The best English beer is Fuller’s London Pride, the definitive English bitter, smooth, balanced and endlessly moreish, and the pint every proper English ale is measured against. That is my verdict after buying and tasting the classic English ales side by side, every one out of my own pocket, and scoring each on aroma, balance, body and drinkability.
I am Dan, and beer is my life. I have been an active homebrewer for over 10 years and have tasted breweries all over the world. This guide is built from my own tasting notes, with honest scores and a full review behind every pick. You can read more about me or see everything I have reviewed on my author page.
English beer is the home of the ale. While Germany and the Czech Republic gave the world the lager, England gave it the bitter, the brown ale, the porter and the stout, beers built for the pub and for drinking cool rather than ice cold. Below is the best English beer for every taste, ranked together across the great English styles. A quick map: the bitter is the classic balanced amber pub ale; the brown ale is smooth and nutty; the pale ale is malt-led and gently hopped; the stout is dark and roasty; and the strong and old ales are rich, warming sippers. There is a proper English pint here for everyone.
The Best English Beers, Ranked
Here is the short version, ranked by how they actually taste. Full reviews are linked under each pick.
| Rank | Beer | Style | ABV | Calories | Our score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fuller’s London Pride | English bitter (pale ale) | 4.7% | 140 | 4.7/5 |
| 2 | Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout | Imperial stout | 7.0% | 230 | 4.7/5 |
| 3 | Young’s Double Chocolate Stout | Chocolate stout | 5.2% | 165 | 4.5/5 |
| 4 | Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale | English brown ale | 5.0% | 150 | 4.5/5 |
| 5 | Robinsons Old Tom | Old ale (strong ale) | 8.5% | 260 | 4.4/5 |
| 6 | Fuller’s 1845 | Strong ale | 6.3% | 200 | 4.4/5 |
| 7 | Newcastle Brown Ale | English brown ale | 4.7% | 140 | 4.2/5 |
| 8 | Bass Pale Ale | English pale ale | 5.1% | 150 | 4.2/5 |
| 9 | Old Speckled Hen | English bitter (fine ale) | 5.0% | 150 | 4.2/5 |
| 10 | Samuel Smith’s Organic Pale Ale | English pale ale | 5.0% | 150 | 4.1/5 |
| 11 | St Peter’s Organic Ale | English organic ale | 4.5% | 140 | 4.0/5 |
| 12 | Wells Banana Bread Beer | Fruit/brown ale | 5.2% | 170 | 3.9/5 |
The Best English Beers at a Glance
Swipe through the top picks and tap any card to jump straight to the full write-up.
Best English Beer Overall: Fuller’s London Pride
If you want to understand English beer, start here. London Pride is the definitive English bitter, smooth and balanced with biscuity malt, gentle marmalade fruit and an earthy hop bite. It is not built to impress in one sip, it is built to drink pint after pint, and it does that better than almost anything. The answer to what a proper English pint tastes like.
London Pride is the definitive English bitter, a smooth, balanced amber ale with biscuity malt, gentle marmalade fruit and an easy, moreish finish.
- The definitive English bitter
- Beautifully balanced and moreish
- Biscuit malt and gentle marmalade fruit
- A proper session pint at 4.7%
- Understated if you want big flavour
- Best cool, not ice cold
Serve it right: A classic dry or milk stout is made for a proper pint glass, poured to build a thick, creamy head. This is a best-reviewed everyday set.
- Also worth trying: Old Speckled Hen
Pairing it with food? Try our beer and food pairing guide. More like this in our Bass Pale Ale review.
Best English Brown Ale: Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale
The brown ale is one of England’s great sessionable styles, and Samuel Smith’s is the benchmark. It is smooth and nutty with a lovely toasted-malt and caramel character and a soft, low bitterness, from Yorkshire’s oldest brewery, which still ferments the old way. If you have never tried the style, start here.
Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale is the benchmark English brown ale, a smooth, nutty, gently sweet beer of toasted malt and caramel from Yorkshire’s oldest brewery.
- The benchmark English brown ale
- Smooth, nutty and gently sweet
- Sessionable and moreish
- From a historic Yorkshire brewery
- Malt-led, low on hops
- Understated if you want big flavour
Serve it right: A classic dry or milk stout is made for a proper pint glass, poured to build a thick, creamy head. This is a best-reviewed everyday set.
- Also worth trying: Newcastle Brown Ale
Pairing it with food? Try our beer and food pairing guide. More like this in our Newcastle Brown Ale review.
