An English Bitter, otherwise known as an Ordinary Bitter, is a historic, flavorful, and sessionable beer style that’s unfortunately not too popular in the modern craft beer world. Here at Clawhammer, we love bitters and it’s always a treat when we find one at a local spot that’s poured using a beer engine from a cask. If you’re looking for a beer that you can serve with light snacks during a holiday gathering and you can drink all day, this is the recipe for you.

This recipe is tailored for the Clawhammer Supply 10 Gallon 120 Volt Brewing System, watch us use it in the video below.

Full Brew Day Video

Benchmarks

OG: 1.038

FG: 1.011

ABV: 3.5%

Water

Start your brew day with 7.02 gallons (26.5 liters) of water. We added in some gypsum in order to help get our PH right. 

Grains

The grain bill for this recipe is as follows:

Pale Malt (Maris Otter) - 7 lbs (112 ounces)

Victory Malt - 8 oz

Caramel/Crystal Malt - 70L - 4 oz

Mash

We mashed at 156F (68.9C) for 60 minutes. After 60 minutes, we raised our temp to 168F (75.5C) for a 10-minute mash out. After a 10 minute mash out, we lifted our grain basket and allowed all the wort that was absorbed by the grain to drain out. While we were waiting, we set our controller to boil temp.

Boil

Boil Volume - 6.25 gallons (23.7 liters)

Once our wort was up to boil we did 2 hop additions. We did a 60 minute boil.

• 60 Minutes - 1 oz of East Kent Goldings
• 10 Minutes - .5 oz of East Kent Goldings / .5 oz of Fuggles

Post Boil Volume - 5.73 gallons (21.7 liters)

Yeast and Fermentation

After boiling, cool your wort down to around 70F (21.1C) and pitch one packet of WLP002 English Ale Yeast. Ferment at 67F (19.4C) for 2 weeks.

Tasting

This beer turned out exactly how we wanted it. We tasted nice malty flavors with a slightly sweet finish. Serve this beer up at a dinner party or holiday gathering and pair it with meats and cheeses or other snacks. With a final ABV of 3.5%, you could drink this all night or all day.