Black Country pubs celebrate Mild in May month - Here's what's going on
Pubs across the Black Country will be celebrating mild ales on Saturday, with a special 'ale trail' to mark Mild in May month.
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It will be the first time that the annual month-long festival has been held since Banks's ceased production of its famous cask mild at the start of the year, and pubs across the region will be staging events to celebrate the dark - and sometimes not so dark - beers once beloved of the Black Country.
To launch the event, Dudley and South Staffordshire Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) has organised a Mild in May trail on Saturday, starting at the Beacon Hotel in Sedgley at midday.
The pub in Bilston Street is home to Sarah Hughes brewery, which brews Ruby Mild, the 2024 Camra champion beer of the West Midlands.
When the Beacon shuts at 3pm, the Mount Pleasant in Sedgley High Street opens. The pub, known locally as The Stump, will be putting on Brickyard Strong Ruby Mild specially for the day. The Clifton, in Sedgley Bull Ring, will also be serving Milestone brewery's Classic Dark Mild.
The Britannia in Kent Street, Upper Gornal, will be serving Batham's Mild from midday onwards, and can be easily accessed from Sedgley via the No. 1 bus.
The Mill in nearby Windmill Street, open from 11am, will also have a mild on tap, while the Jolly Crispin in Clarence Street serves Theakston Traditional Mild, although only in keg form. Gornal & Sedgley Labour Club, also in Clarence Street, will be open to non-members from 12.30pm to 4.30pm, serving M & B Mild in keg form.
The Bull's Head in Lower Gornal is home to the Black Country Ales brewery and will have its Pig on the Wall mild available. Also in Lower Gornal, the Chapel House in Ruiton Street will be serving Holden's Mild, while the Fountain Inn in Temple Street will be serving Last Light, from Cradley Heath's recently opened Bright Oak brewery.
In Woodsetton, the Park Inn next to the Holden's brewery will be serving its own mild, as well as selling it in bottled form from the shop, which is open from 9am to 12pm. The Cottage Spring, in Brook Street, Woodsetton, will also be serving Holden's.
A number of other pubs in Sedgley, including The White Lion, The Crown, the Swan Inn, and the Bull's Head will be taking part in the event.
Mild ales, which are usually darker than bitters or lagers, are so called because they are mildly hopped, taking their flavour from the malt. They tend to be sweeter than bitters, and often have a nutty, roasted flavour.
They fell out of fashion following the emergence of lager in the 1970s, prompting Camra to hold its first Mild in May event in 1977.
Lovers of the beer style were dealt a devastating blow last year when Wolverhampton- based Carlsberg Marston's announced it would be discontinuing its famous Banks's Mild - for many years the world's biggest selling mild ale - in cask form, after 150 years. The last pints were served at the start of the year, although it continues to be sold in keg form and in cans.
