American Mild Month is Here

May 1st is a day laden with with significance. Beltane in the Northern Hemisphere, Samhainn in the Southern. International Workers Day. International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day. The Feast Day of St James the Less in the Anglican Communion.

Strangely not included in this list of august events that happen on this day (thanks Wikipedia!) is that today sees the beginning of the 4th annual American Mild Month.

Believe it or not there are brewers in the land of extreme beer for whom Mild, whether pale, dark, ruby, or even American, holds a special place in their heart and so they make them available in May for discerning drinkers to imbible.

This year's participating brewers are, in no particular order:

• Three Notch'd Brewing, Charlottesville, VA
• East End Brewing, Pittsburgh, PA
• Mad Fox Brewing, Falls Church, VA
• BarkEater Brew, Lowville, NY
• Yorkshire Square Brewery, Torrance, CA
• Oliver Brewing, Baltimore, MD
• Twin Leaf Brewery, Asheville, NC
• South Street Brewery, Charlottesville, VA
• St Boniface Brewing, Ephrata, PA
• Brewers Union Local 180, Oakridge, OR
• Old Mill Brewpub, Lexington, SC
• Inland Wharf Brewing, Murrieta, CA
• MacLeod Ale, Van Nuys, CA
• Chesepiooc Real Ale Brewery, Crofton, MD
• Good Word Brewing, Duluth, GA
• Hopstix Brewpub, Chamblee, GA
• Virginia Beer Company, Williamsburg, VA

Of course there are other breweries in American that regularly make a mild ale, but these are the guys that are officially participating in American Mild Month.

If in your drinking this month you come across a mild, I encourage you to order a pint and give it a whirl, then use the hashtag #MildMonthUS in your social media and let folks know, you could also tag the official American Mild Month Twitter account, @MildMonthUS.

Happy drinking people.