ESB: Experts from the U.S. and U.K. Share How to Make a Great One

Photography courtesy of MacLeod Ale Brewing Co.

Keeling says the great thing about an ESB is the balance. And despite the term extra special bitter, he says these beers should not be overly bitter. Fuller’s makes two versions—an ESB for cask and a separate higher-ABV one for kegs and bottles.

“ESB is best expressed in a pint,” says Keeling, who prefers Fuller’s ESB in cask. “What it does particularly on draft, on cask, the first thing you notice is the hoppiness and the bitter on the palate. … It was quite bitter for its day, but no longer today.”

Overall, Keeling says it’s about drinkability, whether it’s the British version or the one made in the U.S.

“Americans are balanced more toward the hop. British are balanced toward malt. Both fine in their own right,” Keeling says. “British is balanced more for the malt, which makes it more ideal for the cask, and the malt can be expressed better. In a keg, the hoppy bitterness comes through more.”

Welsby believes in designing an ESB for savoring, letting the beer last longer. A classic bitter, he says, is a session beer.

“ESB should be a mid-brown, mahogany colored, robust, malt driven strong ale, with a distinct hop character and bitterness,” he says. “It’s a full-flavored beer—distinct from a bitter or best bitter, which, as well as being lower in strength, are often paler and deliberately less full of flavor.”

ESB is best expressed in a pint,

John Keeling - Retired Brewmaster for Fuller's Griffin Brewery

Dancing Gnome Founder and Brewer Andrew Witchey says balance is the most significant thing for him with ESB.

“Definitely malt and hop—it’s bitter, so IBU perspective—need to be balanced,” he says. “But even the flavor and CO2 and how they all interplay together to create the beer you’re trying to drink [are important to balance].”

Witchey adds that the beer needs a distinctly English character from the deeper, richer malt character of English barley.

“And an herbal tea character from British hop, opposed to American citrus character,” Witchey says. “Those define ESB for me.”

Good Word Owner and Brewer Todd DiMatteo says he prefers a lower-ABV version of the style, a best bitter, but points out that whether it’s an ordinary bitter, best bitter, or extra special bitter, they all scale linearly.

When it comes to an extra special bitter, though, “I want some malt complexity but not heavy—I want 2.3 to 2.8 plato finish,” DiMatteo says. “And enough bitterness to keep me drinking it and keep me coming back to it.”

DiMatteo adds, “Not too heavy as far as the body goes, not too sharp on carbonic, and moderate bitterness.”

Ideally, DiMatteo says he prefers a bitter on cask and consumed fresh.

Photography courtesy of Dancing Gnome

Witchey says ingredient selection is crucial to executing a quality ESB.

“That could be said about any style, but with ESB, they are much more difficult,” Witchey says. “It’s a broad category in the sense that there are multiple ways to interpret it, but it’s in a tighter-bound section.”

He adds, “The ingredients have to be English-derived.”

Echoing Witchey, DiMatteo says to be sure to use English malt and yeast.

“I am a big proponent of using malt appropriate to what you are going to brew,” he says. “If you’re brewing a German beer, use German malt; Czech beer, use Czech malt; and for an English, use English malt. For English malt, I like to use Thomas Fawcett.”

But DiMatteo has a different feeling about the hops.

“English hops are not quite where they once were, so we do use some, but we like to use Belgian hops in our English beers,” DiMatteo says. “Like Belgian Fuggles and Belgian Goldings. We would like to stay true to English ingredients but prefer the Belgian versions.”

DiMatteo adds that brewers should be aware of the yeast because English yeast tends to re-ferment.

“These beers tend to leave more sugar left over than lagers, so the yeast can re-ferment, and you aren’t going to want that,” he says. “Being able to filter your beer from fermenter to brite is important.”

As for brewing the style, Witchey advises practicing simplicity.

“A lot of folks get carried away with reaching certain flavor notes,” Witchey says. “But for this, simple works better.”

And don’t forget the serving method. Witchey says if you’re able, the traditional method of serving out of a cask is the way. Dancing Gnome doesn’t have a cask, but opts to serve its ESB on nitro.

“CO2 is an ingredient, and it will change the character of the beer,” he says. “I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to do it, but the traditional cask is the best way to serve it.”

