Beer expert blind tastes 20 British Bitters | The Craft Beer Channel

The beer expert is back with an epic adventure into the world of twiggy British Bitters in bottle! Which will be the best of the Best?!
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[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

SO! What's your favourite bitter in bottle, and is it better on cask?

[@Blarghmasta]

Never had one

[@romaniancraftbeerreviews407]

London Pride is one I enjoy and I can definitely pick up that orange marmalade ester from Fuller's yeast. Oakham JHB holds a dear place in my heart and it's one tasty brew. And I do have a soft spot for Hobgoblin, although not really a session beer ( can't really drink more than one in a row ). Cheers!

[@jackington1994]

In bottles, I've always thought Old Speckled Hen stacks up well against most of the others on offer. Wouldn't necessarily say the same about the cask version though.

[@calumtrimble5611]

Haven't managed it in cask but the Bathams we had when you were on Cloudwaters live show was a stunner in bottle!

[@Jannes-pj4cd]

I’ve never had one, but I’d love to try one

[@TheDoosh79]

I have to admit that if I call in at a random pub and they have Landlord on draught I do a little happy dance inside. Perfect session beer for me.

[@rorrt]

It's an absolute bobby dazzler! For my dad's 70's, we got our local to order a cask of it for a barbecue.. Deeeelightful!

[@mcnichollsdj]

Oh it's my first choice - maybe between that and Black Sheep. Also partial to Three Tuns Best.

[@youtubewatcher703]

when i lived in sheffield I loved it. Drink mainly Pride in London, Landlord is a better session beer though. Boltmaker a nice drop from same brewery

[@tomwood5896]

We live a couple of miles from Keighley and so have plenty of Taylor's pubs to choose from. Landlord is great but if you have the choice Boltmaker is even nicer (and more of a classic best bitter, slightly less strong so a better session beer too).

[@CozzyB]

Let’s be fair Doombar is only the best selling cask beer because it’s one of the cheapest beer in every Wetherspoons in the country.

[@trevecchi1766]

Used to be good when brewed in Rock.

[@johnp8131]

@@trevecchi1766 They say it still is but I reckon it's 'mostly' brewed in Burton upon Trent, even the cask. There's a huge difference in the quality between that and the stuff I've had in Cornwall?

[@kenbarker4747]

Not to forget that it is available in every Pubco pub.

[@jimbryan2271]

Absolute piss

[@HughTheBeerKid]

@@kenbarker4747 because it’s a coors product and they’ll get money off the sky package if they tie the line

[@kenstewart3607]

London Pride was the first bitter that I ever tried and quickly became one of my favorite beers. Really glad to see it ranked so high!

[@johnp8131]

So different from a bottle compared to the draught, not surprising as there's about 0.6% difference? Like them both though.

[@charliecoutts3003]

The best beer in the World and no I don't work for Fullers.....live about a mileand a half from the brewery though 😊

[@jasonquinn4516]

I prefer their ESB. Fuller's Extra Special Bitter may be my most favorite balanced beer.

[@Paul-tp9vf]

Batham's. Unrivalled. Both in Bottle or cask. Three Tuns XXX and Cleric's cure are also excellent in both, and well worth the trip for the aficionado to the Three Tuns Inn in Bishop's Castle, the oldest licensed brewery in England. The best pint of Banks's (we Wulfrunians know) is served at The Swan, Compton, Wolverhampton.

[@Its__Good]

I love these, they're great. Could try one where both you and Brad try the beers separately, and then combine your scores at the end. Would provide a more rounded approach.

[@radicalpaddyo]

Is that the best beer in the world? Nah, just a Tribute.

[@tenchman4526]

Really enjoyed this thanks. I’m heading back this summer to the UK for the first time since 2018, courtesy of COVID, so will be looking out for some of the better ones (I’d have been very disappointed if Tim Taylors didn’t make the top four). Just a shame there aren’t as many pubs as there used to be to enjoy the atmosphere whilst sampling. Whilst there, I’ll do my best to patronise as many pubs as I (responsibly) can to support them. 😊

[@neilwilliams3298]

I love how Harvey's is so distinct. Sussex Bests are lovely

[@richardwilkinson77]

Top job. So glad that London Pride was up top. My go to beer. Landlord and Tribute I also enjoy. If it aint broke don't fix it. Had a bottle of that Hogsback TEA the other day though, and was impressed.

