Keystone Kryptonite Bitter

1995.  I was 15 years old.  I imagine that this commercial played during TGIF between episodes of Family Matters and Step By Step.

I certainly remember it (and all of its other iterations).  A bitter beer?!?  Primitive man evolved to fear bitterness as an indicator of toxicity in plants, and with bitterness as the most strongly perceived of the five senses, its utility as a warning against potentially dangerous foliage is undeniable.

Bringing the wort to a boil.

But we are not primitive man.  We can enjoy bitterness as a flavor unto itself, confident in the knowledge that the intense flavor that flows over our palettes when we drink a delicious English Bitter presents no real danger.  In fact, I might venture to suggest that the drinking of Bitter may be the essence of evolved humanity.  When you take a sip, you flaunt the ancient beliefs of our ancestors who shunned bitterness out of essential but stifling caution, and whose trepidation was a result of self-preservation uninformed by elevated sensory enjoyment.

A proper English Bitter should be a harmonious melding of simple ingredients and a showcase for British hops, malts and yeast.  This is an easy drinking beer with plenty of characterful British yeast flavor, and a platform for hops like Fuggles, East Kent Goldings and Target among many others.  This is the beer you order at your neighborhood pub on a Tuesday night after a day at work.


My version strove to use British ingredients as much as possible, with the exception of Pacific Ale Yeast.  I plan to enter this beer in a homebrew "friendly" next month where WLP 041 is a requirement.  I chose Northdown hops because they are an ingredient I haven't worked with in the past.  This beer is the antithesis of Keystone Light (its Kryptonite, perhaps).  A proudly bitter beer.

Keystone Kryptonite Bitter

Specifics

Style: Standard/Ordinary Bitter   Brew Date: July 18, 2014 Yield: 5 gallons Color (SRM/EBC): 6.7/13.1 Bitterness (Calc): 55 IBU (Daniels)

Batch No: 142 Target OG: 1.043 Status: Primary

General Information

Method:

All Grain

Scale Recipe

Enter desired final yield (volume):

gallons

Malts and Grains

7.00 pounds	British Pale Ale Malt	88.2% of grist
0.31 pounds	British Crystal Malt	3.9% of grist
0.31 pounds	Flaked Barley	3.9% of grist
0.31 pounds	Flaked Maize	3.9% of grist
7.94 pounds	Total Grain Weight (Water Amounts)	100% of grist

Hops

1.20 ounces	Northdown 9% Pellets @ 60 minutes  Type: Bittering Use: Boil	10.8 AAUs
0.80 ounces	Northdown 9% Pellets @ 5 minutes  Type: Aroma Use: Aroma	7.2 AAUs
2.00 ounces	Total Hop Weight	18 AAUs

Boil

Total Boil Time:

60 minutes

Yeast

Name:	Pacific Ale
Manufacturer:	White Labs
Product ID:	WLP041
Type:	Ale
Flocculation:	High
Attenuation:	67%
Temperature Range:	65–68°F
Amount:	500 ml