Bitter
Bitter is a broad
term applied to a well-hopped pale ale, from about 3.5% to 7% in strength and pale
gold to dark mahogany in colour. British brewers have several loose names for
variations in beer strength, such as best bitter, special bitter,
extra special bitter, and premium bitter. There is no agreed and
defined difference between an ordinary and a best bitter other
than one particular brewery's best bitter will usually be stronger than
its ordinary. Two groups of drinkers may mark differently the point at
which a best bitter then becomes a premium bitter. Hop levels
will vary within each sub group, though there is a tendency for the hops in the
session bitter group to be more noticeable. Bitter is dispensed in most
formats — hand-pulled from the cask, on draught from the keg, smoothflow or bottled. Drinkers tend to loosely group the beers into:
Session or ordinary bitter Strength up to 4.1% abv. The majority
of British beers with the name IPA will be found in this group, such as Greene King IPA, Flowers IPA, Wadworth Henrys Original IPA, etc. These session
bitters are not as strong and hoppy as the18th and 19th century IPAs
(or as an India Pale Ale would be in the USA) although IPAs with modest
gravities (below 1040ยบ) have been brewed in Britain since at least the
1920s. This is the most common
strength of bitter sold in British pubs. It accounts for 16.9% of pub sales.
Best bitter. Strength between 3.8% and 4.7% abv. In the
United Kingdom, Bitter above 4.2% abv accounts for just 2.9% of pub sales. The disappearance of weaker bitters
from some brewer's rosters means "best" bitter is actually the
weakest in the range.
Premium bitter Strength of 4.8% abv and over. Also known as extra
special bitter, for instance Fuller's ESB.
Golden ale Golden or summer ales were developed in the
late 20th century by breweries to compete with the pale lager market. A typical golden ale has an appearance
and profile similar to that of a pale lager. Malt character is subdued and the hop profile ranges from spicy to citrus; common
hop additions include Styrian Golding and Cascade. Alcohol is in the 4% to 5%
range ABV. The style was marketed in 1989 by John Gilbert, a former brewer at
Watney in Mortlake, London, who had opened his own operation, the Hop Back Brewery, in Salisbury, England. His aim was to develop a pale ale that could be as refreshing as lager. The
result was a drier and hoppier pale ale he called "Summer Lightning",
after a novel by PG Wodehouse; it won several awards and inspired numerous
imitators.
India Pale Ale It is often said that India Pale Ale, a strong and well-hopped beer was
designed to "survive the sea voyage to India", but some modern
authorities consider this to be a myth.
Twentieth century IPAs were equivalent to a typical bitter, although
there has been a recent tendency to return to 18th century strengths (5.5%
upwards) and hop rates, e.g. Thornbridge Brewery's Jaipur IPA and Fuller, Smith and Turner's Bengal Lancer.
As can be seen from the examples, such "true" IPAs tend to emphasize
the Indian connection in their branding.
Brown ale
English brown ales range from
beers such as Manns Original Brown Ale, which is quite sweet and low in
alcohol, to North Eastern brown ale such as Newcastle Brown Ale, Double Maxim and Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale.
Mild ale in modern
times is generally considered to be a low-gravity beer with a low hop rate and predominantly
malty palate. Historically, mild ales were of standard strength for the time
(and rather strong by modern standards). Modern mild ales are mainly dark
colored with an abv of 3% to 3.6%, though there are lighter
hued examples, as well as stronger more traditional examples reaching 6% abv
and higher. The term 'mild' originally had nothing to do with strength or level
of hop bitterness, but rather as a label for beers that were not
"vatted" (aged) and hence did not have some of the tart and even
slightly sour flavor of ales that were subject to long aging, which was considered
a desirable attribute of premium ales. The dark color characteristic of modern
day milds can come from either the use of roast malt or caramelized sugars, or
more commonly, both. These ingredients lead to differences in flavor
characteristics.
Mild is often thought to be partly a survival of the older style of
hop-less brewing (hops were introduced in the 16th century), partly as a
cheaper alternative to bitter (for a long time mild was a penny a pot, and
bitter beer tuppence), and partly a sustaining but relatively unintoxicating
beverage suitable for lunchtime drinking by manual workers. But in reality,
mild was probably not hopped differently than other beers of the day, since the
term 'mild' referred primarily to a lack of the sour tang contributed by age,
and not a lack of hop character or alcoholic strength,
Once sold in every pub, mild experienced a catastrophic fall in
popularity after the 1960s and was in danger of completely disappearing from
many parts of the United Kingdom. However, in recent years the explosion of
microbreweries has led to a partial recovery, and an increasing number of mild
(sometimes labeled 'Dark') brands are now being brewed. Most of these are in
the more modern interpretation of 'mild'...a sweeter brew with lower alcoholic
strength.
Light mild is generally similar, but pale in color, for
instance Harveys Brewery Knots of
May. There is some overlap between the weakest styles of bitter and light mild, with the term AK being used to
refer to both. The designation of such beers as "bitter" or
"mild" has tended to change with fashion. A good example is
McMullen's AK, which was re-badged as a bitter after decades as a light mild.
AK (a very common beer name in the 19th century) was often referred to as a
"mild bitter beer" interpreting "mild" as
"unaged".
Some breweries have revived the traditional high-gravity strong
mild, with alcohol content of 6% or so, the classic example being Sarah Hughes Ruby, brewed
to a Victorian recipe.
Old ale is a term
applied to dark, malty beers above 4.5% abv, also sometimes called Winter Warmers. Many have "old" in the name,
such as Theakston's Old Peculier,
Marston's Owd Roger, Robinson's Old Tom. Many
brewers make high abv old ales for bottling, some of which are bottle-conditioned and can mature for several years. Some
of these stronger versions are known as barley wine. Stock ale is a strong beer which is used for blending
with weaker beers at the brewery and not sold directly. The upper limit on
strength for this style is about 11%-12% ABV.
Porter and Stout
Porter is a historically
significant style developed in 18th century London, which is the ancestor of stout, a style now considered typically Irish. English Porters and stouts are generally as
dark or darker than old ales, and significantly more bitter. They differ from
dark milds and old ales in the use of roast grains, which adds to the
bitterness, and lends flavors of toast, biscuit or coffee.
Variations on the style include oatmeal stout, oyster stout, the sweet milk stout, and the very strong imperial stout, all of which are generally available
in bottles only. These speciality beers have a tiny proportion of the market,
but are of interest to connoisseurs worldwide.
London porter differs from stout in having generally lower gravity
and lighter body, closer to bitter. Porter as distinct from stout virtually
disappeared during the mid-20th century, but has had a modest revival since the
1980s (e.g. Dark Star Original, Fuller's London Porter).
Archaic styles
Small beer was a
low-strength beer that was consumed throughout the day by all ages. From the
Middle Ages to about the 18th century, there was a tendency to avoid drinking
water since it was often contaminated. The boiling stage of brewing (it was
often made in the home) would have sterilised it, although the actual
microbiology was not understood at the time. A later survival of small beer
were the low-gravity light ale and boys bitter.
Stingo or spingo was strong or old ale. The name possible comes
from the sharp, or "stinging" flavour of a well-matured beer. The Blue Anchor, Helston calls it
beers "spingo". The term "stingo" has associations with Yorkshire.
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