[@71simonforrester]

Loved this video, seeing my preferences agreed with or clashed with! So nice to see this under appreciated class of beers judged by an educated palate. I'm pleased London pride did so well, as a young man, proud of my midlands roots, my first pint if London Pride was an education in the brewing abilities of those " shandy drinking southerners". That and Timothy Taylor Landlord are still among my top favourites for session drinking

[@williamlovering973]

Love a bitter, and a big fan of Banks which considering you could get it for 89p until fairly recently is a bloody good beer

[@erikfuller3991]

Courage Directors is practically impossible to get in draught despite so many Courage pubs in the local area but I have enjoyed a bottle or two from the odd corner shop. A shout out too to the local Bexley Brewery who do a fun range of bottle conditioned beers including bitters.

[@HughTheBeerKid]

Butcombe original is the best bitter I’ve had in bottle, Acorn Barnsley Bitter is THE KING on cask 😍😍

[@terrysquickbeerreview2225]

Gadds no 5 best bitter ale. Class in a bottle. The best I’ve had from a bottle by far. CHEERS!!

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

This is a great point. GADDs make sensational beer in all formats.

[@hawkeyepierce3902]

I'm drinking it from cask as I read this. It is excellent. Eddie Gadd knows what he's doing.

[@garryhulme2125]

A top vid! This was the one I was waiting for, when you appraise beers available to me. I live in a city in the midlands and we are not blessed with the outlets you guys have in London. A couple more like this and I may re subscribe

[@adamsilar]

I had like fiveteen od them and I'm glad that I mostly agree with your rankings... My favorite is probably Tribute or London pride, which is quite easy to get even here in Prague (in bottles)

[@Dlabanec64]

Where can you get the tribute? I've never seen it.

[@adamsilar]

@@Dlabanec64 I wrote it in a bit confusing way. You can buy fullers here. I know that somebody distributed St. Austell as well but that was like eight years ago.

[@Welshhomie]

Think I'll have to try London Pride again! Had some bad experiences with it a few years ago where I suspect it wasn't kept too well. Usually my go to is the Sussex Best or Landlord - though I do love a Boltmaker if I find it

[@porchelvanmagudapathy2435]

Brilliant video as always! Your videos are quite informative and many of them are excellent documentaries! Thank you.

[@laurencetickell3086]

I usually get five points bitter from sainsburys but will be trying some of the classics after watching this. Had an bottle of adnams Broadside inspired by your video recently which was great.

[@danieltaylor3737]

I'm coming over to the UK next month. I will seek out all 20 of these and compare notes (in bottle and on cask).

[@69sjenks]

keep well away from the Doom Bar. Awful beer. Chemical and artificial. You can taste next day's hangover.

[@richharper8159]

Currently (a Brit on holiday) in Oakland drinking Pliny the Elder, watching a video about the best… Best Bitters. Brilliant. And, anyone who knows most of these beers, and knows how good Jonny’s palate is, could have bet on the outcome. Bravo. (Edit)

[@jamesmanders7932]

I'm not sure if it says more about me or the strong label branding, but I knew the top 3 in an instant of seeing the 'strategically placed' pixelation!

[@neilwilliams3298]

Me too

[@Only1_Joe]

All time favourite has to be a local, King Alfred Breweries ‘Saxon Bronze’ Bottled: Otter Bitter and Tribute

[@chrisbarry773]

Harveys Best is not great in bottle but on cask its to me the epitome of what an English best bitter should be. Always loved the nuttiness .

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

It is indeed a shadow of its cask self but I think that's true of all the beers here

[@roberthinscliff4491]

@@TheCraftBeerChannel Any idea where I would be able to get this - I've not had the good fortune to try it in any form as of yet!

[@sonic-factory]

I can't believe you rated St. Peter's so low! I'm a big fan, but then I am a big fan of Harveys too. So you're 50% right!

[@tomvirtue6986]

Used to work at Renegade when it was under a different name, good to see GOB is still a solid beer. A lot of bottled ales tend to be tunnel pasteurised, which does knacker the flavour as a price for longer shelf life, hence why cask is usually better!

