The Mild Magic Ale Trail is back. Stockport and South Manchester CAMRA’s annual celebration of the mild beer style returns for 2024, with 97 pubs joining in across Manchester, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, and new for this year Macclesfield.

Running from Friday 12 April to Sunday 19 May this year marks the 30th anniversary of the country’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 pubs are divided into 71 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 12 pubs in 12 areas. Then drink at least half a pint of mild and collect a sticker to put on the collector card, which is available in the pubs, or can be downloaded.

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

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, which brews both Dark Ruby, a 3.5 per cent dark mild, as well as the 3.5 per cent 1863, a rare example of a light mild. In addition, this year Hydes is resurrecting some old recipes, and one is the 3.9 per cent Anvil Light Ale. This light mild will be available in its pubs in May. 

Joseph Holt’s brewery supplies its 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 per cent, its paler Mellow Mild is stronger than its regular mild, and is characterised by rich caramel aromas, balanced sweetness, and a satisfyingly bitter finish.

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

Stockport and South Manchester 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 trail coincided with the announcement that Boddingtons was axing its mild, and, later on, Robinsons stopped brewing its 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 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, 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 and South Manchester CAMRA website, where collector cards can also be downloaded: https://ssm.camra.org.uk/viewnode.php?id=214089