Something extra special (ESB)

Roger Protz gets to the bottom of extra special bitter, or ESB for short.

One beer can define a style. In the mid-19th century, a golden lager beer from Pilsen not only revolutionised brewing on a world scale but gave its name to a style: pilsner or pils for short. In Britain, a strong ale called Extra Special Bitter, brewed by Fuller’s in west London, spawned a style with such success that ESB is now a specialist category by itself.

ESB was the beer that came out from the closet. Many breweries for years produced extra strong ales with limited distribution. I visited many breweries where, at the end of the tour, I would be invited to sample “a small glass of something special we make for internal consumption.” For example, while it just falls outside this category, Courage Directors Bitter (4.8%) was first brewed at the Alton Brewery in Hampshire solely for the directors of the company.

The closet door opened in the 1970s when Fuller’s ESB caught drinkers’ fancy to such an extent that it has regularly picked up prizes in the Champion Beer of Britain competition. The beer started life as a winter ale in 1969 and became a regular brew two years later. It has been named overall Champion Beer of Britain three times and is renowned for its classic Fuller’s house style of a deep, rich fruitiness balanced by tangy hops Fuller’s in recent years has embarked on a vigorous export drive in the United States where the success of ESB encouraged many American craft breweries to launch their own interpretations of the style.

In mainland Europe there is less r.....

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By Roger Protz

Section : Beer styles

Page number : 56