Ordinary Bitter

Tier B · BJCP 11A · Ale, fermented warm. The weakest of the three British Bitters.

ABV

3.2-3.8%

IBU

25-35

SRM

8-14

Serve

52-55F

Glass

Imperial pint

Dispense

cask, no added gas

Identify

Pale amber to light copper, and clear enough to read through. The head is low, off white, and on a cask pour it can be no more than a thin collar. The smell is quiet: bread, biscuit, a little caramel, some earthy or floral hop, often a soft fruitiness like pear or orange peel. Light bodied and barely fizzy. Bitterness arrives early and holds through the swallow, with very little sweetness under it. The finish is dry and short. Hold a mouthful still and the bubbles hardly prickle, closer to cold tea than to soda.

Place

England, late 1800s. The draught version of pale ale, sold by the pint in pubs.

Cause

A brewer makes an Ordinary Bitter by putting less grain in the mash than they otherwise would. Everything else on this page follows from that, including the things that stop the beer tasting like weak tea. These are not three different beers.

Confused with

Best Bitter, which is the same beer brewed stronger. Dark Mild, which is darker, sweeter and far less bitter. British Golden Ale, which is paler and cleaner with no caramel. American Pale Ale, which smells of grapefruit and pine rather than earth and marmalade.

Numbers

An Ordinary Bitter is a pale amber British ale of about 3.5%. It is dry, quietly fruity, and more bitter than its strength suggests. Nearly everything interesting about it comes from how little alcohol it contains. Two things, and the second is a sensation rather than a flavour. Look at the head.

Will you like it, Order and Try

Strong black tea with no sugar. That dry, faintly bitter, slightly drawing finish is the closest everyday match. Bread crusts, cream crackers and plain biscuits. The malt here is doing almost exactly that. Marmalade, or the white pith of an orange. British hops and British yeast together produce that.

Pair, Judge, Myth and Remember

Rich desserts, chocolate, and anything strongly smoked. There is not enough beer here to stand up to them, and the bitterness turns harsh next to sugar. Very hot chilli is a poor match too, because bitterness and heat sharpen each other. It arrives cool rather than cold, at roughly 52F to 55F, which is 11C to 13C.