Yes, maybe Iam getting muddled. I maybe have become blinkered as this is my first beer I have ever brewed. It is a woodefordes wherry kit and I have read that it needs to be stored for up to 8 moths to get the best from it. I assumed that was the same for all British bitters?
Can I ask how you handle your bitters ie time in primary, conditioning etc?
I'm probably assuming too much too. I'm an "all grainer" and I don't know if kits react well to the "fresh beer" approach. I've been brewing 40 years (!!!) yet only been making progress with "cask conditioning" and hand pumps in the last year. And the important revelations about bitter being young (which is obvious in hindsight) came through the American BJCP style guides although Americans don't understand the British liking for "flat" hand-pumped beer and the guide goes on to recommend some pretty "fizzy" bitters!
CAMRA (who I had followed in the past) offer little helpful advise to home-brewers. Well, that's not what they are there for! Follow CAMRA ideals and your beer will go off! CO2 is probably essential (the old way - 40 or 50 years old - of dealing with "cask conditioning", and hand-pumps, uses collapsible "polypins" which have plenty of issues too).
So, my current techniques are very much "work in progress", but here goes (you are rewarded with a very long-winded post as I try to "consolidate" my ideas at the same time):
Standard "bitter" recipe of pale malt and crystal malt (I use a lot of crystal - perhaps 10%). Keep hopping relatively low (28 IBU - any more and the bitter will need longer maturing). Dry hopping and "Aroma" hops (last 5-10 minutes of boil) don't seem necessary but "flavour" hops (last 20 minutes of boil) seem good. Use British hops (the "herby" nature seems to fit better with "fresh" flavours).
About 4%-4.5% ABV. Standard British ale yeast (e.g. Safale S-04).
Ferments out in 2-3 days at 20 degrees (1.008-1.012), secondary FV for 3-4 days. "Secondary" for me just means fitting an airlock!
Cask (cornies) with 15g sugar per cask. I also fine (isinglass). Fining does slow down conditioning and the beer is marginally "sweet" for the first few days (good?). Don't use this technique for bottling!
Rest 2-3 days and tap! I used to be careful to maintain about 4PSI CO2 for the first few weeks and then allow to creep to 6-7PSI. But I'm now playing with new regulators that can hold 0.75-2PSI (no conclusions yet).
NOTE: The Cornies may need tinkering with to stay sealed at low pressure. Plus modified Corny dip-tubes to avoid sucking up the dregs. A "check valve" (demand valve) needed on the hand-pump because even 0.75PSI will push beer through the pump!