English Bitter or Pale Ale

You can try London Homesick Ale by Oasis Texas Brewing Company in the Austin area.

Four Bullets brewery in the DFW area makes an English pub ale and they say they try to make all English style beers. But I've never tried any of them so I can't say anything.

Community Public Ale doesn't taste far off of Fuller's ESB I think. They're in Dallas.

 

You can also try Lazarus Brewing in Austin. They have Shackleton they call an English Premium Bitter.

Draughthouse Pub and Brewery have a ranging list of house made ales. I think there are sometimes ones of the bitters/English pale ale style. And they have a few beer engines so it may be on cask if there is one.

I'm not familiar with the Houston area breweries.

If we know what region of Texas you live in there may be some other advice.

In general Texas' brew scene is very young. Most breweries don't have much in the way of the easy drinking session beers here.

 

IMO very few breweries hit the mark for English Bitters in the States. I am not sure many people in the UK even recognize a Pale Ale or ESB for that matter (Fuller's is really the only "ESB") For me Cask is the key, which is not reliable in the States. Mostly because people here don't enjoy it like they do in the UK. Not session strength here, and most examples in the States are just an excuse to add as much additives as possible. The beauty of cask is its simplicity, and how it changes over a short period of time through slight oxidation till it is gone.

Most American examples of Bitters or "ESB" just taste like they used Maris Otter malts until it tastes like cereal grain. Almost all UK version I have had, and certainly all that I have had on cask across the pound have a much more nuanced malt character, and even a nice EKG earthy hop flavor. Cask conditioning just brings that out so much more.

True session cask Bitter is one of my favorite styles, and without a doubt dispensed in my favorite method. One of the only close examples I have come to in Texas is Draughthouse Wilson ESB on cask, which was so on point I didn't believe it was made in house at first. Holler's ESB was great, I would love to find that more around Houston and on cask. Oasis and Eureka Heights also make bitters/ESB ish style beers. They don't satisfy my craving for that style though.

 

I will add that Saint Arnold Elissa is a very nice hybrid style IPA/Strong Bitter especially on cask. Real Ale Rio Blanco is very nice, and again superb on cask, so there are a few that can be found.

Edit: On a side note, I wish traditional Bitter on cask is what more people want than the trendy "hazy" and "juicy" IPA, but what you going to do

 

My daughter had that one last weekend, talked her into getting it. I thought it was a good representation, and a pretty good beer.

 

Eureka Heights Wicket Awesome comes rrrreally close to hitting this on cask. I would love to see that more often.

 

Landlord is one of my all time favorites, but I can't drink the bottled stuff found here. Almost completely different when you have it via cask. At just over 4%, bottles don't travel well at all.

 

So I was looking at this website: https://www.craftbeeraustin.com/upcoming-austin-breweries-february-2017/

In Dripping Springs there is an Acopon Brewing Company opening up that is going to be focusing on english style ales and plans on having a regular cask offering. I have no idea how accurate they'll be though.

 

Treaty Oaks also has an English Bitter (near Jester King). I believe they plan on canning it eventually.

 

Correction to this, it's a Mild, not a bitter.

 

Freetail Brewpub in San Antonio has an awesome English style pale ale on tap right now. It was brewed with a heritage Maris Otter, and lots of Fuggles for bittering and EK Goldings for flavor/aroma. It is called Winter Promise. It is 4.6% with a nice malt character, medium hop flavor, and a dry, resiny finish. I think it is very complex. Other than that, you have to come to my house for a good EPA. The Community and Oasis are okay, but lose some freshness by the time they get to San Antonio. I probably need to try them again though. I have not seen Timothy Taylor in San Antonio, but I love using their yeast for some of my pale ales. Cheers!

 

Community Beer Co. in Dallas brews Public Ale. Took back to back gold medals at GABF in the ESB category & is pretty spot on for the style (and it's delicious).

 

I've been craving some good English style beers like this OP.

Has anyone here tried Pegasus City's Highpoint Porch Ale? It calls itself a Mild but I think I may retry it with the expectation of a pale ale instead.

I can't think of any other examples that I can really get.

 

Draught house in Austin usually has fullers cask!

 

Second the Draughthouse in Austin. Check out Southern Heights for a solid pub ale.

 

When I travel to Austin the Draughthouse is always somewhere I love going to... But it in no way we help with me needing beers in North Texas.

I also don't want Fuller's ESB or by extension Community Public Ale because I don't want the caramelly dark version.

When I went to Southern Heights I was very disappointed with everything I got. My wife and I shared two flights. One had IPAs, the other the lighter beers.

I'm sure we'll give them another shot eventually. We did for Friends and Allies even though we don't care for them. And it's close to my in laws.