Bitter is an English style of

pale ale Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared in England around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at th ...

that varies in colour from

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

to dark amber, and in strength typically from 3% to 5.5%

alcohol by volume Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of Alcohol (drug), alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest ...

History

The term "bitter" has been used in England to describe

since the early 19th century. Although brewers used the term "pale ale", before the introduction of pump clips, customers in

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

s would ask for "bitter" to differentiate it from

mild ale Mild ale is a type of ale. Modern milds are mostly dark-coloured, with an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 3% to 3.6%, although there are lighter-hued as well as stronger milds, reaching 6% abv and higher. Mild originated in Britain in the 17th centur ...

; by the end of the 19th century, brewers had begun to use the term as well. During the 20th century, bitter became the most popular type of

draught beer Draught beer, also spelt draft, is beer served from a cask or keg rather than from a bottle or can. Draught beer served from a pressurised keg is also known as Name Until Joseph Bramah patented the beer engine in 1785, beer was served ...

sold in British pubs and has been described as "the national drink of England". In Scotland, bitter is known as either "light" or "heavy" depending on the strength, colour and body. Bitter is traditionally

cask conditioned Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for ale that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carb ...

and either dispensed by gravity through a tap in the cask or by a

beer engine A beer engine is a device for pumping beer from a cask, usually located in a pub's cellar. The beer engine was invented by John Lofting, a Dutch inventor, merchant and manufacturer who moved from Amsterdam to London in about 1688 and patented a ...

at "cellar temperature" of 11°C-14°C (50°F-55°F). The popularity of

craft brewing Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

in North America has led to British-style bitter being brewed there since the 1980s.

Style

Bitter belongs to the pale ale

beer style Beer styles differentiate and categorise beers by colour, flavour, strength, ingredients, production method, recipe, history, or origin. The modern concept of beer styles is largely based on the work of writer Michael Jackson in his 1977 book ...

and can have a great variety of strength, flavour and appearance, from dark amber to a golden summer ale. It can be under 3%

abv Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...

and as high as 7% with premium or strong bitters. The colour may be controlled by the addition of

caramel colouring Caramel color or caramel coloring is a water-soluble food coloring. It is made by heat treatment of carbohydrates (sugars), in general in the presence of acids, alkalis, or salt (chemistry), salts, in a process called caramelization. It is more fu ...

. It is similar to the India pale ale style of beer, though bitters are less hoppy. A survey by SIBA found that in 2020 the average bitter beer strength in the UK was 4.2%.

Sub-types of bitter

;: In England the bottled counterpart of basic bitter; in Scotland, "Light" is the lowest gravity draught beer (normally dark in colour). ;: Strength up to 4.1% abv. This is the most common strength of bitter sold in British pubs. It accounted for 16.9% of pub sales in 2003. ;: Strength between 4.2% and 4.7% abv. In the United Kingdom bitter above 4.2% abv accounted for just 2.9% of pub sales in 2003. The disappearance of weaker bitters from some brewers' rosters means "best" bitter is actually the weakest in the range. ;: Strength of 4.8% abv and over. ;: Golden or summer ale has an appearance and profile similar to that of a

pale lager Pale lager is a pale-to- golden lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. In the mid-19th century, Gabriel Sedlmayr took British pale ale brewing and malt making techniques back to the Spaten Bre ...

. Golden ale is typically brewed without the use of crystal malts, or at least in far lower quantity to a traditional bitter. In 2020, 83.5% of SIBA member breweries were producing 'pale golden bitter'.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bitter (Beer) Beer styles Beer in the United Kingdom

History

Style

Sub-types of bitter

See also

References

External links