Welsby reiterates the importance of serving as well.

“If cold and from a keg, you’ll want to consider how that might impact body, mouthfeel, and intensity of flavor,” he says. “If serving from cask, be careful not to make it too full-flavored and robust”

Though he says that some warming alcohols being present wouldn’t be out of place, around ten to thirteen degrees Celsius, as is traditional in the U.K.

Welsby takes the importance of ingredients a step further, calling it “critical” and saying that “no one element should outshine the others.”

“Ingredient selection should seek to reinforce a consistent flavor profile,” Welsby says. “For us, the interaction between toffee/caramels and dried fruit/spice is paramount.”

He notes that for the U.K., the ESB is a strong, robust style, but that doesn’t mean going all out with tossing in more ingredients.

“Finding genuine balance is critical to success,” he says.

Keeling stresses proper fermentation and serving.

“Absolutely crucial is fermentation,” he says. “You have to pick the right yeast and have a clean fermentation. That delivers the balance.”

Fuller’s never changed the yeast or how they fermented over the years. Keeling says the temperature, time in the tank, and oxygenation were all the same.

“When you brew a beer every week or multiple times a week, it brings that consistency,” he says.

Photography courtesy of MacLeod Ale Brewing Co.

Keeling says Fuller’s tries to keep the grist very simple, with subtle changes through the years. Fifty years ago, because of the quality of ingredients, he says they needed to add flaked maize and some inverted sugar. Not anymore.

“The malt is so good now, there’s no need to add flaked maize,” Keeling says. “And the yeast performs so well, we don’t need to add the sugar.”

Keeling adds, “Those two were not there for flavor; they were there for practical brewing reasons. The recipe evolved to be very simple: ninety-six percent pale ale, four percent crystal, and fifty kilos of chocolate malt to make it consistent.”

Welsby says there isn’t a typical grist for ESB. At The Runaway Brewery, their interpretation of the style is with the intent to serve at keg-serving temperature.

“To that end, we use classic British Maris Otter as the base malt, with a little torrefied wheat to aid head retention,” Welsby says. “That alongside a mix of flavored malts to provide color, body, and complexity of flavor and aroma including Dark Crystal (400), Munich Type 2, and Chateau Special B.”

Both Fuller’s and Runaway mash in the mid-sixties at sixty-five and sixty-six degrees Fahrenheit, respectively.

Witchey notes that there are a lot of good English malts to choose from.

“We typically use Simpsons,” he says. “Maris Otter is popular because it’s more bread-like. Something like a regular bitter, you might go with Golden Promise.”

He adds, “We try to keep our crystals to a minimum—not get wacky—to add four Lovibonds of crystals with crystal light or medium, and often Caramalt as well to boost the back end without being too sweet.”

DiMatteo says he uses eighty-eight percent of Thomas Fawcett Maris Otter, about five percent of Thomas Fawcett Crystal Malt 45, four percent of Briess Victory Malt, and three percent of Briess Special Roast.

“I think if you’re too heavy-handed with the malt, it can be too full,” DiMatteo says. “The drier the beer, the more consumable, but I think you need to balance out the bitterness.”

Photography courtesy of The Runaway Brewery

So, how bitter does an ESB need to be to balance that out?

“It depends,” DiMatteo says, reiterating the use of Belgian Fuggles and Goldings. “We shoot for twenty-two to twenty-four IBUs.”

He adds, “I want the beer to be aromatic. We add a bitter charge at sixty minutes, then another around twenty to twenty-five minutes.”

Witchey says they opt for East Kent Goldings and Fuggles. Depending on the hop, you can achieve forty-five to fifty IBUs.

“We typically do a sixty-minute boil,” Witchey says. “The later in the boil you go, you need more hops to get the IBUs you want. We do a sixty-minute, and then maybe add more at thirty and ten minutes.”

Witchey says Dancing Gnome has previously considered dry hopping but opted to stick with the boil hops because they don’t brew ESB enough to add variations.

Welsby says that some contemporary versions of ESB do dry-hop, but they stick to tried-and-true.

“Traditionally, it would be all British leaf hop in your kettle to achieve forty to fifty IBUs,” Welsby says. “With a generous, but not extreme aroma addition at boil end—about two to four grams per liter.”

