Drink more Mild!

[lumpher]

i'm brewing 10g mild this weekend, i don't need mouth-puckering hoppiness or strength. i have a 5.5% 40ibu apa fermenting now. the 1 before that was a 4.3% 18 ibu blonde, and before that an 8% ipa. it's why i brew: variety

 

[Genjin]

More milds! And bitters! If I could only brew two styles it would be bitters and milds. They complement eachother so well and you can drink 'em all day and not be falling down drunk. I am going to brew a lot of bitters and milds this summer! You can use all sorts of malts and hops and they need less time to ferment.

 

[MikeFallopian]

I <3 Mild. I'm out. I really really need to brew some more, as I've got none in the current pipeline.

Here's the recipe, if you're interested.

Why aren't more people interested in Mild? Because we're Americans, where everything has to be bigger faster louder MORE, including beer styles. Because the vast majority of people think anything less than a flavor bomb (or 8% ABV) is automatically "Meh". Look at the portfolios of most packaging microbreweries.

The beers everyone gets moist panties over are the big ones. When's the last time you heard someone rave over Dogfish Head's Lawnmower (22)? Hell, over Shelter Pale Ale (63)? As opposed to 90 Minute (100) or World Wide Stout (100), of course. When's the last time you saw someone rave over Victory's Helles Lager (79) instead of Storm King (100) or St Victorious (93)?

Numbers in parentheses are from www.ratebeer.com ratings. Look at the review texts, too. If reviewers are indicative of beer enthusiasts, we're all a bunch of nouveau riche idiots who can't tell a good beer if you put neon signs around it flashing "This is a good beer, you moron!" If it isn't so full of flavor that it could rouse a corpse, it's lousy.

There's a story about supposed connoisseurs who were trying to tell vintages of port given them by the butler. One said it was this vintage, another that. The argument was quite heated until the butler told them it was the cheap swill from the pub. (I forget where I read that. Christie?)

In case you can't tell, this is a real hot button for me. Classic beer styles are dropping away from the spotlight - if not actually dying, like Mild - because of popular styles which are only popular because they're so massively flavorful or alcoholic or made with nun's sweat or something.

[sigh]

Cheers,

Bob

Unfortunately, the same thing is happening in Britain where the dominant young beer-drinking group is swiftly becoming the vacuous hipster class. A binary opposition has been created between hop-heavy pale beers/super-strong stouts/porters, preferably on keg (viewed as 'cool'); and darker, subtler more 'traditional' styles usually served on cask (viewed as 'uncool'). Much of this, in Britain at least, can be blamed on the horrid, cynical marketing techniques of the money-grabbing 'brewery' BrewDog, who make very crap and inconsistent copies of the brasher American styles.

Now, there's nothing wrong with an 'in-your-face' beer from time-to-time, but surely subtley has more class than brash?

'a bunch of nouveau riche idiots' sums it up nicely.