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Mitchell's & Butler's Ltd.

I always drank in M&B pubs, don`t really know why. My favourite tipple was a brown & mild, (half of mild, half of bottle brown ) Sometimes i would ask for a black & tan & for the life of me i can`t remember what went into that?
What was M&B's brown called? I can remember Nutbrown and Bruin but they were Ansells. Wasn't a Black and Tan stout (Guinness or Mackeson) and mild?
 
I always drank in M&B pubs, don`t really know why. My favourite tipple was a brown & mild, (half of mild, half of bottle brown ) Sometimes i would ask for a black & tan & for the life of me i can`t remember what went into that?
Black and Tan is a beer cocktail made by layering a pale beer and a dark beer .

Preparation
A Black and Tan is prepared by filling a glass halfway with pale ale, then adding stout to fill the glass completely. An upside-down tablespoon may be placed over the glass to avoid splashing and mixing the layers. A specially designed black-and-tan spoon is bent in the middle so that it can balance on the edge of the pint-glass for easier pouring.[1] Alternatively, the stout may be poured first so that the drinks are thoroughly mixed together.
The "layering" of Guinness on top of the pale ale or lager is possible because of the lower relative density of the Guinness.[1] The opposite scenario (where the layer on top is heavier than bottom) would produce a buoyancy instability resulting in the two beers mixing
so now you know.
 
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I always drank in M&B pubs, don`t really know why. My favourite tipple was a brown & mild, (half of mild, half of bottle brown ) Sometimes i would ask for a black & tan & for the life of me i can`t remember what went into that?
Brown and mild was my choice also, you always got a little more than a half when the mild was pulled, can not remember what the bottled beer was.
 
Hi

Anyone remember M & B Family Ale. I rather liked that.
And I also used to drink Brown and Mild as a youth, - always
had a preference for M & B's ales.

Kind regards
Dave
 
My local M&B pub was The Brookvale in Slade road. Always looked forward to the weekends when the gaffer had hired a Scottish pipe band which was usually followed by a punch up round the back. " Don`t hit me in the face, anywhere but there" There was always a good crowd at these punch ups baying for blood. There was one particular guy who was quiet but hard as nails & other hard men used to seek him out & try to steal his reputation, a bit like the gunslingers of the American west.
 
I think a black & tan was gunness and mild (or bitter?) Quite popular with Irish folks.
 
I think a black & tan was gunness and mild (or bitter?) Quite popular with Irish folks.
Black and Tan - Wikipedia

Why You Shouldn't Order A Black And Tan At An Irish Bar
Ordering a Black and Tan in Ireland is a huge no-no because the term is considered offensive in that part of the world. The name was first used in the American magazine Puck in 1881 as a reference to the drink's color
 
Black and Tan - Wikipedia

Why You Shouldn't Order A Black And Tan At An Irish Bar
Ordering a Black and Tan in Ireland is a huge no-no because the term is considered offensive in that part of the world. The name was first used in the American magazine Puck in 1881 as a reference to the drink's color

“The Black and Tans, officially the Royal Irish Constabulary Special Reserve, was a force of temporary constables recruited to assist the Royal Irish Constabulary during the Irish War of Independence. The force was the brainchild of Winston Churchill, then British Secretary of State for War.”
 
I am just curious most beers we get in the USA seem to be around 5-6% alc content. What was beer Alc content% in England in the 19401950s ? I told once that English beer was much weaker, so people drank more and did not get so drunk and the beer companies made it that way on purpose to sell more??
 
My dad use to drink mild and I told him it was partly made up of slops from the drip trays and leftovers from the drinks that customers left in their glasses he said he did not care it tasted nice anyway and a few germs dont harm you anyway .He must of been right he lived till he was 87 . The practice has been banned now but to think of the leftover beer that customers left in their drinks ie ash from fags ,spit,and anything that falls into a pint being recycled I shudder to think ! BUT THAT IS WHY IT PROBABLY TASTED SO GOOD!!
 
My dad use to drink mild and I told him it was partly made up of slops from the drip trays and leftovers from the drinks that customers left in their glasses he said he did not care it tasted nice anyway and a few germs dont harm you anyway .He must of been right he lived till he was 87 . The practice has been banned now but to think of the leftover beer that customers left in their drinks ie ash from fags ,spit,and anything that falls into a pint being recycled I shudder to think ! BUT THAT IS WHY IT PROBABLY TASTED SO GOOD!!
we own`d a pub.and all the slops went down the drain.. left overs too. even the casks of draft bitter worth a few quid,if shook up and was no good. that went down the drain . we sold loads of light mild and dark mild. .. only knew one pub in nechells that put slops back in the barrel,that was the woodman. when were were kids we used to look through the knot holes in the celler.and shout at the landlord.:laughing::laughing:
 
we own`d a pub.and all the slops went down the drain.. left overs too. even the casks of draft bitter worth a few quid,if shook up and was no good. that went down the drain . we sold loads of light mild and dark mild. .. only knew one pub in nechells that put slops back in the barrel,that was the woodman. when were were kids we used to look through the knot holes in the celler.and shout at the landlord.:laughing::laughing:

