Jeg er bitter, engelsk bitter

pints-of-beer

 

Lad os få den engelske bitter på banen og barerne. En totaloplevelse af underspillet nydelse, når den er bedst.

 

Vi kan ikke prise os af et dansk marked med øl rig på variation og kvalitet, når en så stor spiller som engelsk bitter ikke er på holdet.

Så længe den store gruppe af engelske bitters er så underkendte og så sjældne på de danske ølbarer og andre barer samt i supermarkeder og andre markeder, kan jeg ikke mene, at den danske ølrevolution har været en ubetinget succes.

Bitteren rules Britannia, og må også gerne rulle henover lille DK i flasker, dåser og fade, herunder, ikke mindst, fade med real ale.

I supermarkederne, eksklusive Menu, findes engelsk bitter de facto ikke.

På de cool – og i øvrigt ofte fremragende – ølbarer er den udraderet.

Kun The Wharf i Dobbelt A, Danmarks måske bedste ølbar You’ll Never Walk Alone i Kolding, Charlie’s i København og Cockney Pub i Aarhus er konstant leveringsdygtige i engelsk bitter.

That’s it.

Ordinary bitter, best bitter, ekstra special bitter.

Gone!

De danske bryggere har fravalgt at brygge typen engelsk bitter med meget få undtagelser. Jeg magter næsten ikke at nævne de få bryggerier, som on a regular basis brygger en engelsk bitter, og nej, Ale No. 16, denne ultra overvurderede øl, som er et billede på ølrevolutionen, fordi den var first mover, er ikke en engelsk bitter, snarere en forsukret udgave af en skotsk ale eller en brown ale.

Måske de danske bryggere ræsonnerer, at efterspørgslen er så lille, at det ikke giver mening at brygge en engelsk bitter.

Måske de – ligesom med pilsneren – ikke kan finde ud af at brygge en engelsk bitter, og det er jo en ærlig sag.

Der er omkring 1700 engelske bryggerier and still counting, og bortset fra et par US kloner har alle bryggerier en eller flere bitters i sortimentet, også rising stars som Cloudwater fra Manchester.

Så engelsk bitter er absolut ikke en hendøende stilart, men lever desværre en isoleret tilværelse i England.

Jeg er ikke bare skuffet, også bitter.

 

In English

We can not pride ourselves of af market of beer rich in quality and variation, as long as a great player as the English bitter is not on the team.

As long as the big group of English bitter is not acknowledged and so rare at the Danish beer bars and other bars as well as in the supermarkets and other markets, I don’t think that the so called Danish beer revolution has been a succes.

The bitter ale rules Britannia, and must gladly do the same to tiny Denmark, bottled, in cans and in kegs, not the least in the form of a real ale.

In the supermarkets – with the exception of Menu – the English bitter is de facto non existent.

In the cool beer bars is it also non existent.

Only at The Wharf in Aalborg, and You’ll Never Walk Alone in Kolding, Charlie’s in Copenhagen and Cockney Pub in Aarhus is it on a regular basis possible to buy a pint of bitter.

That’s it!

Ordinary bitter, best bitter, extra special bitter.

Gone!

The Danish brewers have with very few exceptions chosen not to brew English bitter. Perhaps they think, that the demand of the consumers is so modest, that it makes no sense brewing it.

Or perhaps – like the lovely pilsner – they can’t figure out, how to brew English bitter, and that is by all means an honest case.

There are about 1700 English breweries and still counting, and except from a fem US clones they all have one or more bitters in their range of beers, including rising stars like Cloudwater from Manchester.

English bitter is no way a dying type of beer, but unfortunately it lives an isolated life in England.

As a beer lover I’m not only dissapointed, I’m bitter.

About chrcph

Journalist, communications consultant. Beer writer, author and editor. Beer blogger at Durst.nu. Contributor to national and international newspapers, magazines and books about beer. Author of The Danish Beer Language, The Brewers Association. Co-founder of New Nordic Beer (Ny Nordisk Øl), a movement among leading Danish breweries focusing on beer and terroir. Author of Den nøgne øl (The Naked Beer), a book about the great pilsner.
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