Judging...

[Whorst]

Wondering if you agree with the style guidelines for bitter. Seems fair enough. Hopefully the judges have been to England. Thoughts, opinions?

8A. Standard/Ordinary Bitter

Aroma: The best examples have some malt aroma, often (but not always) with a caramel quality. Mild to moderate fruitiness is common. Hop aroma can range from moderate to none (UK varieties typically, although US varieties may be used). Generally no diacetyl, although very low levels are allowed.

Appearance: Light yellow to light copper. Good to brilliant clarity. Low to moderate white to off-white head. May have very little head due to low carbonation.

Flavor: Medium to high bitterness. Most have moderately low to moderately high fruity esters. Moderate to low hop flavor (earthy, resiny, and/or floral UK varieties typically, although US varieties may be used). Low to medium maltiness with a dry finish. Caramel flavors are common but not required. Balance is often decidedly bitter, although the bitterness should not completely overpower the malt flavor, esters and hop flavor. Generally no diacetyl, although very low levels are allowed.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium-light body. Carbonation low, although bottled and canned examples can have moderate carbonation.

Overall Impression: Low gravity, low alcohol levels and low carbonation make this an easy-drinking beer. Some examples can be more malt balanced, but this should not override the overall bitter impression. Drinkability is a critical component of the style; emphasis is still on the bittering hop addition as opposed to the aggressive middle and late hopping seen in American ales.

History: Originally a draught ale served very fresh under no pressure (gravity or hand pump only) at cellar temperatures (i.e. "real ale"). Bitter was created as a draught alternative (i.e. running beer) to country-brewed pale ale around the start of the 20th century and became widespread once brewers understood how to "Burtonize" their water to successfully brew pale beers and to use crystal malts to add a fullness and roundness of palate.

Comments: The lightest of the bitters. Also known as just "bitter." Some modern variants are brewed exclusively with pale malt and are known as golden or summer bitters. Most bottled or kegged versions of UK-produced bitters are higher-alcohol versions of their cask (draught) products produced specifically for export. The IBU levels are often not adjusted, so the versions available in the US often do not directly correspond to their style subcategories in Britain. This style guideline reflects the "real ale" version of the style, not the export formulations of commercial products.

Ingredients: Pale ale, amber, and/or crystal malts, may use a touch of black malt for color adjustment. May use sugar adjuncts, corn or wheat. English hops most typical, although American and European varieties are becoming more common (particularly in the paler examples). Characterful English yeast. Often medium sulfate water is used.
Vital Statistics:
OG FG IBUs SRM ABV
1.032 - 1.040 1.007 - 1.011 25 - 35 4 - 14 3.2 - 3.8%

Commercial Examples: Boddington's Pub Draught, Fuller's Chiswick Bitter, Oakham Jeffrey Hudson Bitter (JHB), Young's Bitter, Brakspear Bitter, Adnams Bitter

[Jim]

[takes bottles off the bar and ducks down behind it]

[Aleman]

I wouldn't disagree with much of whats there

[oblivious]

no mention of quaffing in there

[Martin the fish]

Sounds pretty reasonable. Shame they can't spell colour correctly though.

[prodigal2]

Hmmm whilst I can't really disagree with any of the style guide. I still struggle when a style has such a defined pigeon hole. And citing modern Boddies

[mysterio]

As I understand it, the first beer listed in the commercial examples section of each of the style guidelines are supposed to be what BJCP regard as the best example of the style. Boddies pub draught

Nothing to argue with in those guidelines though.

[Barley Water]

Well what you guys need to remember is that those guidelines are written primarily for us Americans. As such, they tend to use examples which are available to us over here so we can actually try them. I would be willing to bet that many times the examples given are not necessarily the best the style has to offer, just the best most available to us colonists.

I kind of have a love/hate relationship with style guidelines. On the one hand, without judging criterion, you have no contests. On the other hand, I also agree that they tend to restrict creativity. I also think that a beer made to win contests is not always the best "drinking beer", if you know what I mean.

[bluesboy]

Here is the National Guild of Wine and Beer Judges style guide for Bitter

Pale Ale or Bottled Bitter
OG 40-45
Colour & Head
Golden to deep copper. Good head.
Bouquet & Flavour
Hops in the bouquet leading to malt and grain. Full-bodied, malty and grainy with a hoppy bitter farewell. Perhaps a little residual sweetness.

