Your First English Bitter

Fullers ESB. Love that stuff. White grape/ apple juice taste that is so drinkable.

 

A word to the unwary-despite what the BJCP and other guidelines would have us believe, "Best" bitter is simply the brewer's name for the beer. It does not relate to the strength or the price and is very often the weakest and cheapest beer in the range.As in the case with Marston's who brew several stronger beers.
They are classified loosely by strength-session bitter up to 4%, premium bitter is in the mid to low 4's after which it becomes strong bitter. The name ESB relates only to Fuller's , it again was simply a name. American eyebrows might rise at the thought of a 5% beer being regarded as strong. But beer is intended for drinking in quantity and this puts things into context.

 

Usually I have a damn good memory of what beers I have consumed, but unfortunately I wasn't paying that much attention the one time I visited England (my one regret about that trip). It was quite a while ago (1987), too, so there's likely no real way of knowing what breweries I experienced. I do know this: I was familiar with the some bottled ales that I'd get over here, and I really did enjoy the cask bitters so much better. It was a real 'go with the flow' trip, just ordering up what everyone else was drinking wherever we wound up; not really seeking out anything in particular.

 

Permit me to tell a few more stories; they are dated but I think they are still relevant.

I was frequently traveling to Britain (mostly London) for business during the early 90’s to later 90’s. I recall that during my trips I would go to the local pubs to drink Bitter Ales (on cask); while I was there I would see the young people drinking BMC type beers. The beers that I took note of was Budweiser and Rolling Rock; they would drink the Rolling Rock from the green longneck bottles. I always thought to myself: why are these kids drinking Macroswill when there are so many good cask ales to pick from!?! At the time I thought this was just craziness. Over the years I have formulated a differing theory: the populous all over the world seem to have a ‘preference’ for bland, inoffensive food products whether that is beer or other consumables. The most popular beer in Belgium is Jupiler which is an inoffensive Euro-Lager. Why would the Belgian people drink Jupiler when they have tasty choices like Duvel, Trappist Ales, etc.!?! Again, the only explanation is that the majority prefers bland, inoffensive beer.

On one of my business trips to London I was in a pub with a co-worker. We had a bit of difficulty finding a cask ale that we enjoyed at that pub. One of the beers was Theakston (I think) and it was rather watery. We tried another cask ale and we were disappointed with that beer too. I finally decided to ask the bartender for some help. I was not nuanced in ’beer speak’ at that time so I awkwardly asked: do have a beer that is stronger (meaning stronger tasting)? He didn’t answer me but he quickly poured me a Budweiser. With a look of pride on his face he stated: Budweiser is 5% alcohol and we make it in London! I didn’t have the heart to refuse the beer. Even in the 90’s I refused to drink Budweiser back home (in the US). I grudgingly drank the Budweiser and left that pub.

Cheers!