Brown beer made me the man I am. As previously recounted I spent my formative years drinking an assortment of the stuff because it was what you drank. My Dad was a John Smith's drinker so I was. Our local served Trophy, and even had it on hand pump. It still wasn't any good, but it was there. We were also lucky enough to have a Samuel Smith's pub in walking distance, where we could could enjoy Old Brewery bitter and on occasion Museum, still on pumps but an alternative all the same. In the north-east there were even places where we could drink the fabled draught Newcastle Brown, although more often it was Exhibition on the bar, and the near-mythical Newcastle Amber.

When we talk about real ale, a brown bitter is the beer that immediately comes to mind. There are differing shades and strengths but if you're of a certain age you'll have started with one or another of the classics and hopefully managed to retain a love for it, even maybe through that time when you got so drunk that you couldn't keep anything down the next day and couldn't look anything darker than lager in the eye again for years. Ahem.

So anyway, I've moved AG#6 into secondary fermentation over the weekend and will bottle on Tuesday all being well. I had a taste and it's probably too bitter to be a proper bitter - it was about 43 IBU, which may mellow in the bottle but it's a bit too much. The chocolate makes a lovely colour and flavour but it could be also be a little lighter and little bit more complex, so I've rewritten the design with an additional malt and wound back the hops a little and will give it a go in the next few weeks.