Best Bitter

ABV 3.8-4.6% · IBU 25-40 · SRM 8-16 · Serve 52-55F · Glass Imperial pint · Dispense cask, no added gas

Identify

Pale amber to medium copper, clear to brilliant. The head is low and off white, and on cask it may be a thin collar. The smell is bread and biscuit with a clear caramel note, plus earthy or floral hop and a fruitiness that often reads as orange marmalade or stone fruit. Bitterness still leads, but there is something under it now. Hold a mouthful still and you can feel a small cushion of body that an Ordinary Bitter does not have. The finish is dry and a little longer, and the caramel lingers behind the bitterness.

Place

England. A brewery's dearer bitter, sold beside its cheaper one on the same bar.

Cause

Put more grain in the mash and you get a sweeter wort, which is the sugary liquid the yeast will later ferment. More sugar in means more alcohol out, and more body left behind. That is the change. You met this in 3.3. Here it is again from the middle rung, because this is the one you will actually be standing in front of at a bar.

Confused with

Ordinary Bitter, which is the same beer half a percent weaker. Strong Bitter, which is the same beer a percent stronger. American Pale Ale, which smells of grapefruit and pine. British Golden Ale, which is paler and has no caramel at all.

Numbers

A Best Bitter is a pale amber to copper British ale of about 4.2%. It is the same beer as an Ordinary Bitter with more grain in the mash. That extra grain is nearly the whole difference. The colour and the fizz put you in the bitter family: amber, clear, a low off white head, and almost no prickle. Those you already know from 3.3.

Will you like it, Order and Try

Toast with thick cut marmalade. That is the closest single match to what this beer smells and tastes like. Strong tea, with or without milk. The dry drawing finish is the same sensation. Digestive biscuits, shortbread, and the crust of a good loaf. Salted caramel, in small amounts. The toffee here is restrained and never sugary.

Pair, Judge, Myth and Remember

Chocolate desserts, delicate white fish and fresh green salads. The first overwhelms the beer, and the beer overwhelms the other two. Anything built on fresh lemon or lime will clash with the earthy hop character. The caramel note is a note, not the main event. Bitterness still leads. It is clear and the head is low and off white.