[@chriskeene]

This was right up my street, thank you. Like you say, I've always been disappointed how bottled bitters can not recreate the taste of cask. This is particularly an issue as since covid (and everything else going on), pubs which would have 4 cask beers on tap now only have 1 in my experience. Such a shame, but do realise the pub industry is finding it hard at the moment. Lucky for me, being in Brighton, that 1 beer is mostly Harveys. And a shout out, if you are able to, get to the Harveys shop in Lewes, the most amazing selection of bitters/IPAs/darks/stouts/porters. The final thing I would say is I find bottled bitters hard to keep to the right temperature, fridge too cold, room too warm. Outside probably the best

[@cheese1678989]

Doom Bar smelling / tasting like spilled beer is weirdly accurate lol

[@BP-kx2ig]

Doombar is the only bitter I actively dislike. It tastes very chemical to me.

[@aidanw2980]

I’m in Australia and we have an english pub that has london pride on tap which i quite enjoy. They also have Old speckled hen on nitro which i guess is an approximation of being on cask which is also nice but a bit sweeter and richer which is probably due to the lack of carbonation also.

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Used to serve that when I worked in pubs in my teens! It was alright!

[@popeymadethis]

I remember having doom bar in a proper pub down in Cornwall about 15 years ago and it was excellent. These days it just seems disappointing an mediocre. Idk if that’s down to my changing palette, or if the quality has just changed, or if having it on cask locally just enhances it compared to a bottle from tesco. Either way, I’m going to get some London pride

[@Robdunne25]

Going to try Pride again. Had a fullers pub as my local when I turned 18 and over indulged on the pride and went off it. Surprised to see TT landlord did so well. It was sensational when I first tried it, but feel the quality has suffered in recent years

[@aethellstan]

love harveys brewery, i order from them fairly frequently

[@maureenleckie6216]

The beer brewed in Glasgow is known as “Best” beer and it’s so good.

[@WWCLife]

Love a bottle of Tribs. Especially on Cask. I often go for Jail Ale or Bass on cask at my local… cracking drops.

[@theculturebrewingchannel5619]

Landlord and Tribute are my go to traditional British beers.

[@austindando897]

The blur location at first glance in the beginning shook me for a moment.

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Nothing to hide here.

[@Njcworld]

BASS on cask, and Old Speckled in Bottle or Can 👍

[@johnp8131]

If he thought Abbot in a bottle was poor, what would he have thought of a weakened 'Moorlands, Old Speckled Hen' after Greedy King had destroyed it?

[@bobbinsgaming3028]

Just love Harvey's. All over it every time I find it. Surprised you didn't have ESB or Five Points Best in the line up.

[@porchelvanmagudapathy2435]

Wow! I would have been happier if you have rated Timothy Taylor as no.1 followed by Tribute, London Pride and Harvey's but its okay as it is very close. I love these beers, especially the TT in Cask. I look forward to my travel to the UK ;)

[@Doupyourflies]

Great vid. For me these beers taste like chewing on a Woodbine; but as a kid I drank enough of the style to learn to enjoy some.

[@sonsoftheedelweiss72]

Timothy Taylor. I love that biscuit malt taste. Can not get that in states. Unless someone knows please let me know.

[@sonsoftheedelweiss72]

@@pukbobo1423 lived in Great Britain in 80s until this day never had anything better than a cask conditioned ale on hand pump unless at Fells point in Baltimore where they had English ales on a beer engine. There is absolutely nothing better. I cannot believe England has Budweiser in their pubs. I am an American but most American beer is awful including all this new age bs they call beer over here. Just my opinion. Thk you. Cheers!

[@Vinnie13]

No Hooky bitter? For shame! I picked up a bottle of Harvey's when in Lewes last month, looking forward to seeing how it compares to the cask version.

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

I tried to find some and couldn't! Should have ordered online but left it too late

[@johnp8131]

@@TheCraftBeerChannel Morrisons stock it. Most of the time where I am in the east?

[@kildogery]

Landlord and Tribute everytime.

[@SimonC.-bv5vl]

Jonny, your plant needs some love, mate. Love and water.

[@XxHMGrantxX]

All I’ve ever had was bodington’s here in the states but I’ve heard it’s had quite the fall from grace. There’s a severe lack of ale here sadly but I heard there’s a real ale fest in Boston next month, might have to go.

[@willd6215]

Always buy fursty ferret cause its cheap and best beer in local shop but it's always enjoyable

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Interesting! Definitely a budget option for me now!

[@2002chrisking]

Got a soft spot for Badger brewery. The Ship and Shovel at Charing Cross is a classic London pub with sons great Badger beer.

