English beer
English beer is about bitterness, malt and a long brewing tradition, from cask ale to the modern craft scene. At Hoptimaal you'll find English IPA, Pale Ale and Stout from breweries such as Verdant, Track and The Kernel Brewery, from fresh and hoppy to dark and full-bodied.
- In stock now37 beers
- Breweries9
Breweries from England 9
Pentrich Brewing Co.Pentrich · 9 in stock
Verdant Brewing CoPenryn · 7 in stock
Track Brewing CompanyManchester · 7 in stock
Bearwood BrewingWokingham · 4 in stock
The Kernel BreweryLondon · 3 in stock
Tartarus BeersLeeds · 3 in stock
Thornbridge BreweryBakewell · 1 in stock
Neon Raptor Brewing Co.Nottingham · 1 in stock
Azvex Brewing CompanyLiverpool · 1 in stock
All beers in stock 37
From ancient brewing to a new generation
Beer has been brewed in Great Britain for well over 2,000 years. Hops arrived from Flanders in the fifteenth century and made beer less perishable and more bitter. In the eighteenth century Londoners got porter, while the pale ales of Burton-on-Trent benefited from the gypsum-rich water in that area.
In the nineteenth century brewing became an industry. Around 1880 the country had more than 10,000 breweries. The twentieth century hit hard: two world wars, rising costs and takeovers made thousands of small breweries disappear. In the 1970s most beer came from a handful of large companies, and cask ale had to make way for filtered, pasteurised beer.
In 1971 four beer drinkers founded CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale. With the Good Beer Guide and beer festivals they brought back cask-conditioned ale and pub culture. After that came a new wave of brewers, influenced by American craft breweries, who experimented freely with hops and styles. The number of breweries grew from fewer than 500 around the turn of the century to more than 2,000 in 2020.
Bitter, porter and the English IPA
The IPA has English roots. Pale ales brewed for the voyage to India were given plenty of hops as a preservative. Later that production moved to Burton, where the sulfate-rich water gave a sharp bitterness and clear beers. Brewers still call adjusting water in this way burtonization.
An English IPA is therefore different from an American one: bitter, with spicy British hops and a biscuity malt base with a touch of marmalade. Bitter as a style is relatively young. It only took shape around the 1950s, while until then workers mostly drank mild.
Today's scene builds on this. With Jaipur, Thornbridge showed that a British IPA can compete internationally. The Kernel in London quietly built a loyal following, Beavertown brought hoppy pale ales in comic-book cans and Cloudwater in Manchester specialised in hazy IPAs and seasonal beers.
English beer at Hoptimaal
With us you'll find English beers from, among others, Pentrich Brewing Co., Track Brewing Company, Verdant Brewing Co, Tartarus Beers, The Kernel Brewery and Thornbridge Brewery. The range is mainly IPA, Pale Ale and Stout, supplemented with Weizen. Beers from Tartarus Beers, Azvex, Verdant and Track are among the highest rated on Untappd.
Every brewery has its own page with us. There you can see what is available per brewery.
Frequently asked questions
What is typical English beer?
Traditionally it means cask ale, bitter, mild and porter, with an emphasis on malt and balanced bitterness. An English IPA is bitter, with spicy British hops and a biscuity malt base.
Which English breweries are well known?
Well-known names from the modern scene are Thornbridge (maker of Jaipur), The Kernel in London, Beavertown and Cloudwater in Manchester. You'll also find Thornbridge and The Kernel at Hoptimaal.
What is burtonization?
It is the adjusting of brewing water to contain a lot of sulfate, following the example of Burton-on-Trent. It gives a sharp bitterness and a clear beer colour, and it returns in English pale ale and IPA.
Beer from other countries
- Dutch beer 175
- American beer 71
- Belgian beer 68
- Canadian beer 54
- German beer 37
- Spanish beer 21
- Romanian beer 17
- French beer 16
- Swedish beer 15
- Norwegian beer 14
- Estonian beer 17
- Polish beer 11
- Irish beer 8
- Finnish beer 9
- Hungarian beer 8
- Latvian beer 8
- Croatian beer 8
- Danish beer 8
- Portuguese beer 4
- Welsh beer 5
- Scottish beer 4
- Brazilian beer 4
- Ukrainian beer 2
- Greek beer 3
- Slovenian beer 3
- Czech beer 3
