In his article on endangered beer
styles, the writer Martyn Cornell lists Burton Ale as a critically endangered
example. Up until the late 1950’s, it was one of the most popular draught beer
styles in the country, it has been noted that every major UK brewery during the
early 20th century was producing a Burton Ale, yet it’s decline was
swift as Roger Protz notes “Burton ale went into steep decline in the 20th
century not only as consumer preference switched to Mild and Bitter but also a
result of punitive increases in excise duty on stronger beers during both world
wars.”
By the 1960’s, Burton Ales increasingly became seasonal specials or were
dropped from breweries altogether. By the time of the real ale boom of the
Seventies with the arrival of CAMRA on the scene, Burton Ale was all but gone.
The term “Gone for a Burton” was an acronym for someone who was dead or
missing, the journalist Jenny Moody notes “it was widely used as a slang term
by the RAF in World War Two when the RAF took heavy casualties during the war
to defeat Nazi Germany.”
The term was also a way of saying a serviceman had died in action, an aircraft
that had been ditched at sea or had ended up in the drink. Even-though the term was
inspired by the beer style, it had eerie historical implications as Burton Ale itself became a beer style missing in action, presumed dead; so, in effect Burton Ales had
gone for a Burton. Putting the poetry to one side, to find out why Burton
Ale had such a dramatic fall from grace, we need to delve deeper into history
and how it became popular in the first place. Furthermore, in today’s crowded
world of beer styles, could the legendary Burton Ale stage a comeback like
Porter and Dark Mild, or has it been consigned to history?
Despite being a near extinct beer
style, Burton Ales are still listed on the BJCP’s website; better known as the
Beer Judge Certification Program, a worldwide organisations that
certifies various beer styles under certain guidelines for beer judges to follow
in competitions. It lists Burton Ale as “a rich, malty, sweet, and bitter dark
ale of moderately strong alcohol. Full bodied and chewy with a balanced hoppy
finish and complex malty and hoppy aroma. Fruity notes accentuate the malt
richness, while the hops help balance the sweeter finish.”
The colour can range from Amber to Dark Brown; the hops need to be light to
moderate reflective of fruity, woody or spicy English hop varieties; sweetness must
be balanced by the hops and malt but never cloying or clashing; a fruity aroma
of Plum, Figs and Prunes should be present; a medium to full bodied mouthfeel
and it must be a keeping ale, aged before consuming. These are the essential
guidelines of a Burton Ale in a nutshell to take into consideration, contrary
to some sources who claim Burton Ale is a type of IPA. Brewing in Burton has
been recorded has far back as the 11th century when monks at Burton
Abbey were brewing ales for residents and travellers alike. In 1699, the Trent
Navigation Act allowed for the extension of the canal from Burton to Shardlow,
and subsequently in 1712 from Gainsborough to Hull. This enabled trade to other
parts of the UK, which improved the fortunes of Burton’s brewing industry. Around
this time Benjamin Printon set up the first commercial brewery in the area,
taking advantage of the rapidly expanding Burton Union System. The rise of
Burton Ale was swift, by 1712 it was reported that 638 barrels had passed
through Burton via Hull en-route to London. In places like Vauxhall Pleasure
Gardens, Burton Ale had gathered great demand.
By 1722, trade to London had risen to 1000 barrels per year and
subsequently Burton gained the moniker as the most popular brewing town in the
UK. Around his time, Printon’s successor John Musgrove began exporting Burton
Ale overseas to the Baltic states taking advantage of the low outward freight
rates and soon a flourishing trade was established, with ports including St
Petersburg and Danzig particularly benefiting from the traffic. It also became
popular with Russian royalty, it was well known that Peter the Great and his
Empress Catherine were particularly fond of the imported beverage. To cope with this demand a slew
of breweries were established in Burton including the likes of Bass, Worthington’s and
Allsopps, by the late 18th century exports to Baltic states
accounted for 70% of total production in the town.
Yet the storm clouds were on the
horizon, and with the coming of the Napoleonic Wars in 1793 and the subsequent
Napoleonic blockade, overseas trade took a massive tumble, and this had a devastating
effect on Burton’s brewing industry which was mostly decimated. Protz notes “the
number of brewers in the town fell from 13 to just five between 1780 and the
1820s.” The survivors that emerged from the carnage, including Bass, Allsopps,
Salt, Sherratt and Worthington’s had to find new ways of trading to survive.
This was further necessitated in 1822 when the Russian authorities increased
the excise tariffs on British imports including beer, which was the final nail
in the coffin the Baltic trade. Later that same year, Samuel Allsopp, then
owner of Allsopps Brewery repurposed his surplus stock and produced a less
sweet and more bitter version (with added hops) of his Burton Ale. Although
initially it was initially slow to take off, he took advantage of the rapidly developing
canal system which allowed trade to all parts of the country. Another major factor
for the upturn in Burton’s brewing industry was the establishment of the
railway network at the time, C.C. Owen states “Cheap, rapid and secure
transport linking Burton to all parts of the UK, allowing breweries to cater
for national markets for the first time. The period from 1830-1850 saw a
threefold increase in brewery production.”