[@2002chrisking]

Really interesting to see your thought process when judging Jonny. I didn't realise scoring relates to closeness to style as much as quality. Cannot disagree that Harveys is the best of the bunch, although Ubu by Purity is excellent on cask. Looking forward to beer expert does supermarket ESB's next. N.b. no 5 Points Best? Not sure if this is just a London thing but it's the best best bitter by far in my local Sainsbury's (no Harveys I'm afraid). What a great video to show how nice and varied traditional English beer can be without the warm brown beer clichés.

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

You have Five Points best in your Sainos?! Damn I wish I did!

[@nopenopenein8243]

Great video. Kinda surprised you missed Trooper.

[@danhoyle6665]

Now do a blind comparison of those top 5 beers, bottles vs cask.

[@antima447]

I've seen more London Pride in the US but always assumed it was another basic import. I'll have to give it a try sometime

[@chriskeene]

My dad grew up in London in the 60s, this is all he drank, the brewery is on the bank of the thames and has a strong heritage

[@johnp8131]

@@chriskeene Never realised how close the back of the brewery was to the Thames until you pointed it out? Even though, I've been in the Mawson Arms (Brewery Tap) a few times before it closed and driven past it countless times on the way to Stamford Bridge!

[@dapotatoboy4066]

“best of the best” in the first 10 seconds get in Bradders

[@johnp8131]

Good to see. My local has three beers on hand pump but I can't get them to stock a decent bitter. They have Tribute but the quality is so variable? All pale, golden and excessively hopped stuff for the kids along side it? What I would give for them to stock Fullers ESB, St Austell HSD or Batemans XXXB. All excellent bottled or cask but fresh cask is always better for me, as I'm not that fond of excessive carbonation. Maybe a little strong, malty or even sweet for most?

[@JackThomasCollins]

HSD is now Hicks

[@paulbrad8061]

Its not Banks, its Banks,s, in Black country pronounced Bonksiz 😁 thanks Johnny really enjoyed

[@connorwinton4343]

Harvey's is best on cask for sure but they do have cold pressed cans for sale.

[@robertpurnell4783]

Beer novice here. Why wasn’t John Smiths in your line up? Isn’t that a really popular bitter?

[@krisjones589]

A bit disappointed you didn't have Rev James by SA Brains. One of my favourites. I would like to know what you think of that.

[@johnp8131]

Always prefer standard SA to Rev James today. However I did think that Rev James was the better beer when brewed by Buckley's before Brains took them over?

[@ThomasBacka]

Hobgoblin is the bitter on tap at my local here in Turku, Finland. I actually prefer it to Bombardier which was on tap before and even to Fuller’s ESB which was on the bitter tap before Bombardier. Haven’t tried Hobgoblin from bottle.

[@MarmiteTheDog]

Sadly, the relaunched Bombardier has been completely ruined. It used to be my favourite, but now tastes like that Ruddles crap.

[@ThomasBacka]

@@MarmiteTheDog It was too expensive for my local pub to keep on tap and it was already a different version to the one on Untappd. I do not miss it. I do miss the ESB tap, but that too turned way too expensive.

[@johnp8131]

@@MarmiteTheDog Don't go there! Since Marstons have taken over everything at the Eagle Brewery, bar Double Chocolate everything has gone even more down hill. And the new, re-named, independent Charles Wells brewery, now known as 'Brewpoint'. Seems to brew mainly insipid pale beers that are all pretty similar?

[@Bicklescab]

Used to be able to get Coniston Bluebird in Morrisons. Back when it was 4 bottles for 6 quid. Halcyon days! :(

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Bluebird in Morrisons?! I had no idea. What a world that must have been

[@Bicklescab]

@The Craft Beer Channel aye, it's been a few years since I had it, though

[@oscars4107]

Hmm I would say that most of your beers here I would class as ales rather than Bitter. Dry hopped probably which is a shame. I wish I could find a really good traditional bitter. Some are close but I havnt found it yet.

[@cogeek797]

Now mix them all into one glass and try it. Growing up we would do that at pizza places with serve yourself soda pop and call it a suicide. Never ending well with all the sugar and caffeine 😂

[@markbailey5673]

Born & raised in Keighley so obviously biased towards Landlord (even though it is only the 3rd best beer TT produce...) but can't disagree with London Pride or Tribute being up there as they're great beers too. But the Harvey's - never heard of it (looked it up - very much a southern thing!) so now need to seek some out.