Best English Stout: Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout
England invented the imperial stout, and Samuel Smith’s makes a world-class one. It is rich and smooth with dark chocolate, coffee and dark fruit over a full, silky body, and it drinks remarkably well for 7%. Complex but never harsh, it is a proper cold-weather treat from a historic brewery.
Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout is a world-class English dark beer, a rich, smooth 7% stout full of dark chocolate, coffee and dark fruit from Yorkshire’s oldest brewery.
- A world-class English imperial stout
- Rich dark chocolate, coffee and dark fruit
- Smooth and complex despite 7%
- From Yorkshire’s oldest brewery
- Strong, so a sipper not a session beer
- Rich, best in cold weather
Serve it right: A big, rich stout shows best in a stemmed tulip or snifter that traps the aroma and lets you swirl it. This is the glass for imperial and barrel-aged stouts you want to sip slowly.
- Also worth trying: Young’s Double Chocolate Stout
Pairing it with food? Try our beer and food pairing guide. More like this in our best stouts guide.
Best English Strong Ale: Robinsons Old Tom
For a rich, warming English strong ale, Old Tom is legendary. Brewed since 1899, this 8.5% old ale drinks more like a port than a pint, all dark fruit, treacle and toffee with a port-like, vinous depth. Pour it into a small glass and nurse it by the fire. A superb winter sipper.
Old Tom is a legendary English strong ale, a rich, warming 8.5% old ale full of dark fruit, treacle and port-like depth that has been brewed since 1899.
- A legendary English strong ale
- Rich dark fruit, treacle and port-like depth
- Warming and complex
- Over a century of history
- Strong and sweet, strictly a sipper
- Too rich for warm weather
Serve it right: A big, rich stout shows best in a stemmed tulip or snifter that traps the aroma and lets you swirl it. This is the glass for imperial and barrel-aged stouts you want to sip slowly.
- Also worth trying: Fuller’s 1845
Pairing it with food? Try our beer and food pairing guide. More like this in our Fuller’s 1845 review.
Best Dessert Beer: Young’s Double Chocolate Stout
Some beers replace pudding, and Young’s Double Chocolate Stout is the classic. Brewed with real chocolate as well as chocolate malt, it is rich, smooth and genuinely cocoa-laden, indulgent without being heavy at 5.2%. Superb with a chocolate dessert or on its own as a treat.
Young’s Double Chocolate Stout is a smooth, indulgent English dessert stout brewed with real chocolate and chocolate malt for a rich, creamy, cocoa-laden pint.
- Genuinely chocolatey, dessert-like
- Smooth and creamy
- Drinkable at 5.2%
- Superb with dessert
- Sweet, not for hop or dry-stout fans
- More treat than session beer
Serve it right: A big, rich stout shows best in a stemmed tulip or snifter that traps the aroma and lets you swirl it. This is the glass for imperial and barrel-aged stouts you want to sip slowly.
- Also worth trying: Wells Banana Bread Beer
Pairing it with food? Try our beer and food pairing guide. More like this in our Wells Banana Bread Beer review.
Explore More Beer Guides
Want to go wider? These guides cover the rest of the beer world:
English Beer FAQs
What is England’s most famous beer style?
England is the home of the ale. Its most famous styles are the bitter (the classic pub ale), the English pale ale, the brown ale, the porter and the stout. The bitter and the brown ale are probably the most quintessentially English.
Should English beer be served warm?
English ale is not served warm, but it is served cool rather than ice cold, around cellar temperature. Serving a bitter or brown ale too cold mutes the malt and fruit character that makes it good. Lagers are served colder.
What is the difference between a bitter and a pale ale?
In England the terms overlap a lot. Broadly, a bitter is the cask pub ale, amber and balanced with an earthy hop character, while an English pale ale is a similar but often slightly paler, crisper bottled version. Both are malt-led and gently hopped compared with American pale ales.
What is an old ale or strong ale?
An old ale or strong ale is a rich, dark, warming English ale, often matured, with flavours of dark fruit, treacle and toffee and a higher strength. Robinsons Old Tom and Fuller’s 1845 are classic examples. They are sipping beers rather than session pints.
How We Test and Score
Every beer here was bought with my own money and tasted properly, not skimmed from a spec sheet. I score each on aroma, balance, body, drinkability and how well it does the job it is built for. Simple beers are not marked down for being simple, but the ones with real character and balance score higher. You can see every score on the individual beer reviews.
