A recent celebration of mild beers has culminated with an uopcoming award for The Castle pub in Macclesfield.

The inclusion of pubs in Macclesfield on CAMRA Stockport's Mild Magic Ale Trail for the first time has helped smash records.

Despite being a week shorter than usual, just over 200 drinkers took on the challenge to visit at least 12 of the 97 participating pubs and try some mild ale. That's a 35% increase over 2023.

Not only that, Macclesfield's historic Castle pub was voted Champion Pub of the Trail.

Over 70 'Ale-Trailers' visited, and they featured several different milds during the five weeks of the trail. One of these, the classic and strong Sarah Hughes Brewery Dark Ruby, was voted Best Mild beer on the trail. It is hoped to make a presentation to the pub and a representative from Sarah Hughes soon – watch this space!

Other pubs involved in Macclesfield were the Blackjack Brewery 'Jack In The Box' bar at The Picturedrome, where their Pub Ale Mild was to be found, and JD Wetherspoon's Society Rooms, which served up around half a dozen different milds to thirsty drinkers.

Local brewer RedWillow offered no less than five different milds of their own at their bar during the Ale Trail. This is the highest number of different milds from one brewery recorded this year, and many of these beers were also seen at pubs throughout Greater Manchester. It included their strong 8.4% Dubbel Mild, made with Belgian Abbaye yeasts. 

Justin Smith finishes his Mild Magic tour at the Petersgate Tap, Stockport. Photo credit - Justin Smith / CAMRA.

In total, over 80 different milds from 61 different breweries were reported on the trail, 15 more than last year. 

It is estimated that around 4000 pub visits took place during the five weeks of the trail, and participants sunk around 3000 pints of this rare beer style. Everyone won an item of clothing, ranging from a T-shirt to a sweatshirt, all featuring the Mild Magic logo. 

People came from across Greater Manchester, the North and Midlands to participate, but none could compete with Justin Smith who travelled 5000 miles from his home town of Bellingham, near Seattle on the US West Coast. Beer aficionado Justin managed to visit around 20 qualifying pubs, including a couple in Macclesfield on his way back from the Beer Festival. 

Justin said: "I'm a big fan of places with a strong beer culture, especially if the local beer scene offers something traditional. In the Manchester area, they have long supported the mild beer style, which is very rare in the USA. I had never made it to the UK before, so when I heard about the Mild Magic Ale Trail, I decided this was an ideal opportunity for a visit.

"I really enjoyed my visit to the Macclesfield Beer Festival and the variety of pubs and bars was amazing; they are great social meeting places. I enjoyed the light and dark milds from the traditional Manchester family breweries Hydes and Holts, as well as the offerings from other local brewers such as Blackjack and RedWillow. This was a great promotion for CAMRA and I will proudly wear my special Mild Magic T-shirt in bars back home and on my future travels."

Organiser Darren Berry said: "There was a great buzz about the Ale Trail this year and my thanks go to all the pubs who joined in, especially those new to the trail in Macclesfield. It was great to see many pubs going to great lengths to source beers from local independent brewers. Plenty of brand new milds were noted, including some speciality versions, such as the Belgian-style brew from RedWillow, as well as a Rhubarb and Custard Mild from Yorkshire! 

"Thanks also to everyone who took part and helped us break records. We are planning to run the event again in 2025, when we hope even more people will join us on this beer adventure."

The Mild Magic Ale Trail is an annual event and is organised by the Stockport & South Manchester CAMRA branch in association with the High Peak Branch to promote the endangered beer style that is Mild. 

2024 marks the 30th Anniversary of the Mild Magic Ale Trail. 55 pubs took part in 1994 - 24 of these have since closed and 3 more no longer offer cask ale. 

Many of the pubs in those days sold Robinsons Hatters Mild, now discontinued, and Hydes Anvil Light, which was revived this year as a one-off special in time for Mild Magic. Holts Mild is still brewed and can be found in a number of their pubs. They also brewed a one-off special, Mellow Mild, for this year's ale trail.

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