The term “mild” originally meant young beer, as opposed to “stale” aged beer with its resulting “tang”. It is a style of beer that originated in Britain in the 17th century or earlier and therefore is one of the oldest styles. It has a predominantly malty palate. Modern mild ales are mainly dark coloured due to the use of well-roasted malts or barley and are less hopped than bitters, often with a chocolatey character with nutty and burnt flavours. Alcohol by volume (ABV) of 3% to 3.8% are usual, although there are (as always) exceptions!
Once sold in every pub, mild experienced a sharp decline in popularity after the 1960s and was in danger of completely disappearing. However, in recent years the explosion of microbreweries has led to a modest renaissance and an increasing number of milds are now being brewed.
If you prefer a malty taste and not all the explosively hoppy beers around then give this a crack!