This September, we’re releasing a brand-new Extra Special Bitter (ESB) on cask, brewed in collaboration with heritage maltsters French & Jupps and three fantastic South London pubs: The Shirker’s Rest, The Green Goddess, and The Rusty Bucket. We collaborated on their 2026 'Shirk, Rust, and Pray' beer when you can take the free pub bus between all three venues throughout the day sampling different beers at each place. And we decided it would be nice to brew something seasonal and with some input from everyone.
We had good fun collaborating with the some of the team on the brew day! With everyone getting stuck in, in between bacon sarnies, pizza, and 'beer sampling' of course. We hope you enjoy drinking it as much as we enjoyed making it!
The beer will be available from 16th September, just in time for National Cask Ale Week, with a limited number of casks heading out to our collaborating pubs and other stockists in time to celebrate.
You'll see it in our collaboration venues as the affectionately named 'South London Orbit Bitter' or S.L.O.B, which the Shirker's team were particularly happy about!
Why Cask?
We’ve always been interested in beers with a strong sense of place and history, and although many of our beers take inspiration from the traditional styles of continental Europe, we’ve also been increasingly drawn towards British brewing traditions, such as our London Porter, Dead Wax.
After the great feedback we've had for previous cask releases, including our IPA, Dead Wax Porter, and Red Ale, we wanted to dip our toes in the water a bit more and focus on something traditional and seasonal.
Rich, malt-forward, and full of character, an ESB is a style that really showcases the ingredients used, which is especially good when you’ve got some exceptional heritage malts to work with.
Brewing with French & Jupps
For this beer, we teamed up with French & Jupps Roasted Malt Specialists, a family-run heritage maltings with a history dating back to 1810.
They’re known for their handcrafted specialty roasted malts, and supplied us with Caramel Malt and Chocolate Malt for the ESB.
We combined these with a Maris Otter base to create a rich, complex malt profile. The result is a deep amber coloured ESB with layers of digestive biscuits, toffee, and caramel, backed up by just a touch of chocolate malt to add a gentle roasted depth.
British Hops
The hops continue to keep things traditional and British.
Brambling Cross brings blackberry and hedgerow fruit characteristics, while East Kent Goldings contributes an earthy, gently spicy character, and First Gold adds a touch of marmalade to finish.
Together, they create a classic British hop profile: fruity, earthy, and lightly spicy, complementing the rich malt character.
The White Label Series
The ESB is the latest release in our White Label Series. Our collection of limited edition beers that gives us a chance to explore the more experimental side of brewing.
The series takes its name from the white-label records that artists would distribute to DJs and radio stations to test new music.
That idea of experimentation, discovery, and seeing how people react to something new is at the heart of our series.
Where to Find It
The first casks will be available from 16th September at our three collaborating South London venues:
The Shirker’s Rest
The Green Goddess
The Rusty Bucket, Eltham
We’ll also be launching the beer at the Orbit Taproom on Wednesday 23rd September, where you’ll be able to try the beer for yourself and take part in our Beer Quiz at 6.30pm.
See you there!