CAMRA launches Mild May campaign

March 4, 2010: The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), with the aid of the UK beer and pub industry, is once again preparing a month of campaigning in May to celebrate the mild beer style.

The event will target consumers who have never tried mild beers, and look to encourage more licensees to participate in the campaign by serving a mild in May.

With the current boom in the number of real ale breweries operating in the UK (71 opened alone in 2009), CAMRA, through its 200 local branches, will be campaigning across the nation to promote this resurging beer style.

Mild beers tend to be of a low alcohol by volume (ABV) and are usually dark in colour due to the use of well-roasted malts or barley, as well as, conventionally, being less hopped than bitters. Once classified as an endangered beer style, mild is becoming increasingly favoured by UK brewers. For two of the past three years, a mild has won CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain competition.

CAMRA branches in the past have organised successful events and initiatives such as mild crawls, pub passport schemes to champion local pubs serving mild beer, food and mild beer matching evenings, and meet the brewer sessions.

Meanwhile, major UK pub companies have supported the month through introducing one-off brews in their pubs, hosting CAMRA’s mild initiatives, and even holding mild-related beer festivals.

Duncan Woodhead, CAMRA national beer styles co-ordinator, said: "CAMRA has received a number of testimonies from successful licensees in the last few months, celebrating the fact that consumers are more receptive to trying different beer styles and supporting their local brewers.

"At a time when real ale sales are outperforming the beer market as a whole, the month of May will be the perfect opportunity to further educate consumers that mild beers are full of different aromas and tastes, and are a historic part of Britain’s pub going culture."