Readily Available English Bitter?

Sly Fox has a nice Scottish Ale on draft at their brewpub right now:

“Burns' Scottish Export Ale

Brown Ale

12.8 OG 18 IBUs 5.0% ABV

Named for the famous Scottish poet, this brown ale brewed with British pale and roasted malt is medium bodied with a smooth, malty, mellow palate.”

If you are interested would strongly suggest you get there sooner rather than later. They brew this beer (every year) for their Robert Burns event in January and I do not know how much longer it will be available.

Cheers!

P.S. They also have a Scotch Ale on tap and IMO that beer is excellent (I had the pleasure to drink this beer served via cask – handpump):

“Gang Aft Agley

Scottish Wee Heavy

19.5 OG 20 IBUs 8.6% ABV

Brewed with roasted barley and pale malts. A full-bodied malt lover's dream beer: mellow, rich and filled with flavor. Gang aft agley translates "go oft astray," as in Robert Burn's famous line about "the best laid schemes o' mice an' men..."

https://www.slyfoxbeer.com/phoenixville

 

A lot of Wee Heavys around but tough to find a good 80 schilling.

 

Have you tried Sly Fox “Burns' Scottish Export Ale yet?

12.8 OG 18 IBUs 5.0% ABV

Cheers!

 

Sounds like a plan.

 

It’s official now, but appears that it will still be available at their brewpubs. https://blockclubchicago.org/2019/0...-honkers-ale-the-beer-that-put-it-on-the-map/

 

As for ESBs, my favorite readily available ones are:

Yards ESA
Lefthand Sawtooth
Fuller's ESB

 

Very disappointed INBEV torpedoed Honkers. Always fit the bill when craving a bitter and that was often.

I am lucky to have a Local City Steam Brewery that brews naughty nurse that is a bitter. They added Amber Ale to the bottle I think to not scare off the unfamiliar but it is indeed a bitter. it is very good and available in sixers all over CT.

I have been hunting some good cask ale that is not some strange style and there is a place in Ridgefield CT that is going to start an English traditional ale cask offering. Will make the 45 minute trip to have real ale.

 

I can't find any good readily available English Bitters where I live that aren't priced too high to drink regularly (like Bluebird Bitter at $6 for a pint sized bottle). I've been drinking Smithwick's Irish Red because it reminds me a little of a bitter. It's a good beer in it's own right in my opinion even though it has just an ok rating on here. It's the kind of beer that Beer Advocate raters are biased against. I miss being able to buy Honker's Ale and St. Peter's Organic English Ale.

 

That's a damn shame, as I just discovered Honkers this year and saw it as something I could have over again. Never tried the older versions.

 

Totally agree the Bluebird is priced way to high in the states for a pint and Smithwicks is certainly from the same ilk as a bitter when in a pinch. balances and sessionable.

 

Irish Red is a made up style. Bitter, aka Pale Ale, is a broad church ranging from very pale beer to relatively dark including copper and red on the way Indeed,the Pale in Pale Ale refers to the use of Pale malt used to brew it, not to the finished product.
Some years ago the Irish beer organisation Beoir published the results of a tasting session and made this conclusion ; there is no difference between Bitter and Irish Red.

 

Ah yes. And everyone knows that world famous Pale Ale... Guinness Stout.
It's brewed using Pale malt as every beer is. It uses roasted barley as well but so do so many red ales. It's where they get their red color without being cloyingly sweet.

I don't doubt that there really isn't any difference between the "Irish red ales" and a pale ale or a bitter. They just use roasted barley because a little provides a lot of color without much flavor contribution.
Red ales are really just another beer that plays with it's aesthetics.

 

Hate to see Honkers ale go. I hadn’t had it for years before buying a six pack or two about a year ago. I had forgotten what a good beer it is.

For those in the Midwest, Schlafly Pale Ale is a good English style pale ale. Also, Civil Life in St. Louis has a good ESB.

 

RIP Honker's. Very disappointed by it's passing.
But Wells & Young's Bombardier Glorious English is an even better alternative. A few weeks ago a friend tipped me off that a local shop had cases (of cans!) nearing their best by date on sale...for $3.99 a 6-pack! I'd gladly pay 3X that in the future, it's that good (must be great fresher). I'm hoping that shop starts stocking it at least somewhat consistently.

 

I believe that I mentioned that one earlier in the thread' glad to hear it holds up so well.

 

Oops. Not surprised, this thread's gone on long enough I either overlooked it or forgot.
As for it holding up, I have no baseline for how much it changed from fresh. But I sure found it pleasantly drinkable as is. Sadly, a search on BeerMenus just now turned up no listing, so it was probably a one-time appearance. I hope I'm wrong.

 

Don't poke or you'll find out Guinness Stout is really an English porter!

 

@TongoRad Just looked through all your posts in the thread and you did mention Bombardier in post #55. But Bombardier and Bombardier Glorious English are different beers (as listed here on BA), the former an ESB at 5.2% ABV, the latter a Pale Ale at 4.7%.

 

And of course Stout is short for Stout Porter.
In any English pub you will probably find a brewery advert offering Ale and Stout or Ales and Porters. Because of course Ale brewing was a different industry from Porter brewing.
It is unfortunate that modern beer writers treat Stout and Porter as Ale. And when presented with a top fermented lager they are totally confused.

 

Cool. Must have been packaged close to a year ago, eh?
If only we could get fresh samples of UK beers that are satisfying at such an advanced age.