Ordinary Bitter closes out our exploration of the BJCP category 11. While researching the style, I came across what Paul Jones of Cloudwater Brew Company in Manchester, England once said about English Bitter beers. I’m paraphrasing here and add my own spin to it.
There are some beers that you actually talk about, such as a great hoppy IPA or a complex Sour that mixes graininess and just the right amount of sourness that hits your jowls. Then there are beers that you just talk over.
It’s good, it tastes like beer. Instead of talking about the simplicity of the beer, let’s continue talking about the hassles of e-learning.
Easy Drinking
The beauty of the Ordinary Bitter is the drinkability of this beer. Being in the 3% abv ball park, it is easy to order four or five while sitting in a pub and still be able to conduct yourself like a well-adjusted person in society.
This beer’s drinkability is both a blessing and a curse.
Brewing an Ordinary Bitter is not as easy as it seems. With such a low abv, the importance of quality grain, hops, yeast, and water is paramount with this style and other styles that do not hide behind excessive hops or adjuncts.
Cask Conditioned Beer
In England since the early 19th century, the term “bitter” has been used to describe pale ale. Customers in the pubs would ask for a bitter as a way to differentiate from mild ale. By the end of the 19th century, brewers began to use the term as well.
Traditionally Bitters were cask conditioned and either dispensed by gravity through a tap in a cask or by a beer engine.
Pulling the beer at the right temperat