Anyone Suggest Examples Of Bitter

[DC_FC]

As the title says, I am after examples of bitter. I have always assumed John Smiths was a bitter, had I assumed correctly or not ?

On sainsburys website it says the Green labelled can of JS is a Yorkshire Smooth ale yet the item is called Extra Smooth Bitter.

So is an ale just a type of bitter then ?

Thanks for any responses

[emmie]

\i have always considered John Smith beer as a bitter,
just like Spitfire..

[emmie]

https://www.thedrinkshop.com/item/2353/shepherd-neame-spitfire?gclid=CjwKCAiAx57RBRBkEiwA8yZdUDBhWG5WxJlrSWKjNxcjRCy3dY1ykU6N998wLaKvs44gLV3bKTANNRoCzssQAvD_BwE

[emmie]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_(beer)

gives lots of info. Spitfire is lovely by the way..

[Flonska]

This may help?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_(beer)

[Flonska]

For examples . . . this link, apparently, rates up to 100 english bitters.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/lists/style/98/

[New Judge]

There are two main types of beer – ale and lager. The main difference is the type of yeast used to produce them. Ales use “top fermenting” yeasts where the yeast works on the sugars on top of the brew whilst lagers use “bottom fermenting” yeasts which work at the bottom.

Bitter is a type of ale which is flavoured with hops to give it its bitter taste. Most “real ales” are bitters. Real Ales are conditioned in the cask, with the yeast continuing to work whilst the beer is being dispensed. It is thus a “live” ale and is pressurised in the cask by the continual production of CO2 from the live yeast. It requires no additional gas to move it to the dispensers (“pumps”) in the bar. The “smooth ale” which you describe is not a “real ale”. It is a pasteurised beer where the yeast has been killed off at the end of the production process. It requires additional CO2 to be pumped into the keg to move the beer to the bar. Many of these ales are sold in cans.

So…all bitters are ales and all ales are beers. But not all beers are ales (because some are lagers).

[Old_Geezer]

Vice versa, a bitter is just a type of ale.

[EDDIE51]

There are two types of Ale , Bitter and Mild. Lager is different again, as NJ says it is brewed using a different brewing process. It is also a lot cheaper to brew which is why the breweries have promoted it so heavily.
http://www.camra.org.uk/mild
Real Hand pumped Keg Mild is hard to find now but it used to be more popular than Bitter.

[Buenchico]

Ales are classified here:
http://www.camra.org.uk/different-styles

John Smith's beer isn't 'ale', 'bitter' or anything else. It's just tasteless, chemical muck.

If you really want to learn about different British beers try . . .

Young's Double Chocolate Stout. (It's sold by Tesco throughout the year and by Morrison's around Christmas)

Shepherd Neame's Porter (which is sold by Sainsbury's as their own-brand London Porter and by Asda as their Extra Special Whitechapel Porter).

Asda's Extra Special Golden Ale (also from Shepherd Neame).

Asda's Extra Special Mainbrace India Pale Ale (Shepherd Neame again)

Brakspear Bitter (sold in Waitrose)

Thwaite's Dark Mild Ale. (Unusually good for canned beer, from Morrison's, Tesco and Sainsbury's)

Those beers are definitely NOT the very best British beers available. (There are many better ones available on draught in pubs). However they're all 'highly quaffable' and easily obtained sin supermarkets. Give them all a try to find out what style suits you best!

[Old_Geezer]

Have to say I had a nice pint of Bath Ales Festive on Monday. Worth a try.

[Jackdaw33]

Apparently there is a difference between ale and beer but I can't remember what it is.

[Gromit]

Ale is just another name for beer.
So bitters and milds are also real ales.
One of the country’s best beers, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord is actually described as a pale ale, not a bitter.

I am currently enjoying Treed Brewery’s Hopster. Lovely floral taste.

‘Smooth’ is a product description meaning the beer has added nitogen gas to make it frothy.
Cask Ales are naturally lively and have a good creamy head. Keg Ales (such as John Smiths) are pasturised and flat, so gas is added to infuse it with bubbles and give the appearance of being ‘live’.
I think you may be talking about supermarket bottled beers. Yoy should look for ones that are described as ‘cask conditioned’ or Craft beers.

[tonyav]

Try a drop of Banks's bitter, a taste of the Black country.
https://alcoholandaphorisms.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/banks-bitter.jpg

[Tilly2]

My dad used to say that John Smiths was 'pussy pea'. He liked Abbot Ale.

[tonyav]

Your dad was right, Yilly.

[Buenchico]

Your Dad was far more polite than I'd be about John Smiths, Tilly2 ;-)

[Jackdaw33]

I drank Bank's when I worked in Bromsgrove.

[Tilly2]

...and Bombardier.

[Old_Geezer]

That's why you can't remember what it is, Jack.

[Jackdaw33]

You think JS is cat's wee? Have you never drunk McKewan's Tartan or Watney Red Barrel?