Brewing a tribute to Burton's traditions

Burton-on-Trent is so celebrated as the home of India Pale Ale that we tend to overlook the fact that the town was equally famous for beer for several centuries before the arrival of IPA.

That fame was built on a style known as Burton Ale, a beer that was just as vigorously exported in the 18th century as IPA was a century later.

Burton Ale built the reputations of the Burton brewers but as a style it disappeared in the 20th century, taxed out of existence as a result of its strength, and overtaken in popularity by pale ale and bitter.

The Trent Navigation Act of 1699 had made the river navigable from Burton to Shardlow, Derbyshire, and by 1712 it had been extended to Gainsborough and Hull.

The Burton brewers could now send their beers to most parts of England. Just as importantly, they could export them from Hull to Russia and the Baltic States.

Tsar Peter the Great and the Empress Catherine of Russia enjoyed the ales from faraway Burton that were brewed strong — around 12% alcohol — and could remain in sound condition for seven years. At its peak, trade with Russia and the Baltic accounted for 70% of Burton's production and encouraged William Bass to sell his carrying business and set up as a brewer in the town.

But the entire Baltic trade collapsed in the 19th century due to the wars with France, as a result of which Napoleon blockaded ports in the east. The impact in Burton was catastrophic. The number of brewers in the town fell from 13 to just five between 1780 and the 1820s.

The surviving brewers, including Allsopp, Bass and Worthington, were desperate for new markets for their beer. They were encouraged by the mighty East India Company to turn their attention to India but as a director of the company told Samuel Allsopp: "Your Burton Ale, so strong and sweet, will not suit our market." The result was a rush to develop pale and well-hopped beer for the India trade.

History has tended to suggest Burton Ale disappeared as IPA took over. In fact, the Burton brewers continued to brew large quantities of Burton Ale. It remained not only a popular style but was also copied by brewers throughout the country.

A price list from the late 19th century that was displayed in the sample room at Young's Brewery in Wandsworth, south-west London, included Burton, and the beer exists today as Young's Winter Warmer.

Bass No 1 (10.5%) is still brewed by Steve Wellington at the William Worthington Brewery in the National Brewery Centre in Burton. It's labelled "barley wine" but it's a true example of Burton Ale. Well into the 19th century, Bass brewed not one but six different versions of Burton Ale, ranging from around 6% to 10.5%.

Burton Ale went into steep decline in the 20th century, not only as consumer preference switched to mild and bitter but also as a result of punitive increases in excise duty

on stronger beers during both World Wars.

Overnight success​

Burton Ale was revived as a commercial beer in 1976 when Allied Breweries launched Ind Coope Draught Burton Ale (DBA). The beer was such an overnight success that Allied had to put Gaskell & Chambers, the major manufacturer of beer engines, on to permanent overtime to keep up with the demand from publicans who had sold only keg beer for years. But when Allied Breweries split up, the beer's production was switched to Carlsberg-Tetley in Leeds and it's now brewed for Carlsberg by JW Lees in Manchester. It's almost impossible to find.

I'd heard rumours for years that DBA was a cask version of Ind Coope's famous keg beer, Double Diamond (DD). But DD was only 3.8% and DBA is 4.8%. The mystery was solved when I spoke to Geoff Mumford and Bruce Wilkinson, who run the Burton Bridge Brewery and previously worked as senior brewers for Ind Coope in both Burton and Romford.

They were on the spot as DBA was formulated and confirm that it was a cask version of bottled Double Diamond pale ale, which measured 4.7% or 4.8%.

To fill the gap and create a Burton Ale for a book I'm writing, the Otley Brewing Company in Pontypridd, south Wales, run by Nick Otley and brothers Charlie and Matthew, has created a beer that will be unveiled later this month. It's brewed to 5.4%.

The Otley version is brewed with pale malt and a small amount of amber malt. Hops used are English Fuggles and Goldings.

The beer is now maturing in casks and will be launched in mid-May. Not in Pontypridd but, with due respect for history, in Burton-on-Trent.