The 'Mild Magic' Ale Trail is back for local beer lovers, with our town taking part for the first time.

Stockport and South Manchester CAMRA's annual celebration of the mild ale style returns for 2024, with 97 pubs joining in across Greater Manchester, and new for this year, Macclesfield.

Running from Friday 12 April to Sunday 19 May, this year marks the 30th anniversary of CAMRA's largest and longest-running Mild Ale Trail.

Participants can win prizes of bespoke clothing, and beer vouchers to exchange for mild ale at the Stockport Beer & Cider Festival between 20 and 22 June.

The Castle is a Grade II listed public house at 25 Church Street, Macclesfield. (Image - Alexander Greensmith / Macclesfield Nub News)

The pubs are divided into 71 different geographical areas and to win a T-shirt featuring this year's Mild Magic logo, and two half-pint mild vouchers, all you have to do is visit twelve different pubs in twelve different areas. Then drink at least half pint of mild, and collect a sticker to put on the collector card which is available in the pubs, or can be downloaded.

Four pubs are involved in Macclesfield.

The Castle, the historic pub on Church Street, which reopened in 2021 will be taking part. While the atmosphere is anything but mild, the beer will be.

Jack in the Box, located inside The Picturedrome, on Chestergate, are taking part. They are a regular feature in CAMRAs Good Beer Guide, and will stock the a limited run mild.

Jack in the Box, located on the right hand side inside The Picturedrome, are taking part in the Mild Magic Ale Trail. (Image - Macclesfield Nub News)

Macclesfield's Wetherspoons pub, The Society Rooms, on Park Green will be taking part. As will RedWillow, across the road.

RedWillow, which are also in the Good Beer Guide, are responsible for the Trail's expansion to Macclesfield. The Park Green bar and Macclesfield brewers suggested bringing Mild Magic to Macc for the first time.

Each is in its own geographical area, so you can get four stickers just in Macclesfield alone!

In Poynton, the Kingfisher and the Royal British Legion are also in their own areas, so visit all these and you are half way towards the first level of prizes.

Mild Magic is sponsored by Hydes Brewery, who run Alfreds Bar in Macclesfield. Oddly, Alfreds are not on the trail. (Image - CAMRA)

There are enhanced prizes of polo shirts and sweatshirts, plus more beer vouchers, for visiting 24, 48, or all 97 pubs.

Mild Magic is sponsored by Hydes Brewery, who run Alfreds Bar in Macclesfield. Oddly, Alfreds are not on the trail.

Mild is a beer style which developed in the late 18th and 19th centuries and is usually dark brown in colour, but rarer light-coloured milds do exist. They have a malty aroma and flavour, with a gentle underpinning of hop bitterness.

Nationally, mild has been in decline for many years. However, the Manchester area has always been a bastion of the style and some local breweries still produce milds year-round. One is Mild Magic sponsor, Hydes, who brew both Dark Ruby, a 3.5% dark mild, as well as the 3.5% 1863, a rare example of a light mild. In addition, this year they are resurrecting some old recipes and one is the 3.9% Anvil Light Ale. This light mild will be available in their pubs in May.

(Image - Hydes Brewery)

Joseph Holt's brewery supply their cask mild to around a dozen pubs year-round and for the third year running will be brewing a special 'one-off' for Mild Magic. At 4%, their paler Mellow Mild is stronger than their regular mild, and is characterised by rich caramel aromas, balanced sweetness, and a satisfyingly bitter finish.

Brightside Brewing from Bolton also produce a number of different milds throughout the year, and their beers are widely available in the Mild Magic area.

CAMRA Branch Chairman John Clarke said, "From starting life in 1994 as a celebration of the widespread local availability of mild, Mild Magic essentially became a search and rescue operation as one brewery after another dropped the style. For example, the 1999 Ale Trail coincided with the announcement that Boddingtons were axing their mild, and, later on, Robinsons stopped brewing their cask mild."

"In more recent years, there seems to have been something of a revival, with many smaller brewers having a mild available for short periods. The 1999 Mild Trail would have had around 20 different milds available during the five-week run; last year there were around 70."

Organiser Darren Berry said "The Mild Magic organising team is very grateful to our sponsor, Hydes Brewery, and to all the other breweries that will be producing milds this spring. Thanks also to the pubs which have agreed to take part. Please support them and enjoy yourselves seeking out this rare ale style."

Full details of the pubs and terms and conditions are on the Stockport & S Manchester CAMRA website, where collector cards can also be downloaded.

Macclesfield CAMRA, also have their own website, which is found at this link.