About 6-7 months ago I started looking into the classic english bitter. Its a style I grew up with, and had a period when I really preferred it to the traditional lagers available here in Norway. I since moved on to other beers, and when I started brewing in 2016, I got into very hoppy pale ales, and that moved to New England Pale ales.
Being a hop head can really mess up your taste when it comes to beer, and cravings for more hops and more flavour are the driving force in your palette. I was able to take a step back.
A classic English bitter is in many ways a simple beer, but the lack of flavour compared to a Neipa, make it one big challenge as a brewer. Its a type of beer that is very unforgiving, and a little error will show big time in the final beer.
Now on the fourth version, we are finally getting somewhere. most of the characteristics i was looking for are falling into place. Yeast took three different types. And the "winner" so far came by accident, making a NEIPA. London Fog had a very nice fruitiness to it, and amidst concerns regarding clarity. we found our match!
Hops was a bigger challenge. it just did not come together. A drastic test proved to give a lot of answers.
Our latest version is purely with bitter hops. And recent research has shown the assumptions on hop characteristics to have its flaws. Personal experience, and better research is part of the work that is required to create a great beer.
This one had ony EKG and Fuggle. It worked out good, but tweaks to the composition come with sensory tests (also known as drinking beer)
But I like getting to tweak, rather than going back to the drawing board..
I have a few beers there anyway.. heard of a Brut IPA??