Brown ale breweries, such as Whitbread, introduced a second weaker and cheaper brown ale that was sometimes just a sweetened version of dark Mild. These beers had an original gravity of around 1.037. After World War II, most breweries stopped producing these stronger brown ales, with the exception of some breweries in the northeast of England. The majority had an OG in the range 1.030–1.035, or around 3% ABV, much like Manns Brown Ale today. North American brown ales trace their heritage to American home brewing adaptations of certain northern English beers, and the English influence on American Colonial Ales. English brown
Burton Ale was formerly sold as a Burton Ale. Fuller Smith and Turner replaced its Burton ale with a strong bitter [ESB] in 1969 but Fuller's ESB retains something of its Burton Ale heritage and Fuller's 1845 Ale is based on a Burton Ale recipe. Fuller's has also recreated two Old Burton recipes in its Past Masters' series, a 1905 Old London Ale and a 1931 Old Burton Extra (OBE). "Stronger than Mild and darker than Bitter, Burton Old was a particular favourite in London pubs - especially during the colder months." Fuller's OBE has been described by Des de Moor as