The American Craft Beer Guide To British Beer

, The American Craft Beer Guide To British Beer

Go into any pub in Britain, and more times than not you’ll find the following beers either in cask, on draft or in bottles.

Bitter

This is the catch-all term in the UK for traditional Pale Ales, and there are dozens of brands that fall under the “Bitter” umbrella. Most of these beers are mass-produced by mega-breweries like Anheuser-Busch, Carling or Heineken. Others are brewed by craft breweries that specialize in small batch, limited edition bitters most of the time brewed on the premises.

Very dry and moderately hopped by American standards, a Bitter is a Pale Ale and the more pronounced taste of hops distinguishes it from more mild ales—hence the name.

India Pale Ale (IPA)

The reason it’s called India Pale Ale has increasing been called into question, but basically the British IPA is a hoppier Pale Ale. Hops were originally added to beer as a preservative and legend has it that its name came from the hopped up beers that were brewed to survive a ships long journey to India. Just as in the states the IPA is immensely popular style in the United Kingdom.

An eventual offspring of the Bitter, a true British IPA is marked by a much sturdier malt backbone than most American IPAs.

Stout or Porter

Used more interchangeably than in the US, the stylistic terms Stout and Porters refer to a dark beer dating back to the 1700s in the United Kingdom. Made from dark roasted malted barley and plenty of hops, these dark beers were easy to brew on pub premises, and as a result became popular with landlords and patrons.

There are generally three types of Porter: Brown, Robust and Baltic. Stout is a development of porter, and is stronger, especially the Russian Imperial Stout which in spite of its name originated in England.

Mild

Sometimes called a Brown Ale a Mild is a younger, fresher brew that might not have been through the same amount of cask conditioning as a traditional Bitter.

Most Milds are cheaper and less alcoholic as a result, and is a handy lunchtime pint that doesn’t get in the way of one’s work.

Lager

Originating in the north of mainland Europe, The term “lager” comes from the German for “storage”, as the beer was stored before drinking, traditionally in the same cool caves in which it was fermented. Ales are fermented with top-fermenting yeast at warm temperatures and lagers are fermented with bottom-fermenting yeast at cold temperatures

The Lager made its way to Britain as late as the mid-19th century, but it is now by far the dominant beer in terms of sales in the UK as it is in the US.

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All of the beers listed above remain popular in England, with the Lager being the most common beer in pubs, clubs, restaurants and homes. The Bitter is still enormously popular in the UK and the Stout has a substantial number of drinkers in England (although it’s more popular in Northern Ireland).

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(Special thx to BrewDog for their considerable help with our coverage)

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