Beer Nut: Bunker Brewing Chick-a-Dee sings a beautiful song

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28-04-2025

I can get grumpy sometimes, but I'm not really a bitter person
Unless you mean the beer style – then I'm definitely a bitter guy.
As longtime readers might recall, bitters (or 'best bitters' or 'ESBs') are probably my favorite style, at least when they're done well. The problem is that in these days of IPAmania, American brewers don't tend to make them – or make them regularly. And that's a shame for several reasons.
One issue I have encountered with people who don't know a lot about beer is that the term 'bitter' turns them off. They assume it means an astringent, overly hopped brew like some IPAs can be. Of course that's not the case at all. The term 'bitter' came about as a way of distinguishing it from some other pale ales, such as mild ales, back in the 19th century, but 'bitter' was a relative term and not meant to describe anything like the latter-day IPAs.
The reason I like the style so much is that a well-made bitter hits almost all the marks I cherish in a good beer. Most bitters are low to moderate in alcohol; bitters are usually fairly balanced, providing a scrumptious and solid malt structure and subtle but notable hop counterpunch; they also taste unbelievably good on cask – probably the best style for real ale in my humble opinion.
I have some favorites, of course. Fuller's ESB is always a welcome addition to my table, and Coniston's Bluebird Bitter is hard to beat. Locally, I've always enjoyed Northampton Brewery's Daniel Shay's Best Bitter.
But I might now have a new No. 1: Chick-a-Dee English Style Bitter from Bunker Brewing in Portland, Maine.
Named after Maine's state bird, which is also our state bird here in Massachusetts, I immediately took a liking to this beer. While the Northern Cardinal is my favorite bird, the Black-capped Chickadee is probably second. After all, on two separate occasions chickadees have eaten out of my hand. If you're into birds, you know how exciting that was.
But aside from the avian considerations, what also grabbed my attention was the 'English style bitter' appellation. And it turned out that this bird was singing my song.
I sampled it from a nitro can and It poured a slightly cloudy orange hue with a frothy two-finger head. (I assume the nitrogen aided that latter aspect.)
The nose was subtle but hinted at cracker-like grains with herbal notes also blossoming as the beer warmed. The first sips revealed a firm bready malt base with a perfect amount of herbal hop bitterness to make it incredibly easy to drink. Nothing is hitting you over the head here, except its balanced deliciousness.
A dried fruit aspect emerges as the beer warms, but just at the edges, and the hops expand their floral aspect at the same time. The next time I have it, I'm going to let the beer warm just a bit before pouring it or drinking it. It gets even better when it's not too cold. (Then again, I think that about most well-mad beers, hence my love for cask ale.)
Not to overstate things, but this is one of the best beers I've had in a while. I'm going to try Bunker's Barncat Dark Mild next. After all, May is Mild Beer Month.
Read the original article on MassLive.