A lot of people used to say that about mild, mainly bitter drinkers. While a few landlords may well have doctored the beer, I believe the first few pints after the dinner time session had laid in the pipes and should have been drawn off. Then of course the end of the barrel would be the same. Many landlords drank their own beer and If you were first in the pub for the evening session they would draw some off taste it to see if it was ok.
 
we own`d a pub.and all the slops went down the drain.. left overs too. even the casks of draft bitter worth a few quid,if shook up and was no good. that went down the drain . we sold loads of light mild and dark mild. .. only knew one pub in nechells that put slops back in the barrel,that was the woodman. when were were kids we used to look through the knot holes in the celler.and shout at the landlord.:laughing::laughing:
You must of been one of the honest landlords .my brother worked in the lamplighter in summer lane in the 70s and he was told only to keep the leftover drinks only if they looked ok and pour them into a bucket to keep for the mild.
 
You must of been one of the honest landlords .my brother worked in the lamplighter in summer lane in the 70s and he was told only to keep the leftover drinks only if they looked ok and pour them into a bucket to keep for the mild.
yuk. if i would not drink it, i would not expect other to.
 
Return of slops from the Guardian archives and a reference to Birmingham...

that is bad . we were proud of our celler.the draft bitter that was shook up.and disturbed the sediment.we could not sell ...some went to my dad he did not mind bits he drunk it.
 
You must of been one of the honest landlords .my brother worked in the lamplighter in summer lane in the 70s and he was told only to keep the leftover drinks only if they looked ok and pour them into a bucket to keep for the mild.

One of the questions that was asked was, “How many pubs are there in Summer Lane?”

Not sure if the answer was none or one, as all the others had their front doors on the side streets. Can anyone confirm this?
 
I worked in a few pubs in the early 70’s. There is not a single story, most pubs were run by managers and the bar staff who to some extent did their own thing.

I saw the beer from the drip trays on the long pulls retuned to the mild. Bear in mind that the long pulls were slightly wasteful. There was a big tundish with a long pipe on it that would go into the vent hole in the top of the barrel.

I did occasionally see some bar staff who would put an undrunk pint into the bucket, but only in a few pubs. Most customers had quite a refined pallet, and knew their beers, so it was hard to pull the wool over their eyes.

I think far worse things happen in the food industry.
 
One of the questions that was asked was, “How many pubs are there in Summer Lane?”

Not sure if the answer was none or one, as all the others had their front doors on the side streets. Can anyone confirm this?

the vine was the only one with the front door actually on summer lane..

lyn
 
As teenagers, my g grandfather William Arnold and his friend Henry Mitchell, use to brew beer in their back gardens as a hobbie in the 1850's.
Henry Mitchell . asked my g grandfather to go into business with him brewing their own beer, but william refused the offer, thinking it a silly idea!!!!
Henry found another friend called William Butler to go into business with .... and the rest is history.....
Today Mitchells & Butlers operates many of the UK’s leading licensed retail brands including Vintage Inns, Toby Carvery, Ember Inns, O'Neill's, All Bar One and Sizzling Pub Co., as well as some of the most famous pubs in Britain. It continues to evolve and develop its estate of pub and pub restaurants to meet the ever more discerning tastes of the British public, ensuring it remains at the forefront of the UK pub industry.

what a silly g grandfather i had??? ;-) :rolleyes:

Clare all to the misfortune of drinkers alas , these retail outlets and a lot of other pubs care little for drinkers nowadays as long as the restaurants etc are full up . Certainly a bad day for drinkers considering they made all this possible years ago when all you could get was a packet of crisps/scratchings .
 
In fact there was a device called the economizer that had a pipe that led down from drip trays to the cellar, where it could then be added to the mild , which, being very dark in colour , would not show any discolouration. It would not have worked, of course if a light mild was being sold ( was it Springfield mild that was a light mild?). Not every pub did this though
 
One of the questions that was asked was, “How many pubs are there in Summer Lane?”

Not sure if the answer was none or one, as all the others had their front doors on the side streets. Can anyone confirm this?
Bit of an urban myth,I'm afraid,though quite a widely believed one.I have looked into this,and all the Summer Lane pubs had a Summer Lane address. The confusion with the Vine public house has arisen,I believe,because the Vine was the only Summer Lane pub that did not have a corner location,so was the only pub completely in Summer Lane......…...…......…..Mal
 
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I worked in a few pubs in the early 70’s. There is not a single story, most pubs were run by managers and the bar staff who to some extent did their own thing.

I saw the beer from the drip trays on the long pulls retuned to the mild. Bear in mind that the long pulls were slightly wasteful. There was a big tundish with a long pipe on it that would go into the vent hole in the top of the barrel.

I did occasionally see some bar staff who would put an undrunk pint into the bucket, but only in a few pubs. Most customers had quite a refined pallet, and knew their beers, so it was hard to pull the wool over their eyes.

I think far worse things happen in the food industry.
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