British ale

Strong Bitter

BJCP 11C

What most people mean by ESB: the bitter family at its biggest, with more malt depth, more hop and enough alcohol to carry both. Still balanced rather than aggressive.

Vital statistics

Each bar is drawn against the full range of all 98 styles

Original gravity

1.048 - 1.060

Final gravity

1.010 - 1.016

Bitterness

30 IBU - 50 IBU

Colour

8 SRM - 18 SRM

Alcohol

4.6% - 6.2%

Colour also 16-35 EBC

What goes wrong

Turning it into an English IPA. The malt should stay in the conversation; a strong bitter is balanced, not hop-led.

Commercial examples

Bass AleBateman's Triple XBRobinsons TrooperShepherd Neame Bishop's FingerSummit Extra Pale Ale

Reference examples of the style, as listed in the BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines. Availability varies by market and year.

Vital statistics as published in the BJCP 2021 Style Guidelines. Not yet checked against the published guidelines: treat these ranges as a planning aid and read the source at bjcp.org before entering a competition.

The rest of the british ale family

11A

Ordinary Bitter

3.2-3.8% · 25-35 IBU

11B

Best Bitter

3.8-4.6% · 25-40 IBU

12A

British Golden Ale

3.8-5% · 20-45 IBU

12B

Australian Sparkling Ale