British Beer

When we were living in Belgium, I posted a pretty lengthy entry about the different Belgian beer styles. I've been meaning to do the same for the UK, now that we're here. Well, we've been here for nearly 7 months, so I'm a bit behind I guess. But there's a good reason for that: I'm just not as excited about British beer as I am for Belgian beer -- those who know me will find that quite an understatement. It's not that British beer is bad, it's just not as wonderfully varied as Belgian beer. There are less styles of beer and less differentiation between each style. Anyway...

You can get quite a bit of bottled or canned beer here and some of it is quite good, but the most appealing (and traditional) way of serving British beer is hand-pumped or gravity-fed directly from the "cask". The beer that is served this way is called "Real Ale" because it is essentially still living. When fermentation is almost done, it is syphoned into steel barrels after a natural clarifying agent is added. The clarifying agent helps the yeast and protein-particles settle after transport to the pub. After syphoning, the beer is essentially ready to drink in about two weeks. A good pub will not serve it before that time, but will also stop serving it when it has gone stale (about one week after the first pint has been poured). This method of serving beer is what gave birth to the incorrect notion harbored by most people who have never been to the UK and tried a "proper Real Ale": in England the beer is warm and flat.

While Real Ale generally has low-to-no carbonation and is served at room-temperature or slightly colder, it is not "warm and flat". You only have to taste a pint from a CAMRA-sanctioned good pub (like the multiple award-winning Fat Cat in Norwich) to get an idea of what Real Ale is all about. A pint from a properly stored, recently-tapped cask will be lively, aromatic, and flavorful. On the other hand, a pint from a cask that has "gone-off" can be a rather putrid experience (sour, tepid, cardboardy, yeasty... disgusting). With an open mind and a good pub, it won't take long to get used to drinking room-temperature beer or to be able to tell whether or not it is fresh. The one thing I haven't gotten used to is the volume of liquid! An imperial pint is a lot of fluid when you're used to the 25-33cl servings of Belgian beer. Gut-busting!

Without further ado, here are some definitions. I must admit, though, that I didn't write them. They are grafted from other sources. Sorry, not only should I be working on my Silent Cinema paper, but I just couldn't get enthused enough to write them myself.

"Real Ale - A name created by the Campaing for Real Ale (CAMRA) in 1973. It is the name for a draught (or bottled) beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container (i.e cask or bottle) from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide, or a mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Real ale is also known as cask-conditioned beer." [ source: CAMRA ]

Styles:

"Barley Wine. 'Barley wine' is the evocative name coined by British brewers to describe an extremely potent ale that can range from golden copper to dark brown in color. They are characterized by extravagant caramel malt flavors and bittering hops that prevent the malt sweetness from cloying. Rich and viscous, they can have in their most complex manifestations winey flavor profiles, with a hint of sweetness. Some examples are vintage dated and can improve with extended bottle age. These powerful brews are classically sold in small "nip" bottles and can be consumed after dinner or with dessert.

Bitter. Bitter is an English specialty, and very much an English term, generally denoting the standard ale--the 'session' beer --in a English brewers range. They are characterized by a fruitiness, light to medium body and an accent on hop aromas more than hop bitters. Colors range from golden to copper. Despite the name they are not particularly bitter. Indeed, British brewed 'bitters' will often be less bitter than US craft brewed amber ales. A fuller bodied bitter is labeled as 'Extra Special Bitter' (ESB). These weightier versions of bitter often stand up better to the rigors of travel overseas than the lower gravity standard versions. An important element of faithful bitters are English yeast cultures used in fermentation. These impart a fruity, mildly estery character that should be noted in examples of the style. Bitters are now widely emulated in North America, sometimes with domestically grown hops imparting a rather more assertive character than seen in traditional English bitters.

English Style Brown Ale. The precise definition of English Brown Ale would depend on where you are in England. It is nowadays much more closely associated with Northern England, specifically Tadcaster and Newcastle, home to Newcastle Brown Ale. These medium-bodied reddish-brown beers are malt accented with a nutty character, a gentle fruitiness, and low bitterness. Alcohol is moderate, a maximum of 5%ABV. The much less prevalent Southern English style, not seen abroad, is much darker in color, sweeter on the palate, and made in a lighter style.

