Due to last year's truncated brewing season, I've been jonesing for a bitter. So I decided to steal a march on the '24 UK brewing season and, with the aid of the Whitbread dry strain, I've fired up my UK brewing season in July.
I kegged the first batch, a 1.040 ordinary, this afternoon. It's not my best work because I designed it to be guzzle-able in August, but it scratches the itch. The recipe is dead simple: Otter, my #2 invert, Bramling Cross, EKGs and Imperial's Whitbread dry strain.
I'm really impressed with the Whitbread dry strain. I haven't used it in years because I decided it was a bit milquetoast* compared to Fuller's or the T. Taylor strains, but it's getting the job done in this ale. There's no mistaking this ale for anything other than a UK-style ale. I'm wondering if my much improved O2 mitigation is placing the strain in a better light? More likely, I'm just desperate for a bitter fix.
*Edit: Upon reflection, I think only White Labs had a widely available version of the strain when I last used it and it's been my experience that they tend to deploy the best science available to suck the soul out of most of the strains they touch. So maybe it's a White Labs thing?