are British bitters really this low-carbonated?

So I used a carbonation calculator to figure out how much priming sugar to use for my special bitter. I put in 1.3 volumes, and it said to use 1.18 oz... I upped it to 1.5 oz just because I knew it was going to be really flat compared to my normal usage of 3.5-4 oz.

Anyway, yes, it turned out flat. I'm just curious if this is how special bitters are actually served in England. When I've had ESB's here, they definitely don't seem this flat.

Thanks.

How long did they carb? How long did they spend in the fridge?

I made a Cooper's ESB: it took the full 3 weeks to carb and then were better with a day or two in the fridge.

US-brewed commercial examples of British beers are usually (but not always) carbed to 2.0 - 2.5 volumes to the detriment of the flavor, IMO.

I love cask-conditioned real ale carbed to 1.5 volumes, but it is a matter of preference and taste.

A true British bitter that's been cask conditioned will not be above 1.5 vols of CO2. They are pretty flat. That's why the Germans and Belgians mock us for having warm, flat beer. It should be served at about 10 - 12 degrees C by the way, roughly cellar temp.

Dauntless said:

How long did they carb? How long did they spend in the fridge?

I made a Cooper's ESB: it took the full 3 weeks to carb and then were better with a day or two in the fridge.

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This is the most important thing. You need to give bottle conditioned beers time to carb up and then mellow out from the effect of the additional CO2.

Yup, warm and flat is how they come across the pond. I was in London for the first time in August, and made it point to try a lot of cask-conditioned ales. Tasty once you get used to them, but it takes a while to get used to the lack of carbonation.

It's not clear to me from your post whether you're kegging or bottling.

In the UK, keg or cask beers will have very low carbonation. However, when they bottle their beer, it has much more carbonation -- not up to US high carbonation levels but much higher than the 1.5 volumes you find for their keg & cask beers. I'm guessing that most of their bottled beers are on the order of 2.1-2.4 volumes. If you're bottling, I'd look at & consider seriously those levels of carbonation.

Thanks everyone. It was bottled. I think they have been bottled 4 weeks or so now...

Next time I doubt I'll go below 2 volumes when using a priming calculator.

Mkling is right on. I doubt that any bottled UK beer is carbed to less than 2 volumes. 1.5 volumes on draft beer, for whatever reason just out more on the palate.

I do the same thing with mine. My kegs get set at 1.5 and served at 55 degrees. but if I bottle I raise the volume to 2.0-2.2 range.

Only, hijacking the OP's thread because his question was answered.

I'm going to be bottling a scotch ale soon and the recommended CO2 volumes are 0.9-1.3. Does this mean I would have better results in bottles if I raise it to 2.0 (or there about) than going with the recommended volumes? I know that the scotch ale should be pretty low in carbonation none-the-less.

bce22 said:

Only, hijacking the OP's thread because his question was answered.

I'm going to be bottling a scotch ale soon and the recommended CO2 volumes are 0.9-1.3. Does this mean I would have better results in bottles if I raise it to 2.0 (or there about) than going with the recommended volumes? I know that the scotch ale should be pretty low in carbonation none-the-less.

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Yes, bottle at a higher carbonation than 0.9-1.3. 2.0 would be fine I think.

I'm a nut for beer on that side of the pond and I carbonate bottles all the time. I would never put less than 3 oz of corn sugar (extremely fine) in my 5 gallon bottling bucket... I use 4 oz for American Ambers. My bitters come out with a .5 inch head and when it goes down there is always a 'cloud' of carbonation on the top. If you tip the glass the part that mixes with air on the tipped side will fizz nicely and always the cloud on top. For me this is low enough on the carbonation. It's weird though, I use beer smith and for 1.9 volumes it has me using like 2.7 oz, way more than what you used... what was the volume you were carbonating?

jigidyjim said:

Anyway, yes, it turned out flat. I'm just curious if this is how special bitters are actually served in England. When I've had ESB's here, they definitely don't seem this flat.

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Well, there are three types of bitter. Ordinary Bitter, Best Bitter, and Extra Special Bitter. Ordinary bitter should be carbed at 1 to 1.5 volumes, while Best Bitters and ESB should be carbed a little more, 1.5 to 2 volumes. It it possible that you brewed an ESB but carbed it as an ordinary bitter?

For my american taste I usually prime half a cup of sugar (8tbs) and might go down to like 6 on the english styles and dry stouts.

If the beer is 'warm and flat' you're going to the wrong places!

It should be cool (12 - 13C) and 'in condition'. Don't know what that is in volumes but it should be slightly prickly on your tongue and if you tilt the glass, fine bubbles will rise from where the beer line was. Bottled ales will be carbonated to around 2 vols. Getting a bottled British ale that is carbonated as low as a cask ale is very unusual. If it's flat or warm, send it back - they're not keeping or serving it correctly.

This is a special bitter carbed to 1.6 vols served at 56F. I have sharpened the image to try and show the bubbles better. There are a few more than you can see, but not a heck of a lot more. After a sip or two, the head will reduce to a very thin one, kinda like lacing on top of the beer. There is just enough carbonation to gently tickle the tongue.

This was brewed to be a southern English style pint. As others have said, a US version will be higher carbed than this.

I had a boddington's at the local brew pub once and I hated it. It was so flat.

That's a nice looking pint!

Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:

This is a special bitter carbed to 1.6 vols served at 56F. I have sharpened the image to try and show the bubbles better. There are a few more than you can see, but not a heck of a lot more. After a sip or two, the head will reduce to a very thin one, kinda like lacing on top of the beer. There is just enough carbonation to gently tickle the tongue.

This was brewed to be a southern English style pint. As others have said, a US version will be higher carbed than this.

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