India Pale Ale (IPA). India Pale Ales are deep gold to amber in color, and are usually characterized by floral hop aromas and a distinctive hop bitterness on the finish. India Pale Ales were originally brewed by British brewers in the 19th Century, when British troops and colonizers depended upon supplies of beer shipped from England. Standard ales did not survive the journey, hence brewers developed high gravity, highly hopped ales that survived shipment in casks to their largest market, India. This style, probably not anywhere near as bitter as it was when destined for India, continues to be brewed in a toned down manner in the UK and is undergoing a mini-revival at present.

Mild Ale. Mild ale is a traditional style of English ale that is characterized by darker colors, sweetish malt flavors, subtle hopping levels all within a lower alcohol frame (typically 3.5%). Their purpose is to allow the drinker to get a full quotient of flavor in a 'session' beer--a trick to which English ale brewing lends itself readily. In the 1940's Mild was more popular than bitter in English pubs, though it is less common now.

Scottish Ale. Scottish ales are typically full-bodied and malty, with some of the classic examples being dark brown in color. They are more lowly hopped than the English counterparts and often have a slightly viscous and sweet caramel malt character due to incomplete fermentation. Scottish style ales can be found in far flung corners of the world where faithful versions are brewed, this being a legacy of its popularity in the British Empire. In the US many craft brewers produce a Scottish style ale.

Strong Ale. Strong Ales are sometimes referred to as old ales, stock ales or winter warmers. These beers are higher alcohol versions (typically between 5.5-7%ABV) of pale ales, though not as robust or alcoholic as barley wines. Usually a deep amber color, these brews generally have a sweet malty palate and a degree of fruitiness. If 'bottled conditioned,' strong ales can improve for some years in bottle, in some cases eventually obtaining Sherry-like notes."
[source: Beer: British & North American Style Ales By Marc Dornan]


But he forgot a few:

"Porter. Porter is said to have been popular with transportation workers of Central London, hence the name. Most traditional British brewing documentation from the 1700’s state that Porter was a blend of three different styles: an old ale (stale or soured), a new ale (brown or pale ale) and a weak one (mild ale), with various combinations of blending and staleness. The end result was also commonly known as "Entire Butt" or "Three Threads" and had a pleasing taste of neither new nor old. It was the first truly engineered beer, catering to the publics taste, playing a critical role in quenching the thirst of the UK’s Industrial Revolution and lending an arm in building the mega-breweries of today.

Porter saw a comeback during the homebrewing and micro-brewery revolution of the late 1970’s and early 80’s, in the US. Modern-day Porters are typically brewed using a pale malt base with the addition of black malt, crystal, chocolate or smoked brown malt. The addition of roasted malt is uncommon, but used occasionally. Some brewers will also age their beers after inoculation with live bacteria to create an authentic taste. Hop bitterness is moderate on the whole and colour ranges from brown to black. Overall they remain very complex and interesting beers.

Stout. As mysterious as they look, stouts are typically dark brown to pitch black in color. A common profile amongst Stouts, but not in all cases, is the use of roasted barley (unmalted barley that is kilned to the point of being charred) which lends a dry character to the beer as well as a huge roasted flavor that can range from burnt to coffee to chocolate. A different balance of hops is up to the brewers preference, but the roasted character must be there.

Oatmeal Stout. These are generally medium to full bodied stouts that have an unreal smoothness to them from the addition of oats to the mash. The oats not only add a lot of smoothness to the mouth feel but give a touch of sweetness that is unlike any other type of stout. Both levels of roasted flavor and hop character will vary.

Milk / Sweet Stout. Milk / Sweet Stouts are basically stouts that have a larger amount of residual dextrins and unfermented sugars that give the brew more body and a sweetness that counters the roasted character. Milk Stouts are very similar to Sweet Stouts, but brewers add unfermentable sugars, usually lactose, to the brew kettle to add body and some sweetness." [source: BeerAdvocate]

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Of the above, my favorite's are porter, Scottish ale, Strong ale, and occasionally a Mild or an IPA. And if I had my way, I'd only drink them from the cask but really the only way of doing that is to go to a pub (which is tough to do on our limited budget). Consequently, I drink primarily the bottled beers which often are a bit boring. Alternatively, I could get a "beer-in-a-box" or a "polypin" (a hand-carriable version of a cask) but it would be hard for me to finish one of these by myself before it went stale. So what's a man to do but to slowly deplete his stash of Belgian beers?

-RP-