Keeling says the hop recipe at Fuller’s started traditional, using Fuggles and Goldings. He says they evolved to using Target hops for bittering, then Northdown and Challenger as late additions.

“Thirty-eight to forty IBUs seems to ring a bell for ESB,” Keeling recalls. “But we discovered that measured IBU tastes different depending on the hop you use to get that bitterness. Target was much more fierce than Golding.”

Keeling notes that for their cask iteration of ESB, they would dry-hop to get a fuller feel.

Photography courtesy of The Runaway Brewery

Fuller’s uses its own yeast for ESB. It’s the one that works best and has been working since they began making the style, Keeling says.

“We pitch in at seventeen degrees Celsius and [let it] rise to twenty Celsius in its own way,” Keeling says. “Once it hit twenty Celsius, we would keep it there.”

Keeling adds, “At half gravity, we would drop to seventeen or eighteen Celsius, depending on how the yeast was doing. And at a quarter to a fifth gravity, we drop it to six Celsius.”

Welsby says they use S-04 yeast for its ESB.

“We ferment around eighteen to twenty Celsius, let it rest for a couple of days around fifteen Celsius,” Welsby says, “And then crash cool once fully fermented out.”

Witchey says any good, healthy English strain will do the trick.

“We like Dry English,” he says. “The ester it provides is along the lines of what I am looking for.”

Witchey adds, “London 3 totally could work but is more aggressive on the fruity side of esters. If you use that, ferment it colder to mitigate the yeast esters.”

Dancing Gnome ferments at sixty-six degrees Fahrenheit, and the yeast produces more of a pear-apple ester than Witchey likes in an ESB.

Good Word uses Fuller’s yeast for its ESB, which they knock out at sixty-two degrees Fahrenheit and settle in at sixty-four Fahrenheit.

“We have a house English yeast,” DiMatteo says, “but prefer to use Fuller’s for our ESB.”

Photography courtesy of MacLeod Ale Brewing Co.

The ideal ABV level of an extra special bitter seems to vary, sometimes depending on the serving style.

“For an ESB, I would say 4.5% ABV [is ideal],” DiMatteo says. “I see them get up to low 5s, but the bitter I lean toward is around 3.9% ABV.”

Witchey says if the beer is balanced and good, he’ll drink them as high as they go.

“But I like them in the mid- to low 5s,” he says. “If you push above 6% ABV, you’re out of the realm of what this is all about. It’s really about drinkability. I’d prefer them on the lower end.”

Keeling says that the ABV varies depending on how it’s served.

“Bottle beer, we make it 5.9% ABV,” Keeling says. “The extra fizz affects the flavor.”

He adds, “For cask, it’s 5.5% ABV,” which he says is a fuller mouthfeel with the natural carbonation and higher temperatures.

Runaway’s ESB is on the high end of the ABV scale.

“Ours is 5.8% ABV,” Welsby says. “Which suits the robust flavor profile and keg dispense.”

He adds, “In cask, we’d probably aim a little lower.”

Photography courtesy of The Good Word Brewing

The staple here is Fuller’s ESB. The beer sits at 5.5% ABV for the cask, and 5.9% ABV for keg and bottled beer.

“I’m proud to be associated with Fuller’s because they make good beers—because people bought and drank them,” Keeling says. “We won lots of medals and awards, but the icing on the cake was people drinking it—they say drinking Fuller’s is like supporting your favorite football team. It’s the best beer in West London.”

Runaway produces its ESB at 5.8% ABV with Belgian malts and new-world hops.

“Ours is an ESB that’s as popular with pub-goers as it is restaurateurs—combining British traditional methods and ingredients with a hint of Belgian influence,” Welsby says. “Which fits with our contemporary approach to modern British beer making.”

DiMatteo points to its Digital Comforts bitter, a 3.9% ABV beer that leans traditionally English, utilizing Fuggles and Goldings hops.

It’s aromatic without being too punchy,” he says. “Great malt showcase in my mind.”

Dancing Gnome has an ESB at 5.4% ABV, a take on the English classic with an orange-copper hue and fluffy white foam.

“We took everything we learned and have done,” Witchey says. “And it was a great beer. Super balanced.”