century brewer that wants to broaden its appeal? What do you think?
To read more about mild, take a look at this post from last May. Click here to find out about Hobson's Mild, 2007's Champion Beer of Britain.
Never trust people who think beer subdivides into "lager", "bitter" and "Guinness".
Never trust people who say they like chain bars because "they always know what they're getting".
Never trust people who list "socialising" as an interest on their CV.
Never trust people who can't give a straightforward answer when you ask them where they're from.
Never trust people who invite you on skiing trips when you have never expressed any interest in the sport (or indeed their company).
Never trust blokes who try and ban the c-word from conversation because their bird doesn't like it (just say it more).
Never trust people who "don't like to lose control".
Finally and most importantly, never, ever trust people who don't drink beer, unless they have a very good excuse - and for the avoidance of doubt, being an uptight, miserable sod is not a very good excuse.
Stonch lives in London, where he runs a pub.
9 comments:
McMullen did it a while ago too. Overnight their AK went from being a mild to a bitter, with no apparent change to the recipe.
It tastes a damned sight better if you think of it as a mild, though.
Perhaps "Mild" sounds namby-pamby to modern ears. Whatever.
'Mild' has come to be seen as a pejorative term by the brewing industry generally. Rightly or wrongly the style is in decline and few want to back it. CAMRA's decision to make a mild CBoB could be seen as slightly dangerous, weakening the CBoB reputation.
Anyway, give me a 'Mild' any day over a 'Brown Nutty'.
Fatman, don't you think mild is making a relative comeback and the award to Hobson's was reflective of that?
Some ad men who drink shandy being paid too much money to increase sale of a real drink, would they get away with it if it was a wine?
If the new name is designed to make the drink more accessible (by giving the uninitiated an expectation they can more readily understand), is that such a bad thing?
Didn't Hook Norton do this as well?
I tend to agree with beery me - if it makes mild more appealing to the masses/opens markets then fine or at least I can't fault a commercial brewer for going this route.
However I prefer the simplicity of bitter and mild together. Losing mild makes the term bitter more confusing. More bitter than what? Or more mild than what?
Personally I wish there was a mild/bitter combo at every pub. My guess is that I would probably drink in a 25/75% split (mild being the 25%).
As far as mild making a come back -that seems to be the case at least amongst those interested in variety, tickers and CAMRA types. I suspect all mild sales are at the expense of other cask ales (bitters).
Problem lies with the lack of food/drink education in this country over the last 50 years. Many other countries know when they have a good product and relish it.
Why is it when I think of 'Nutty Brown' I think 'Turd'?
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