Always a classic, the next in line for our Sharaku series is an English pub-inspired Extra Special Bitter. Brewed with proper English malt, we used Crisp floor malted Maris Otter - a painstakingly produced malt that undergoes a long labor-intensive process where it is hand raked through the germination over large concrete slab - as the base. This gives the beer a desirable under-attenuated malt character, leaving behind complex unfermentable sugars that give the beer is residual sweetness and complexity. We paired that with some Simpsons crystal malts, biscuit malts, and a touch of flaked wheat, giving the beer plenty of body and mouthfeel with sweet, almost fruity caramel character. A blend of European hops gives the beer a soft bitterness to balance out the malt sweetness, offering herbal, floral, and slightly spicy aromas. The English yeast esters add to the bready toffee character, and a much lower carbonation than our average beers give the soft silky texture, adding to its drinkability, mimicing the character you would expect from a cask poured beer. While we store this beer cold, it’s best to let this beer warm up slightly after pouring for the true pub experience, allowing some of the flavours to open up even more, evolving and developing over the drinking session. While hops often get the spotlight, this beer showcases a lot of the complex flavours malt has to offer.