See here for more style guides
http://www.ngwbj.org.uk/beer_styles.html

[Barley Water]

I would agree with you there Daab, if the guys writing the guidelines did not consult with the "natives", then the results would tend to be open to question. One of the reasons I decided to participate on this forum is because I was looking for a different perspective. I don't know that BJCP guidelines are so much about American homebrewers telling the world how things should be done as much as they are an attempt to educate us ignorant yanks. I can't think of one beer bar in Dallas where I have seen a traditional beer engine just to give you an idea of the dismal working conditions over here.

[Martin the fish]

So what happens when a brewery comes up with a new style? Are they not allowed to be 'judged' untill some judge decides that they can be?

Sounds like a load of pants to me. English Ale's should be judged by how nice they are to drink not what 'style' or catagory they fall into. How would you judge an Historical IPA for instance-especially as no-one was around when they were being produced. Plus Historical IPA's don't fall into any of the catagories i can find.

[mysterio]

I'm no defender of BJCP, but as Barleywater alludes to, it is a system that is designed for US competitions. If folks in the US want to brew British style beers, then I think that is great, more power to them. I think its wonderful that there are enough beer lovers in the US to warrant such a system. I think CBA's outlook here is quite parochial when it comes to competitions; 4 or so English categories and a 'foreign' category. The BJCP guidelines are carefully worded and I think DaaB is taking it to an extreme suggesting that they're trying to dictate to us how to brew British ales.

[Martin the fish]

Beer competitions were better when it was how much you could drink

I don't think i'll ever be bothered about what some judge says about my beers. I brew them for me, i love em and i can't get any decent beer here without paying a small fortune anyway.

I think it's good that Yanks are brewing ale's. But i bet half the judges have never been to England and drank a lot of different ale's in a lot of different pubs. 80% (or something like that) of americans don't have a passport. Your not telling me that the judges are the 20% that do???
I don't believe you should be judging other people or their beers unless you have a wealth of experience yourself. To judge english ale's-wherever they are brewed, surely you need to at least have drank some English ale in England in a pub/beer festival. Not just have read about it.
Lots of sweeping generalisations there.

[johnh]

I personally owe the BJCP guidelines a debt of gratitude. When I first read them they fuelled my interest in homebrewing in the days when all I was making was 'real' ale and stout. They opened up a world of beer that I hadn't been aware of before. That's not to say they are perfect by any means and some of the categories themselves are certainly questionable but the fact that nobody has seriously criticised the 'bitter' category description on a british homebrew forum bears testament to it's content.

However the use of these styles in competition seems flawed to me. Barring obvious flaws in process it opens the door to subjectivity in the judging. The taste of beer is quite literally subjective and even within a single style a wide variation is possible and judges prejudices can't be removed. I would like to see a competition where a specifc beer is described in detail rodger-protz-style right down to levels of diacetl, colour, mouthfeel, head, etc. and entrants are invited to reproduce that beer as closely as possible. I believe that not only would this remove some of the subjectivity but would also give direction and stimulate discussion.

Take for example Mysterio's Weissbier recipe he posted yesterday. He knew what he was trying to achieve and used his knowledge or did the research and came up with an inspiring recipe. Not just ingredients but process as well. To me that's what brewing is all about.

[steve_flack]

I don't think i'll ever be bothered about what some judge says about my beers. I brew them for me, i love em and i can't get any decent beer here without paying a small fortune anyway.

I do think there can be a situation where you get used to your beers and how they taste and it's important to get other people to taste them if you want to improve (other than your mates/family who'll probably not say anything negative because they don;t want to hurt your feelings/like free beer!). Case in point, for a couple of years when I started, I was quite happy with my brews but then I got a commercial brewer/experienced homebrewer to taste them. He immediately said 'you don't do anything to get rid of chlorine do you?'. I'd got used to the tcp in my beer.

I don't believe you should be judging other people or their beers unless you have a wealth of experience yourself. To judge english ale's-wherever they are brewed, surely you need to at least have drank some English ale in England in a pub/beer festival. Not just have read about it.

I guess quite a few of the judges have never been here but the last revision of the guideline involved at least one person who has. I know because he asked me for pub recommendations in London for when he last came over.

For that particular style, I think it's a fairly reasonable reflection of the genre. There will always be great beers that fall outside of the guidelines but most would fall inside.