Daniel Batham & Son

Why it matters

The clearest surviving case of a beer whose reputation was built without distribution. Batham’s is a national reference among cask drinkers and a local beer in practice, which makes it the counter-example to the assumption that the best-known cask ales are the best-known because they travelled.

Details

Reference beers

• Batham’s Best Bitter4.3% ABV

  A pale, sweetish Black Country bitter with a national reputation and almost no national distribution.

BeerHQ carries only the products that anchor something. This is not the brewery’s full range.

Styles it is associated with

• Best bitter — A step up from ordinary bitter in strength and depth, with more malt body while staying firmly sessionable.

Traditions

• British cask ale — Beer that completes its fermentation in the container it is served from and is dispensed without added gas, at cellar rather than fridge temperature.