Classic English Bitter – A Traditional Session Ale

Classic English Bitter – A Traditional Session Ale

Classic English Bitter

English bitter is the quintessential pub ale – malt-forward, sessionable, and deeply satisfying. This recipe produces a traditional best bitter with notes of biscuit, toffee, and a gentle hop bitterness that lingers pleasantly.

Specifications

  • Batch Size: 23 litres
  • Expected ABV: 4.2%
  • Bitterness: 30 IBU
  • Colour: Amber
  • Fermentation Time: 2 weeks

Ingredients

Fermentables

  • 3.5 kg Maris Otter pale malt
  • 300 g crystal malt (60L)
  • 150 g biscuit malt

Hops

  • 30 g East Kent Goldings (60 minutes)
  • 20 g Fuggles (15 minutes)
  • 15 g East Kent Goldings (flame out)

Yeast

  • 1 packet English ale yeast (such as SafAle S-04 or similar)

Other

  • Half a Campden tablet (to treat chlorinated tap water)
  • Irish moss or kettle finings (optional, for clarity)

Method

Step 1: Prepare Your Water

Fill your brew kettle with 15 litres of water and crush half a Campden tablet into it to remove chlorine. Heat to 68°C for the mash.

Step 2: Mash

Add all crushed grains to your mash tun and pour over the heated water. Stir thoroughly to avoid dough balls. Maintain a temperature of 66-67°C for 60 minutes. This produces a medium-bodied beer with good fermentability.

Step 3: Sparge

Heat an additional 12 litres of water to 76°C. Slowly sparge through the grain bed, collecting the sweet wort in your kettle until you have approximately 26 litres of pre-boil volume.

Step 4: Boil

Bring the wort to a rolling boil. Add the 30 g of East Kent Goldings hops and set your timer for 60 minutes. At 15 minutes remaining, add the 20 g of Fuggles. If using Irish moss, add this at 10 minutes remaining. At flame out, add the final 15 g of East Kent Goldings and stir gently.

Step 5: Cool and Transfer

Cool the wort as quickly as possible to 18-20°C using a wort chiller or ice bath. Transfer to a sanitised fermenter, leaving behind as much trub as possible.

Step 6: Ferment

Pitch the yeast and seal your fermenter with an airlock. Ferment at 18-20°C for 7-10 days until activity ceases and gravity stabilises around 1.010-1.012.

Step 7: Condition and Package

Transfer to a secondary vessel or proceed directly to bottling or kegging. For bottle conditioning, add priming sugar at approximately 80-90 g dissolved in a small amount of boiled water. Allow bottles to condition for 2 weeks at room temperature before refrigerating.

Brewing Tips

  • Maris Otter is essential for that authentic biscuity English character – don't substitute with standard pale malt if you can help it.
  • English bitters benefit from a slightly lower carbonation level than American ales, so go easy on the priming sugar.
  • For extra authenticity, serve at cellar temperature (10-12°C) rather than fridge-cold.

Recommended Products

Find everything you need to brew this classic bitter at BrewCo:

Cheers, and happy brewing!

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