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Date: 02 Nov 2006 14:49:36
From: Mike
Subject: Special Bitter or Best Bitter?
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What is a Special Bitter or Best Bitter? Is it a type of mild?
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Date: 02 Nov 2006 19:13:24
From:
Subject: Re: Special Bitter or Best Bitter?
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tkcbb77@hotmail.com wrote:
> Mike wrote:
> > What is a Special Bitter or Best Bitter? Is it a type of mild?
>
> Special/Best Bitter is a type of English Pale Ale. A little stronger
> than Ordinary Bitter, but not as strong as Extra Special Bitter (ESB).
Unlike most pale ales though, it doesn't usually have much hop flavor
or aroma.
>
> http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/Category8.html#style8B
>
> Mild is a low-gravity (although not in all cases) brown ale.
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Date: 02 Nov 2006 14:56:48
From:
Subject: Re: Special Bitter or Best Bitter?
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Mike wrote:
> What is a Special Bitter or Best Bitter? Is it a type of mild?
Special/Best Bitter is a type of English Pale Ale. A little stronger
than Ordinary Bitter, but not as strong as Extra Special Bitter (ESB).
http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/Category8.html#style8B
Mild is a low-gravity (although not in all cases) brown ale.
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Date: 03 Nov 2006 04:47:51
From: MarkMc
Subject: Re: Special Bitter or Best Bitter?
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Traditionally Mild is gets its name from being mildly hopped, and can
be any OG you like (within reason), and not necessarily brown. In the
UK, they are almost extinct, which is a real shame, but when you do
find a mild in a pub these days, it is generally of low gravity. The
English midlands and Wales seem to be the places in the UK to find Mild
Ales on tap in pubs.
My personal favourite 'Best Bitter' is London Pride, but in the UK,
beer is so regional and doesn't seem to travel well. Boddingtons,
Tetley etc used to be good beers, but don't seem to be any more where I
live, near London at least, but that could just be bad cellermanship,
which is rife these days. Perhaps in the north where they are made,
it's still possible to get a good pint of these beers?
Bitter (aka Best) is called bitter, because it's....bitter, but nowhere
anything like an IPA. Basically, the balance is towards the hops
rather than the malt. Some have quite a big hop flavour and aroma.
Dry hopping is quite common for example.
About 30-35 IBU (IIRC) at somewhere around 1.040 OG is probably pretty
common for a 'session beer'. I think the BJCP style guidlines are in
the right area IIRC.
Grist would generally be Pale (Maris Otter, Chariot, Golden Promise
etc) + crystal, but you may find a touch of Malted Wheat and perhaps
some other roast grains in there. Single infusion mash at around
66-67C. Hops traditionally are Fuggles and Goldings, but bittering is
more usually something like Wye Challenger or Wye Target these days.
Hop back additions were traditionally quite common. You don't usually
find noble hops used, like Hallertauer or Tettnang or Czech Saaz for
example. I think Cascade is making a bit of an impact on the pale ale
scene over here too.
Cheers,
Mark
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Date: 06 Nov 2006 04:57:18
From: MarkMc
Subject: Re: Special Bitter or Best Bitter?
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I think Tetley is the same way. Used to be a cracking beer. Not had a
decent pint of that for quite some time now, be it can, keg or cask.
A beer which I find can be good if looked after is Greene King IPA on
cask (I know I'll be dissed for this statement). However, it can be
exceedingly ordinary in most place.
It seems cellarmanship isn't a required skill for a pub these days. I
think this is the fundamental root cause of the 'cooking lager'
revolution - it just doesn't change no matter what inept publicans do
to it, whereas cask ales can be bad if not looked after. If the
standard of cellarmanship improves in pubs, then perhaps the
availability of good cask ales will increase.
cheers,
Mark
Andy Davison wrote:
> The cask is passable but not a patch on the superb beer it used to be. The
> keg is shite.
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Date: 06 Nov 2006 21:11:37
From: Andy Davison
Subject: Re: Special Bitter or Best Bitter?
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On Monday 06 November 2006 12:57, MarkMc wrote:
> A beer which I find can be good if looked after is Greene King IPA on
> cask (I know I'll be dissed for this statement). However, it can be
> exceedingly ordinary in most place.
I only find GK IPA any good on gravity. I have never had a decent pint
through a hand pump. The only GK beer I would look out for is Alefresco and
that has to be looked after well or it can be awful (landlord's fault not
the brewery).
--
Andy Davison
andy [at] oiyou [dot] ukfsn [dot] org
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