[@lordofhousestewart1821]

Tribute in bottle and can is still excellent

[@charliecoutts3003]

Well tell us something we don't know London Pride the real "King Of Beers". None better but Tribute and Harveys obviously excellent. Bank's is a quite brilliant beer too, the amount of flavour and depth for a bitter that is only 3.8% is genius brewing and a quid a bottle in most supermarkets which is insane (don't put the price up though ffs!). Great show as always 👍😊.

[@adsfisher]

Curious as to why 2 labelled as pale ales, Landlord and Tribute were included

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Will try to keep the answer short, but essentially British Bitter is a very broad style - initially it was just beer that was more hopped than the popular "milds" of the late 1800s/early 1900s. So they used to - and still do - vary wildly in colour, strength, FG - around the country. As cask went into decline breweries started tweaking recipes and names to attract modern customers. As I reference near the end, those with darker bitters switched to call them "amber ales" and those who had blonder bitters switch to calling them "pale ales". This is a bit annoying historically because Pale Ale should really be reserved for heavily hopped British IPA-like beers. Neither Timmy's nor Tribute are anywhere near hoppy enough to be considered part of the historic pale ale category. So in short - colour is not a differentiator of the Bitter style.

[@markjohnathanappleton8642]

Well said so true

[@greener_cfc4842]

Be interesting to take the knockoff idea further and do an episode like this with whatever knockoffs you can find in Aldi/Lidl and their counterparts. Had the new summer ale from Aldi recently and it is almost identical to Golden Glory from Badger, but more accessible now

[@derekwickham4514]

Worth pointing out that they are all dead beers, and with Harvey's in particular I wish they would bottle condition it. Which is the only British brewery which only brews with it's own hops, and incidentally makes some of the best beers in the Country, including a Best Bitter? - Larkins of Chiddingstone - could be worth a CBC film sometime.

[@tent7014]

Is Soreen the red Bread ?

[@mandrax5472]

Timothy Taylor’s beer changed when they c hanged the bottle from dark glass to clear glass. It used to have body but it lost it. Both my friend and l agreed on this. I wrote to them about it but had no response. I have no idea about the bottle now as l’m abroad.

[@Jo-xg6rk]

its in a dark bottle.just bought it from tescos...my go to beer

[@benreast2382]

Glad to see tribute do well, but isn't it badged as a pale ale?

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

It is, but there's not much distinction - certainly wasn't when it was invented!

[@benreast2382]

Daylight robbery originally. A limited edition ale for the eclipse, i missed out on that as i was drinking john smiths at the time!!!

[@shinrahunter]

Fursty Ferret is my all time favourite British beer so its nice to see you go back to it after your initial score. As so eone who typically sint into butter, I never would have co sidereal it as one.

[@bandsbikesandboozereviews]

Great video as always mate, but I'd question the categorisation of some of them beers as their not really bitters. For example, Hobgoblin (ruby ale), Spitfire (Kentish Ale), Tribute (Pale Ale). I'm also surprised that you chose Timothy Taylor Landlord which to me and also the brewery is an English Pale Ale. Their best bitter is called Boltmaker and it really is the archetypal English bitter, full of strong challenger and fuggles. The term "amber ale" is a strange one for me. I think this is just pure marketing on behalf of the brewers who see the word "bitter" as a bit of a marketing faux-pas and have re-branded it "amber ale". Certainly in the 1970s and 80s "amber ale" wasn't even a thing. Interesting take on the Adnams Best - I tried their Southwold Best Bitter and actually got a distinct clove taste in my review too. I thought I was going mad but it's definitely a thing, certainly in their Southwold Bitter.

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

I have answered this elsewhere but for ease: essentially British Bitter is a very broad style - initially it was just beer that was more hopped than the popular "milds" of the late 1800s/early 1900s. So they used to - and still do - vary wildly in colour, strength, FG - around the country. As cask went into decline breweries started tweaking recipes and names to attract modern customers. As I reference near the end, those with darker bitters switched to call them "amber ales" and those who had blonder bitters switch to calling them "pale ales". This is a bit annoying historically because Pale Ale should really be reserved for heavily hopped British IPA-like beers. Neither Timmy's nor Tribute are anywhere near hoppy enough to be considered part of the historic pale ale category. So I guess a more inclusive title would have been "Supermarket traditional British bottled beers usually found on cask" but with the confusion historically, I though bitters worked better.

