Strong Bitter and ESB

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

ABV

4.6-6.2%

IBU

30-50

SRM

8-18

Serve

52-55F

Glass

Imperial pint or half

Also called

ESB, premium bitter

Identify

Light amber to deep copper, clear to brilliant. The head is low to moderate and off white. The smell has more in it than the other two: earthy or resiny hop, bread and biscuit malt, a caramel note, and a clear fruitiness that often reads as orange, plum or dried apricot. Fuller than a Best Bitter without being heavy. Bitterness still leads, with real malt flavour behind it now. The tell is physical and arrives after you swallow: a faint warmth at the back of your throat that neither of the other two bitters ever gives you.

Place

England. The premium bitter on a brewery's list, and the one sent abroad in bottles.

Cause

The first decision is the one you already know: more grain in the mash. The second is the water, and it is the reason a Burton brewed bitter tastes sharper than a London one at the same strength.

Confused with

Best Bitter, which is the same beer a percent weaker. American Pale Ale, which smells of grapefruit and pine. American Amber Ale, which is sweeter and less bitter. British Strong Ale, which is darker, maltier and much less bitter.

Numbers

A Strong Bitter is a copper coloured British ale of roughly 5% to 6%. It is the same beer as the two before it with more grain again. The extra grain buys body, hop flavour and a little warmth. The colour is deeper and the smell is louder, but neither is reliable on its own. The tell is what happens after you swallow.

Will you like it, Order and Try

Thick cut marmalade, or the peel of a blood orange. More of it here than in either weaker bitter. Dried apricot, prunes and stewed plums. British yeast at this strength produces all three. Strong tea, and the drying feeling it leaves behind. Toffee, caramel and browned butter, in small quantities rather than as dessert.

Pair, Judge, Myth and Remember

Delicate white fish and light salads. The beer rolls straight over them. Very hot chilli is a poor match too, because bitterness and heat sharpen each other, and there is more bitterness here than in the weaker two bitters. Bitterness leads, with real malt flavour behind it rather than under it.