Bitter Overtakes Mild in Postwar Britain

During the 1950s, bitter overtook mild as Britain’s leading draught ale. Mild had long been the dominant everyday pub beer, especially in industrial districts, but postwar drinking habits increasingly favored the drier, more hop-forward taste of bitter. Bitter was also well suited to the pub culture of hand-pulled cask ale and became strongly associated with the ordinary, best, and strong bitter hierarchy found across British bars. The change marked an important shift in British beer culture. Mild did not disappear, but it steadily lost ground as bitter became the characteristic cask ale of the postwar pub. This transition also helped shape the later real-ale revival, since CAMRA’s defense of traditional draught beer was closely tied to the preservation of cask-served bitter as well as the survival of mild.