It’s a risky business move to call anything “bitter” in America. Despite the love for coffee and espresso, dark chocolate, those fancy drink additions literally called ‘bitters’, and IPAs themselves, the word bitter is off putting in a food sense for some weird reason. 

Bitters as a style came about in the old-world pubs still present in England today.  Cask conditioning- a capability unavailable at Side A- is the hallmark of the beers in English pubs.  Each brewery in England typically has at least one bitter, and typically more.  There is also usually a strain of yeast particular to each brewery which imparts a unique regional flavor to those offerings.

Our ESB takes something from points across the spectrum of available information regarding the creation of bitter beers.  Malts from England don’t dominate, but harmonize with the American and Canadian base grains. Emulated water profile, hops, yeast, and brewing technique are all English-derived, and come together to produce a hopefully substantial mimicry of the real thing.  Earthy, slightly fruity and sweet, mildly bitter, but overall balanced.