Style Details

Name
Ordi­na­ry Bitter
Cate­go­ry
Bri­tish Bitter
BJCP Style Code
11 A
Appearance
Pale amber to light cop­per color. Good to bril­li­ant cla­ri­ty. Low to mode­ra­te white to off-white head. May have very litt­le head due to low carbonation.
Aro­ma
Low to mode­ra­te malt aro­ma, often (but not always) with a light cara­mel qua­li­ty. Brea­dy, bis­cui­ty, or light­ly toasty malt com­ple­xi­ty is com­mon. Mild to mode­ra­te frui­tin­ess. Hop aro­ma can ran­ge from mode­ra­te to none, typi­cal­ly with a flo­ral, ear­thy, res­i­ny, and/or frui­ty cha­rac­ter. Gene­ral­ly no diace­tyl, alt­hough very low levels are allowed. 
Fla­vour
Medi­um to modera­te­ly high bit­ter­ness. Modera­te­ly low to modera­te­ly high frui­ty esters. Mode­ra­te to low hop fla­vor, typi­cal­ly with an ear­thy, res­i­ny, frui­ty, and/or flo­ral cha­rac­ter. Low to medi­um mal­ti­ness with a dry finish. The malt pro­fi­le is typi­cal­ly brea­dy, bis­cui­ty, or light­ly toasty. Low to mode­ra­te cara­mel or tof­fee fla­vors are optio­nal. 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. Low car­bo­na­ti­on, alt­hough bot­t­led examp­les can have mode­ra­te carbonation.
Over­all Impression
Low gra­vi­ty, low alco­hol levels, and low car­bo­na­ti­on make this an easy-drin­king ses­si­on beer. The malt pro­fi­le can vary in fla­vor and inten­si­ty, but should never over­ri­de the over­all bit­ter impres­si­on. Drin­ka­bi­li­ty is a cri­ti­cal com­po­nent of the style 
Typi­cal Ingredients
Pale ale, amber, and/or crys­tal malts. May use a touch of dark malt for color adjus­t­ment. May use sugar adjuncts, corn, or wheat. Eng­lish finis­hing hops are most tra­di­tio­nal, but any hops are fair game; if Ame­ri­can hops are used, a light touch is requi­red. Cha­rac­terful Bri­tish yeast. 
Histo­ry
See comm­ents in cate­go­ry introduction.
Comm­ents
The lowest gra­vi­ty mem­ber of the Bri­tish Bit­ter fami­ly, typi­cal­ly known to con­su­mers sim­ply as “bit­ter” (alt­hough bre­wers tend to refer to it as Ordi­na­ry Bit­ter to distin­gu­ish it from other mem­bers of the family). 
Com­mer­cial Examples
Adnams Sou­thwold Bit­ter, Brains Bit­ter, Fuller’s Chis­wick Bit­ter, Gree­ne King IPA, Tetley’s Ori­gi­nal Bit­ter, Young’s Bitter
Ori­gi­nal Gravity
1.030 - 1.039 SG
Final Gra­vi­ty
1.007 - 1.011 SG
Color
8 - 14 SRM
Alco­hol
3.0 - 3.0 %vol
Bit­ter­ness
25 - 35 IBU