Whitbread offers ‘chocolate' mild

The series of specially designed draught beers from Whitbread, which have appeared at monthly intervals since August, has brilliantly achieved its objective.

Projected as "The Beer Thinkers - New Classics from Whitbread", they have succeeded in showing how versatile, full of flavour and structure draught beer can be.

They have also attracted the attention of wine drinkers. By persuading the ubiquitous wine-maker Hugh Ryman to make a "single hop" wheat beer, Ryman's Saaz Reserve, they moved into the arena of wine-talk, while giving a new experience to British beer drinkers.

Fuggles Imperial, made with the traditional Fuggles Worcestershire hop, has proved the favourite of the series so far at our local.

Next month is the turn of Fuggles Chocolate Mild. The beer is made from standard white malt (barley), some torrefied wheat and a small percentage of chocolate malt (dried to a dark roasted colour), and a little chocolate.

It should prove to be a step towards the revival of mild. In 1959, 42% of all beers in Britain were labelled as mild; today it has all but vanished as a national style.

Fuggles Chocolate Mild will be stronger than traditional mild - at 4.6% by volume compared with 3-3.8 %.