Going for a Burton

I’m off tomorrow (Friday), to enjoy a Proper Day Out with the Real Pub Men of the Beer & Pubs Forum. The Staffordshire town of Burton-on-Trent is our destination for the day, and our visit will afford the opportunity to sample a number of traditional (“proper”) pubs.

Burton is known the world over for its pale ales; a style that was originally developed in the town.  At its height, during the second half of the 19^th Century, one quarter of all beer sold in Britain was produced in the town and today, despite takeovers and mergers, Burton is still a major centre of brewing within the UK. 

The most famous of the numerous breweries that developed in the town, is that of Bass & Co, founded by William Bass in 1777. The company’s main brand, Bass Pale Ale, was once the highest-selling beer in Britain, and by 1877, exactly 100 years after its foundation, Bass had become the largest brewery in the world, with an annual output of one million barrels. Bass Pale Ale was exported throughout the British Empire, and the company's distinctive red triangle became the UK's first registered trade mark.

During the 20^th Century, a convoluted series of mergers and takeovers saw Bass emerge as the UK’s largest brewing company, only to eventually sell off its brewing arm to Interbrew of Belgium, and move into the hotel business. This followed the purchase of the Holiday Inn hotel chain.

Today, Draught Bass, which is the traditional cask-conditioned version of Bass Pale Ale, is brewed by at the Marston's Brewery in Burton. It is described as "a classic ale with a malty, fruity, nutty aroma and a complex, satisfying flavour," and it is this beer that our group will be particularly keen on sampling this Friday.

My first job in quality control, following graduation, was with the wine and spirits division of Bass, and during my time there I was fortunate to visit the company headquarters, in Burton, and enjoy a tour round the brewery, followed a sampling of its most famous product afterwards.

Draught Bass, served direct from the cask, in the sampling room, was definitely the highlight of that trip, although the now sadly-defunct "Union Room", where the beer was fermented and conditioned, came a close second. The Union Room has long since been razed to the ground, along with the historic Victorian No. 2 Brewery, but Marston’s have made a pretty good job of the beer, since they took over the brewing – see above.

Since that brief tour in the late 1970’s, I have made two further trips to Burton, but with the most recent of these a trip to the Bass Brewery Museum during the mid 1990’s, a return to the town itself is long overdue.