The brewing of ale and beer has a long history in England, but the town of Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire has a special relationship with the drink.
By the end of the 19th century, Burton was home to the most extensive beer breweries in the world, with over half of the town’s working population employed in the industry.
What beer is Burton upon Trent famous for?
Burton’s beers were once unique because the town’s water contained a very high calcium sulphate level. Beer is produced using a mixture of barley and water, so having exceptional water meant special beer.
The town’s water enabled the brewers to produce bright, pale ales known as India Pale Ale, or IPA, that became highly fashionable in the 1830s and 1840s.
The most famous beers to emerge from Burton during this period were Bass Pale Ale by the Bass Brewery, and Allsopp’s Pale Ale and India Pale Ale by brewers Samuel Allsopp & Sons.
However, by the early 20th century, brewers in other towns and cities had learned how to ‘Burtonise’ their water through treatment, which allowed Burton-style beers to be produced elsewhere.
A growing taste for India Pale Ale (IPA)
The key to Burton’s brewing success was India Pale Ale, also known as IPA.
From the mid-18th century, the British East India Company purchased supplies of hoppy pale ale for shipping to India. The higher levels of hops and alcohol in IPA helped preserve the beer’s flavour on its long journey through hot climates.
The East India Company was involved in the transatlantic slave trade from the early 17th century until 1834. It was responsible for seizing control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent and colonising parts of Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.
Burton’s waters were ideal for pale ale production. The first pale ale by Allsopp shipped to India in 1823. Soon, other brewers got in on the act, and by 1834, there were 9 brewers in Burton producing IPA.
Burton’s pale ales were being drunk at home and abroad, where it was called ‘Indian beer’. The term India Pale Ale first appeared in print in the ‘Liverpool Mercury’ in 1835, and the term spread.
The impact on the town was profound. By 1840, around 350 men were working in brewing, with an annual output of between around 60,000 and 70,000 barrels.
Burton’s industrial expansion
All this was merely a prelude to the industry’s dramatic expansion from 1850 to 1880.
Burton became surrounded by breweries, whose roads were crisscrossed by trains hauling casks. In just 10 years, Burton’s brewing industries had trebled in size.
William Bass undertook a colossal building programme from the 1850s to 1860s, including the state-of-the-art New Brewery in 1858. Its output was around 600,000 barrels a year.
A small part of the building remains, along with a section of the Wetmore Maltings and the water tower, a landmark in the town centre today.
Meanwhile, Samuel Allsopp established what was described as the largest brewery in the world in 1860. Bass and Allsopp employed two-thirds of the town’s 3,000 brewery workers.
As these breweries expanded, more competitors arrived from London. Ind Coope & Sons were the most successful of the new brewers.
The demand for beer and ale stores
Even as the railway expanded, it wasn’t easy to keep up with the volume produced by Burton’s beer trade during the 1860s and 1870s, so brewers started buying and renting stores for their products around England.
One store belonging to Bass Breweries survives in Newcastle. It is a warren of vaults located in the undercroft of the Forth Banks Goods station, south of the city centre.
Another survives in the St Pancras passenger station train shed undercroft in London, which opened in 1868. Eurostar passengers wait in this area today, where the original iron columns remain visible.
In fact, until around 1914, the east side of St Pancras Station featured a sign advertising ‘Salt & Company East India Ale & Burton Ale Stores’.
Burton at its peak
By the mid-1870s, Bass was the largest brewing company in the world, producing around 980,000 barrels a year. The town became one of the great curiosities of the late Victorian era.
Bass and Allsopp remained the biggest breweries in Burton, but competition increased. By the end of the 1880s, there were 32 brewers in Burton, operating from 36 breweries.
The annual production was around 3,025,000 barrels, and over half the working population was employed in the industry. Brewing, malting, and ancillary industries made up one-third of the town’s land.
By the end of the 19th century, Burton had reached its peak. The discovery of ‘Burtonisation’, the treatment of water to resemble Burton’s, allowed Burton-style beers to be produced elsewhere.
The onset of the First World War in 1914 also disrupted many trades, including brewing.
Burton’s brewing decline
By 1917, the number of breweries in Burton had declined, reflecting the industry’s troubles as a whole. The First World War had trimmed pub opening hours, and the wartime drink trade was heavily regulated.
Most brewers lost a considerable number of male workers to the war (some of whom were replaced by women) and had to deal with shortages of raw materials.
By 1911, only 17 breweries remained in Burton, and closures continued well into the 20th century. By 1950, only 5 were left.
Which beers are brewed in Burton today?
Burton has seen many changes but remains a significant beer supplier. The Canadian-American brewers Molson Coors have operated there since 2002, supplying England with beers such as Carling, Grolsch and Coors.
Many buildings have been demolished in Burton, but you can still see the Bass water tower in the centre of town, as well as many former breweries and maltings, converted industrial buildings, and microbreweries.
Several microbreweries occupy former brewing premises, including Burton Bridge Brewery (founded in 1982) in an old malting. Black Hole Brewery (founded in 2007) can be found in the former Inde Coope bottling stores.
Discover your historic local heritage
Hidden local histories are all around us. Find a place near you on the Local Heritage Hub.
Further reading
- The Buildings of the Malting Industry
- Football, Beerhouses and Books: How Victorian Mill Workers Entertained Themselves
- Education Teacher’s Kit: Industrial Heritage Brewing
- Built to Brew: The History and Heritage of the Brewery
If you drove past Burton, you could smell it for miles on the down-wind side…..
Burton is in Staffordshire!