Bitter (beer)

Bitter is an English term for pale ale. Bitters vary in colour from gold to dark amber and in strength from 3% to 7% alcohol by volume.

Style

Bitter belongs to the pale ale style and can have a great variety of strength, flavour and appearance from dark amber to a golden summer ale. It can go under 3% abv — known as Boys Bitter — and as high as 7% with premium or strong bitters. The colour may be controlled by the addition of caramel colouring.

Sub-types of bitter

British brewers have several loose names for variations in beer strength, such as best bitter, special bitter, extra special bitter, and premium bitter. There is no agreed and defined difference between an ordinary and a best bitter other than one particular brewery's best bitter will usually be stronger than its ordinary. Two groups of drinkers may mark differently the point at which a best bitter then becomes a premium bitter. Hop levels will vary within each sub group, though there is a tendency for the hops in the session bitter group to be more noticeable.

Microbrewery

A microbrewery or craft brewery is a brewery that produces a small amount of beer. Exact definitions vary, but the terms are typically applied to breweries that are much smaller than large-scale corporate breweries and are independently owned. Such breweries are generally characterized by their emphasis on quality, flavor and brewing technique.

The microbrewing movement began in the United Kingdom in the 1970s — although traditional artisanal brewing existed in Europe for centuries—and subsequently spread to other countries. As the movement grew and some breweries expanded their production and distribution, the more encompassing concept of craft brewing emerged. A related term, "brewpub", refers to a pub or restaurant that brews its own beer for sale on the premises.

Definitions

Microbrewery

Although the term "microbrewery" was originally used in relation to the size of breweries, it gradually came to reflect an alternative attitude and approach to brewing flexibility, adaptability, experimentation and customer service. The term and trend spread to the U.S. in the 1980s, where it was eventually used as a designation of breweries that produce fewer than 15,000 U.S. beer barrels (1,800,000 liters; 460,000 U.S. gallons) annually.

Bitter

Bitter may refer to:

Food and drink

Music

Other

See also

Best

Best or The Best may refer to:

Geography

People

Companies and organizations

Food and drink

Medicine

Games

Acronyms