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Lesser known and Misunderstood English Beer Styles

Antony Hayes

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Why bother?Popularity has its reasons

Frequent brewing ironed out kinks

We have more control today

We don’t innovate; we look in the archivesJohn Keeling, Brewing Director at Fullers

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English Beer Families

Pale Ale

Porter

Brown Beer

Strong Ale

Light Ale Bitter India Pale Ale

London Brown Ale Mild Old AleNewcastle Brown Ale

Common Porter Stout Porter Russian Imperial Stout

Old Ale Vintage Ale Barley Wine

MildPaleDark Strong

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Today’s talk

Pale Ale

Porter

Brown Beer

Boys Bitter Golden Ale

Milk Stout

Old Ale

Burton Ale

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Thanks to the brewers

Susan Ruud

Golden Ale

Curtis Stock

Burton Ale

Old Ale

Tom Roan & Nancy Bowser

Boys Bitter

Vince Rokke

Milk Stout

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Milk stout; who likes milk stout? Big Brew 1999

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My first love

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History of sweet stout

1875 19461907

Mild stout Mackeson patents milk

stoutGovernment bans use

of “milk”

on label

1970

85% of UK’s stouts sweet

Initially Mackeson’s OG was 1.054 (5% abv)Currently 1.045 (3% abv) in England

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What leads to the thought, “I feel like a milk stout”?

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Picture my Gran

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Snowblower beer

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Brewing Milk Stout

Sweet stout–

Traditional milk stout

–

25g lactose per litre (0.5 oz per pint)

–

Pale, wheat and black malt. Mash at 68ºC (155ºF)

–

Poorly attenuating yeast

Off-dry stout–

Less lactose

–

Some crystal malt to broaden character

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Moving into Summer

English lawnmower beer

Boys Bitter

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What is it?OG 1.030 - 35

Straw to amber. Light head.

Lightly hopped. Clean, dry and refreshing.

No flavour components prominent

A low alcohol bitter

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Brewing Boys BitterMust be refreshing – but not taste “lite”

Characterful pale malt – mash at 68ºC (155ºF)

Touch of crystal

Fuggles/ Goldings

Medium attenuating yeast – clean profile

Subtlety and Balance

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Summer at the Pub

England’s answer to continental lager

Golden Ale

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What is it?OG 1.038 – 53

Straw to golden. Brilliant clarity. White head.

More hops than malt

Clean aroma and flavour

Drinkability is critical

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This style of beer should have a distinct pale malt character, but it should act as a more-or-less blank canvas

onto which the hop character is projected.

Sean Franklin & Zak Avery

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Single Varietal Golden Ale

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Brewing Golden AleLow colour pale malt

Top quality hops

Clean, well attenuating yeast

English ingredients

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Gone for a Burton

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What is it?Sweeter and darker than an India Pale Ale

OG 1.070 to 1.120

Prolonged cellar treatment

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Some historyRoots are 1740 to 1820 export trade to Riga, Danzig, St Petersburg and Hamburg. Nut brown or darker, and sweet. High strength was its selling point1824 recipe: 1.140 and 4.5 pounds of hops per barrel. Matured for 18 months.Bass red diamond had 4 strengths:

–

1.110 to 1.070 –

weaker versions sold as mild

In London, Old and Burton were synonyms–

“Bitter -and-

Burton”

was termed a “Mother-in-Law”

Fuller’s Old Burton Extra morphed into ESB

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What is a Burton Ale?“Burton is a strong ale of the pale ale type, but with a proportion of highly dried or slightly roasted malt; it is consequently darker in colour with a fuller flavour than pale ales. Essentially a draught beer, it is usually given a prolonged cellar treatment, in the course of which those special flavours develop

which are associated with maturity in beer.”

The Brewers Art, 1948

The Burton which, like Sancho’s sleep, ‘wraps one round like a blanket’

Charles Knight, 1851

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Brewing Burton AleLots of pale malt (OG 1.070 to 1.120)

A touch of black malt for colour – target nut brown

Plenty of English bittering hops

Poorly attenuating English yeast

12 to 18 months maturation

Dry hopped at racking, and stored cool for some weeks

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What is Old Ale?

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Old Ale?

“Brewed to an original gravity of 1040°

- 1044°

this dark, full bodied beer combines sweetness and strength to produce an exceptionally smooth palate.”

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Old Ale?

“This is a mild ale style beer brewed with East Anglian pale ale and Crystal malted barley and Boadicea hops, dark red brown in colour with an aroma of caramel and nutty chocolate.”

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Old Ale

“Gales Prize Old Ale is a carefully crafted blend of brews, one aged and one fresh, giving the beer a unique flavour and character. The aged beer, brewed in 2008 and matured for over 18 months, is also seeded with a small amount of the last Prize Old Ale to be brewed at the Gales Brewery in Horndean, Hampshire.”

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Aging and Brettanomyces

Brettanomyces was isolated by Niels Hjelte Claussen in 1903

Brettanomyces translates as “British fungus”

Brett character was the signature of English stock beers

Aging allows Brett character to develop and for the beer’s components to meld

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Blending

John Keeling, Brewing Director at Fullers

Blend an aged and a fresh beer Find the ratio that works for you

“Gales’

method of fermenting the beer in open vessels gave it some intriguing qualities, particularly a fruity tartness. By adding some of the

beer brewed at Horndean to each new release we will maintain some of those characteristics, while blending aged beer and the fresher version gives the finished article a more balanced flavour, as the malty sweetness from the fresh beer kicks in.”

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Making sense of English strong ales

India Pale Ale

Burton Ale

Old Ale

Russian Imperial Stout

Winter Warmers

Vintage Ale

Barley Wine

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ReferencesAmber, Gold & Black: The History of Britain's Great Beers, Martyn Cornell

Beer: The Story of the Pint : The History Of Britain's Most Popular Drink,Martyn Cornell