For instance, Owen notes that in 1831, Bass produced 11,600 barrels which by 1863
it had risen to 538,000 barrels. With the increase in domestic trade, Protz
points out “the Burton brewers continued to produce the style for the sound
reason there was a great demand for it. Pale Ale was expensive and was consumed
mainly by the new, rising middle class while Burton Ale remained popular with
those who enjoyed a sweeter beer.” Burton Ale particularly became popular with
the working classes, as soon breweries in other parts of the UK took advantage
of this and began producing their own Burton Ales. Cornell notes “it was
popular enough to be picked up and imitated across Britain, from Dorset to
Northumbria.”
Burton Ale was particularly popular in London where it was massive seller,
local breweries like Young’s, Barclay Perkins, Meux’s, Mann, Crossman &
Paulin, Truman’s and Fuller’s were selling their own Burton Ales, while in
Edinburgh, breweries including William Younger and Aitchinson were producing
their own versions, calling it Edinburgh Ale. Soon Burton Ale became popular in
other parts of the world including Australia where it was sold as Toohey’s Old
and Tooth’s Old in Sydney, and in the US where a version of Burton Ale was
notably brewed by P. Ballantine & Sons Brewery of New Jersey.
By the mid 1870’s Burton the
became the centre of the brewing industry in the UK, it had the largest breweries
in the world at the time and was hailed for it’s technological advances in
brewing technology. Over time, Burton Ale had changed too as Des de Moor notes
“like most beers it was later modified to fit the now ubiquitous practice of
basing beer recipes on pale malt, with additions of coloured and speciality
malts as required. It therefore became paler in colour, though still brown,
giving rise to the confusing term Burton Pale Ale (BPA) – pale in comparison to
the old brown malt version but still notably darker than the beers we now think
of as pale ales.”
Greene King Burton Pale Ale was good example of this practise, which is likely
where the contemporary confusion with the classification of Burton Ale as an
IPA stems from, since they both used the same malt. In 1876, Bass obtained the first
two trademarks ever issued the country, for its iconic red triangle and red
diamond which they used for their No.1 Barley Wine and Burton Ale respectively.
Other breweries soon followed suit with their own trademarks, advertising their
Burton Ales. By the late 19th century Burton Ale was also being sold as Old Ale, Strong Ale and Barley Wine according to Cornell. It became
dubbed “The Wine of Malt” and ranged widely in strength between 6-10.5% ABV; stronger bottled versions
of Burton Ale were also being sold on the market, such as Salt’s Barley Wine
(11.95%), Allsopp’s Old Burton (8.32%) and Bass No.1 Barley Wine (8.41%), often
sold in bottles known as Nip’s, which could hold 190ml or one third of an
imperial pint. A notable Burton Ale from this period was Arctic Ale
produced by Allsopps measuring a hefty 11% ABV, which was first brewed in 1852 for
Captain Belcher’s expedition to the Arctic where it was remarked that due to
the high alcohol content in the beer, it prevented the beer from freezing at
temperatures averaging around -55º F. By this time, Owen points out that the
emergence of the temperance movement backed by the Liberal Party was gaining
traction. He notes “after 1900, opposition to the brewers grew even stronger,
with the talk of prohibition and a steady decline in beer drinking.” The once
mighty brewing industry of Burton was starting to falter, breweries and public
houses started to close and in 1906, Salt Brewery which had been one of the
major players in the industry, went into liquidation. The influence of the
anti-drink lobby had a major effect on the taxation of stronger ABV ale, so it
comes as no surprise that with the onset of WW1, Burton Ales were further
impacted as “beer strengths plunged under the weight of higher taxes and
restrictions on raw materials.”
By the 1920’s, the strength of draught Burton Ale had drastically decreased, as
Ron Pattison notes “it was generally brewed as a 9d. draught beer, that is with
a gravity of around 1055º. There were stronger versions, but these were mostly
sold in bottled form or on draught or as a winter seasonal.”
At an average strength of 5.91% ABV this was drastically lower than it was a few
decades before. In 1923 alone, the major London brewers were selling draught
Burton Ale at a lower strengths such as Barclay Perkins (5.41%), Charrington
(5.72%), Courage (5.20%), Meux’s (5.87%) and Truman’s (5.73%) for instance.
Further taxation of stronger ales following WW2 impacted Burton Ales further,
the average gravity was down to an average of 1045º, for instance a 1951
Draught Burton from Barclay Perkins measured at a measly (4.22%). At the time
Burton Ale was still considered as of the four main types of British beer along
with Pale Ale, Mild & Stout, in London, Pattison states “Burton Ale
remained a standard draught beer. Though after the mid-1950’s it increasingly
became a winter seasonal.”
