Premium Bitter/ESB

Reads 1356 • Replies 22 • Started Friday, October 12, 2012 4:53:48 PM CT

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Message zdk beers 1917 º places 96 º 11:35 Sun 10/14/2012 Originally posted by JoeMcPhee It’s because Americans usually brew bitters with US/Canadian pale malt and it just doesn’t have the character of UK malts. American brewers also tend to mash differently on their low/mid-gravity styles. Joe - how much does the local water play into this? From what I understand, the mineral profile in the UK tends to be 1) in general higher than most American ground water 2) regionally specific. Maybe this is something that american brewers just can’t recapitulate due to this factor. It would be pretty inefficient to import water from England just to get a bitter right.
Message keanex beers 1802 º places 65 º 11:41 Sun 10/14/2012 They have salts and other things you can add to your mash for a reason.
Message SamGamgee P beers 2452 º places 182 º 09:57 Mon 10/15/2012 I just want to say that to compare something like bottled Fullers over here to your local versions is a mistake. Fullers cask in London is a lot closer to many American versions, which come out leaner and hoppier because they are fresh and non-pasteurized, unlike imported bottles. I think that a lot of the roundness and fruity-malty notes that people get here in English versions is just the effects of old, pasteurized beer.

Message Gazza beers 727 º places 167 º 11:19 Mon 10/15/2012 There is no such style as ESB. The only reason you lot think there is is Fuller’s ESB has been exported over to the US for years and Jackson championed it. "Extra-Special Bitter"? what does that even mean? We have bitter and best bitter from many brewers but ESB? No. Come to the UK, you’ll not find any other than Fullers without a very, very long search. Taking a few from the ESB list, Shepherd Neame Late Red is just a bitter, Fuller’s Mr Harry is a weird red ale and Harveys Tom Paine is a Best Bitter.
Message keanex beers 1802 º places 65 º 11:44 Mon 10/15/2012 From what I understand anything over 4.8% is considered an ESB.
Message chriso P beers 7540 º places 736 º 11:49 Mon 10/15/2012 Originally posted by Gazza Come to the UK, you’ll not find any other than Fullers without a very, very long search. That may be because Fullers protect the trademark assiduously. There are, of course, plenty of strong bitters.
Message chriso P beers 7540 º places 736 º 11:52 Mon 10/15/2012 Originally posted by SamGamgee I just want to say that to compare something like bottled Fullers over here to your local versions is a mistake. Fullers cask in London is a lot closer to many American versions, which come out leaner and hoppier because they are fresh and non-pasteurized, unlike imported bottles. I think that a lot of the roundness and fruity-malty notes that people get here in English versions is just the effects of old, pasteurized beer. Yep

Message Gazza beers 727 º places 167 º 12:13 Mon 10/15/2012 Originally posted by chriso There are, of course, plenty of strong bitters. Plenty. But not many (very few) fit the criteria for ESB’s in the US.
Message JoeMcPhee P beers 12092 º places 543 º 12:14 Mon 10/15/2012 Originally posted by chriso Originally posted by SamGamgee I just want to say that to compare something like bottled Fullers over here to your local versions is a mistake. Fullers cask in London is a lot closer to many American versions, which come out leaner and hoppier because they are fresh and non-pasteurized, unlike imported bottles. I think that a lot of the roundness and fruity-malty notes that people get here in English versions is just the effects of old, pasteurized beer. Yep Yes and no - I’ve been the UK many times and although the freshness of the hops certainly affect the taste, what I’m talking about are not the bottled/canned versions we get. It’s still true that the US versions (generally, not always) have a cleaner, less interesting malt component.
Message SarkyNorthener beers 5200 º places 142 º 13:35 Mon 10/15/2012 In the UK I feel there is a overlap of the styles and some breweries would call their beer a Premium bitter just to differentiate it from their regular cask bitter. Why? So they can charge a little bit More.