[@bandsbikesandboozereviews]

@@TheCraftBeerChannel I think my point about marketing is pertinent in all this, certainly in recent years, for example, the Bath Ales Gem was initially called a Bitter but was then changed to be an "amber ale", ditto London Pride. Would you believe Old Speckled Hen which is a relatively dark beer is now marketed as a Pale Ale, purely to latch onto the recent craft trends. Personally, if we're talking true bitters, I'd add to the list: Fuller's ESB Timothy Taylor's Bolt Maker Adnam's Southwold Bitter Sambrook's Junction Best Bitter Elgood's Warrior Best Bitter I'd certainly take out Spitfire as that's a Kentish Ale (a true Kentish Ale no less) and not a bitter.

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

@@bandsbikesandboozereviews We had Southwold in there! As for the Kentish Ale designation, it's still a bitter. A bit like a blend of wild ale refermented in the bottle is only a geuze when made in the right part of Belgium. Elsewhere it's the same style ,called something else.

[@martingfarrell]

I was always told Spitfire is a bitter and Bishops Finger is the ESB version. 🤔

[@markjohnathanappleton8642]

Well said just what I was thinking

[@jasonquinn4516]

Sad to not see Fuller's ESB here. I find it a far cry more balanced than London Pride.😢

[@sugscottspaz1]

Awesome!

[@WristyGymnast]

Timmy Taylor's is best beer ever, flat cap on, end off

[@simonboughton4705]

Should have added I think I totally agree with most of your scores.

[@simonpaine2347]

Marmalade, Marmalade, I like Marmalade! And which one's pink?

[@brianrossiter2547]

JHB immediately came to me when thinking of a "bitter" that's too bright and hoppy to really be a bitter, haha

[@RaduB.]

I had a bottle of London Pride in my hand today... I regret now not buying it.

[@cogeek797]

I feel that Timmy T's should have finished better but it was still in the top. You did hit it on the head tho, Landlord doesn't do well in the bottle with age. It has a tendency to lose freshness quickly. I still believe it is the best bitter the UK has to offer the world and am sad it's not readily available in the US. Probably a good thing though, I would rather have Landlord very rarely at its best than a constant supply at its worst. English beers never transport well contrary to what history tries to say

[@adamr63]

I wonder how useful judging these bottles ales applies to their cask cohorts. As an example, I for one have always adored Abbots Ale in the pubs in which it was traditionally available, when the bottled version came out I tried it, and then multiple times over the last few years, and always found it insipid and entirely unrelated to the 'real' version. Same as with even some of the big lagers, Heineken in The Netherlands os an excellent and delicious beer wherever you find it on tap, their bottled version may as well be an entirely different brand.

[@theefishlippedone]

Good review, I know most of these and I concur, not that I drink bitters any more, and Doom bar has to be the John Smiths of 2020's

[@Adrian.Kirk.]

Any correlation between the lower scores and clear glass. I was told that clear glass meant that the marketing men won the argument, brown glass meant the brewer won the debate. Then I learnt about lightstruck beer….

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Certainly it will make a difference to the beer! But I didn't detect any lightstrike in these beers.

[@kevinpayne3482]

But right now I’m enjoying a beautiful “maple rauch” beer from von trapp 👍🏻🍻

[@simonboughton4705]

I live in Estonia and homebrew. I miss the cask ales but obviously it doesn't make sense to do cask for one person. So I have been working on cask in a bottle, I would like to send you some, can you DM me a post box or something similar.

[@MarmiteTheDog]

Funnily enough, I find bottled London Pride a little too sweet and Abbot (can) much better balanced. I presume canning it helps with body a little?

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

This is an interesting question because canned beer often feels smoother. Can't think of a technical reason why.

[@rcollingridge1]

You say it’s a style that’s been left behind, I’m curious whether that’s because a lot of these more trad beers are uninspiring, or they became uninspiring because more modern brewers left them behind

[@colinwhite4710]

I wish Flowers best bitter was still around

[@russ1046]

Anyone else call it Doom Blah or is that just me? Growing up Batemans XXXB used to be a go to in pubs but I haven't had a bottle in a while - although maybe XB is their "best bitter"? Or maybe they're both pale ales ... I don't know 🤣

[@alexshort8055]

Perhaps here isn’t the most appropriate place to make this point, but am I alone in feeling that the cask and bottled bitters have been unduly overlooked in recent times due to the so-called ‘craft beer revolution’? Don’t get me wrong: I do like a Beavertown or a Northern Monk, yet I feel that many of those who drink such ‘trendy’ beers are unaware of the likes of Badger and Black Sheep. These very English and traditional breweries deserve more love.