The writing was on the wall for Burton Ales as breweries all over the country
dropped them from their ranges or consigned them to seasonal specials. It’s decline
was due to a variety of factors from the increasing consumer preference in
sessionable beers such as Bitter, Mild and Pale Ales, the falling popularity for
darker ales and the increasing taxation on stronger ales which effectively saw
Burton Ales taxed out of existence as they became weaker in strength. The final
nail in the coffin came in 1969, when Fullers ceased production of their Old
Burton Extra from their range owing to poor sales, and was replaced with a new
beer named Winter Bitter which was renamed ESB in 1971, which continues to be
sold to this day. The same year, Young’s renamed their Burton to Winter Warmer,
the saga of the Burton Ale was all but over.
In 1976, Burton Ales was
seemingly revived when Allied Breweries launched their Ind Coope Draught Burton
Ale, as a means of taking advantage of the real ale boom initiated by CAMRA.
However Cornell notes it “was actually an IPA-style brew (cask-conditioned
Double Diamond in fact) rather than a real Burton Ale as drinkers a generation
or two earlier would have understood the term.”
Ironically the brewery has brewed a genuine Burton Ale up until the 1950’s, so
this ‘rereleased version’ was a harsh blow to the legacy of Burton Ales,
although it didn’t stop the likes of Roger Protz claiming years later that it
marked the resurrection of the style. Indeed, it didn’t stop this beer from gaining
a popular following, in 1990 it won Champion Beer of Britain at GBBF that year and
subsequently in 2011 it was resurrected as a one-off ale known as ‘O’Roger’
developed together by Protz and Otley Brewery. Although hailed at the time by
CAMRA as the triumphant return of Burton Ales, it was criticised by the likes
of Martyn Cornell who stated that they fell for the same marketing trick first
propagated in 1976. It was too pale and weak (at 5.2%) to be considered an
authentic Burton Ale even under BJCP guidelines, Protz himself had his
doubts about O’Roger prior to its release, where he expressed “we would have
preferred to mature for several months but my book deadline is against us and I
felt that a touch of darker malt would give the beer a mature flavour and good
"mouthfeel".” Curiously these doubts all but disappeared when it was
formally launched, all for the sake of good publicity. Thankfully there have
been authentic Burton Ales that have been released, including Heritage by the
former Smiles Brewery in Bristol, a resurrected version of Arctic Ale by Boss Beer
and the relaunch of Old Burton Extra from Fuller’s Brewery in 2012 based on
the original recipe from 1931; at 7.2% it was produced as a stronger version of
the style, as Des de Moor notes “the result is a rich deep Burgundy brown with
a thick yellow beige head. There’s sultana and chocolate on a rich, smooth,
malty and slightly spicy aroma with honey, black grape and a subtle hint of
violet.” The Quaffer added it as “a very
easy beer to drink, aided by the fact that it is not in the slightest bit
cloying; for while the flavour is predominantly fruity and sweet with burnt
sugar and caramel malt, it is remarkably well-balanced by a gentle but
lingering dry hop finish.”
Released as part of their Past Masters series of limited edition beers, the
beer was in circulation for several years although it has recently vanished
from their range. There have been other examples of
former Burton Ales being relaunched, in the US, Ballantines Burton Ale (11.3%)
was revived in 2016, by Pabst Brewery. Whilst Greene King’s Burton Pale Ale was
resurrected when incorporated into Strong Suffolk (6%) which features a
combination of BPA with a younger version of their oak aged 5X into the mix.
There have been a number of examples of Burton Ales out there hiding in plain
sight which are generally labelled as Strong Ales, Old Ales, Premium Bitters or
Barley Wines respectively. Martyn Cornell and Antony Hayes note in their article that there are several survivors
that can claim to be authentic Burton Ales, including the likes of Theakston’s
Old Peculiar (5.6%), Marston’s Owd Rodger (7.4%), Fuller’s 1845 (6.3%), Timothy
Taylor’s Ram Tam (4.3%) and Young’s Winter Warmer (5.0%). Other beers to
consider include Broadside (6.3%) and Tally Ho (7.2%) from Adnams respectively, McEwans' Champion (7.3%) which is a modern version of the Edinburgh Ale
and most blatantly of all Tower Brewery’s Burton Strong Ale (6.0%) where the
clue is in the title. It could also be argued that Fuller’s ESB (5.9%) is a
repackaged version of their original draft Burton Ale, indeed Ron Pattison discovered from brewery records from 1939, that the draught version was only 5.46%, which
is very similar to it’s modern equivalent.
Most of the beers mentioned above can be found in supermarkets, bottle shops
and websites like Beers of Europe. So has Burton Ale gone a for Burton, well far
from being extinct it has been slumbering away in the background all this time.
In today’s congested world of beer styles, it may be worth considering resurrecting
Burton Ales as a beer style. After all there have been flurry of strong ales,
old ales and barley wines released by breweries over the past few decades that
could conform to the characteristic guidelines of a Burton Ale, would it be
better if they were consolidated under one umbrella style again in order to
boost their chances of success on the industry and beer festival circuit, maybe
it's high time to bring back Burton?
“Burton
Ale before WW II (part two)” by Ron Pattison, Shut Up About Barclay Perkins, 8th
January 2019
