Bitter (beer)
Bitter is a British term for a type of
beer or
pale ale. The expression first appears in the
UK in the early 19th century as part of the development and spread of
pale ale.
Pale ale was a term used for beers made from
malt dried with
coke. Coke had been first used for roasting malt in 1642, but it wasn't until around 1703 that the term
pale ale was first used. By 1784 adverts were appearing in the
Calcutta Gazette for "light and excellent" pale ale. By 1830 onward the expressions
bitter and
pale ale were synonymous. Breweries would tend to designate beers as
pale ale, though customers would commonly refer to the same beers as
bitter. It is thought that customers used the term
bitter to differentiate these pale ales from other less noticeably hopped beers such as
porter and
mild. By the mid to late 20th century, while brewers were still labeling bottled beers as pale ale, they had begun identifying cask beers as
bitter. While the two terms are still used interchangeably in the UK, the preference is for the term
bitter to be used for both bottled and cask beer, and use of the term
pale ale has declined, except in the case of
India pale ale.
Bitter belongs in the
pale ale style grouping, though bitter does have a greater variety of strength, flavour and appearance than mainstream pale ale. A bitter can be very dark and roasty, approaching a
stout, or be very golden and delicate like a
golden summer ale. It can also go under 3% abv as with
Boys Bitter and as high as 7% with some
premium or
strong bitters. During the early to mid 20th century there were some regional preferences noted which may still be detected in the beers of some of the more
established breweries. In Cornwall, Wales, North England and Scotland the preference was for sweeter, less hopped beer. In other areas, particularly Southeast England, the preference was for hoppy beers.
British brewers have several loose names for variations in beer strength, such as
IPA,
best bitter,
special bitter,
extra special bitter, and
premium bitter. There is no agreed and defined difference between an
ordinary and a
best bitter other than one particular brewery's
best bitter will usually be stronger than its
ordinary. And two groups of drinkers may mark differently the point at which a
best bitter becomes a
premium bitter. Hop levels will vary within each sub group, though there is a tendency for the hops in the
session bitter group to be more noticeable.
Drinkers tend to loosely group the beers into:
Session or ordinary bitter
Strength up to 4% abv. The majority of British beers with the name
IPA will be found in this group, such as Greene King IPA, Flowers IPA, Wadworth Henrys Original IPA, etc. Though bearing the name IPA these session bitters are not strong or hoppy.
Best or regular bitter
Strength between 4.1% and 4.7% abv. This is the most common strength of bitter in Britain.
Premium or strong bitter
Strength of 4.8% abv and over. Also known as
extra special bitter, or
ESB.
Light ale is a crisply carbonated, low hopped, low abv bottled bitter that is mainly used as a mix with another beer, but is sometimes used as a low alcohol beer.
The term
bitter by itself is little used in the
United States. The term
pale ale or
ESB is more commonly used. Where
bitter is used it indicates a pale ale of lower alcohol content brewed in a less hop-focused style than typical American pale ales. American bitters often use British varieties of hops.In
Australia,
bitter is used for several popular Australian lagers such as
Victoria Bitter.
*The
Campaign for Real Ale*
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