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Very much the place to make this point, and very much our feelings about it too! We make a lot of videos championing British traditional styles as we love them as much as any other beers from anywhere in the world. And as this video showed, there is great variety and quality even within just one of those styles!

[@Jaedon-green]

This was fun, but think this needs taking to the next level… would love to see this repeated with bitters submitted from home brewers only. Might end up messy 🤣

[@rorrt]

Doombar on draught is okay but in a bottle it's incredibly fizzy. It hurts my face with it's fizz. In my local all they sell on draught is Doombar and Butcombe Original. The latter is my first choice, and is pretty good in a bottle too.. They used to have Tribute and Courage Best on draught.. Best is like if a committee of committees did market research with people who find mayonnaise too spicy and mirrors too shiny, to create a beer. It's incredibly dull.. My dad used to drink it, if I had to swap over because the other beers were off I'd go "has this gone bad?" "is this how it's supposed to taste?" Shocker...

[@oliverhemmings1978]

Loved this video, big fan of these beers as cask is life! Although this has thrown a bit of a spanner into my understanding of the beer style/categories as aren't Bitters, Best Bitters and English Pale Ales all different? Since getting into beer I've always had Pride, Tribute and Timmy Taylor in my top 5 but aren't these English Pale Ales?

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

I have answered this elsewhere but for ease: essentially British Bitter is a very broad style - initially it was just beer that was more hopped than the popular "milds" of the late 1800s/early 1900s. So they used to - and still do - vary wildly in colour, strength, FG - around the country. As cask went into decline breweries started tweaking recipes and names to attract modern customers. As I reference near the end, those with darker bitters switched to call them "amber ales" and those who had blonder bitters switch to calling them "pale ales". This is a bit annoying historically because Pale Ale should really be reserved for heavily hopped British IPA-like beers. Neither Timmy's nor Tribute are anywhere near hoppy enough to be considered part of the historic pale ale category. So in short - colour is not a differentiator of the Bitter style. As for Pride, has and always will be a Bitter!

[@oliverhemmings1978]

@@TheCraftBeerChannel Thanks for the response, brilliant answer, that's cleared my mind somewhat and I'll go forward with that. I actually put Pride in there because it started the whole confusion. Back in 2018 I was at a beer meeting at Fullers (they selected people across the company who showed a interest/knowledge/passion for beer) the head brewer at the time Georgie Young held up a glass of pride (without saying what it was) and asked the room what style of beer it was. I said out loud 'bitter' and people in the room and on my table said English pale ale and then she said English pale ale. I felt like a right muppet, but I guess I wasn't completely wrong.

[@mattsearle1]

Rewind to the end?

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Glad someone called me out on that nonsense

[@mkeysou812]

REALLY wish you'd done TT Boltmaker, NOT Landlord. It's my favourite best bitter and has way more character than TTL (which isn't really a best bitter and I find overrated and a bit boring) Other than that I really enjoyed this review, thanks!

[@markjohnathanappleton8642]

So true boltmaker is a good bitter

[@posterisedobserver6291]

So every juicy neipa I've had recently has had a decidedly durian note to it. What's with that?

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Overripe fruit notes? Likely the hops being used in these beers now - selection is always pushing for juicier aroma. That, coupled with ever juicier yeast profiles and sweeter and sweeter finishing gravities of NEIPAs.

[@Leopolis_P]

Thumbs up for the pork pie

[@tubbs_chubbs]

The average score is pretty high here - do you think that´s becuase the style is quite forgiving? Compared to, say, the low-alcohol test where it seems you've nowhere to hide if there's something not right with the beer.

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

I think that's certainly true. You need quite a bad fermentation to cut through everything else going on! And yet some still managed it...

[@Curly_Captures]

I remember Doom Bar and Hobgoblin being nice maybe 10 years ago. I'm guessing the quality has just degraded massively since then. Although this was when I was at uni so I doubt I had very high standards then.

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

I expect your palate has changed more than the beers!

[@downsideup119]

Epic!