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As one of the original six recipes at Lucky Lab, Hawthorne's Best Bitter has been around for a generation. Come this October, the beer would be 21, old enough to drink itself, if beers could drink. This is an English bitter, little brother to the higher-ABV and more hoppy ESB, a balanced London-born style that's little-seen today. Back in 1994, lighter English styles like this were popular stateside, which is why Rogue still makes an ESB named for Don Younger, proprietor of its first account, the Horse Brass, and why Honkers Ale is one of the oldest recipes in service at Goose Island. Lucky Lab keeps the Best Bitter in light rotation, brewing it only a few times a year, and I'd never run across it until last week. Well, it's a delight. This bitter is impeccably balanced between bready and bitter, just a little lighter than amber, with softly fruity flavors mostly in the melon range. Given the renewed interest in session ales, I think it deserves fresh consideration in Hawthorne's former roofing factory and beyond. Recommended.
WWeek 2015
