A light in the Black country (West Midlands)

England's West Midlands has long been a beer heartland, built on its industrial past. Roger Protz looks at what is on offer these days

Mild ale was once the dominant beer style of England but it declined after World War Two under the twin onslaughts of first bitter and then lager. It has nevertheless retained a substantial following in the region of England centred on Wolverhampton known as the Black Country.

It would be tempting to think the name is derived from the love of the dark, quenching and lightly hopped beers of the area. But the truth is more prosaic: it was the black smoke belching from factories and foundries in the 19th century that created the sobriquet.

People engaged in hard and unremitting labour in mines and factories needed instant refreshment.

Scores of small breweries – many of them rudimentary brewpubs – met the demand with a type of carefully balanced ale that retained some unfermented sugars and yet was quenching and restorative.

The term ‘mild’ has nothing to do with strength, as many Victorian versions were high in alcohol: such beers are lightly hopped compared to bitter and pale ale.

Inevitably, the decline of heavy industry led to closures and mergers among breweries. The brewing giant Wolverhampton & Dudley now dominates the Black Country but smaller practitioners remain, including a few renowned brewpubs.

The region, along with South Wales and Merseyside, is one of the last citadels of Mild. The style can be sampled in delightful pubs, some of them ornate, others penny-plain, designed to slake the rapacious thirsts of their customers when England was a powerhouse of indu.....

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By Roger Protz

Section : Regional Focus

Page number : 34