I like some English beers. London Pride is probably my favorite. I got it at something or other Station in Portland, Oregon a couple years ago.
I’m drinking one of my APAs right now. Simple grain bill, moderate bittering, gob of Vic Secret and Cascade in whirlpool, 1056… I brewed it in February. The keg has been in at 35f ever since. I just noticed, it’s developing an “English” character, just like the London Pride I got in Portland.
What do you think is causing that?
Makes me think I should bottle a few and enter it as an ESB. Instant 45 point winner lol.
I hate to say it, but that’s probably it. Fullers ESB is one of my favorite English beers, but the flavor is night and day when you compare a fresh sample versus one with some age on it.
That said, I don’t mind older samples. They start to lose their fresh hop flavor, but they start to pick notes of honey/caramel/fig. For whatever reason, English styles seem less adversely affected by oxidation compared to something like a pale lager or an IPA.
Unless the competition judges only have Fullers or other British beers from bottles as a point of reference. Then they want that sweet oxidized character. Having had it fresh at the brewery, and in bottles here, I no longer drink the bottles here.
