Book will celebrate 40 years of brewery
A BURTON brewery is preparing to celebrate four decades of proudly serving pints in the town.
The Burton Bridge Brewery has a long history of being a favourite for beer lovers and next year will celebrate its 40th anniversary.
To mark the occasion, Burton brewing historian Ian Webster is hoping to share memories of those who have been involved with its story over the years as well as old photographs.
It will also feature in-depth interviews with owners Geoff Mumford and Bruce Wilkinson.
Mr Mumford said: “We come to an exciting anniversary in the life of the brewery.
“An appropriate way to celebrate is to look back over the 40 years and remember the important and amusing things that have happened and to publish them as a book.”
Author Mr Webster is now appealing for anyone who has been involved with the Burton Bridge Brewery to get in touch with him to share their stories and memories.
The Burton Bridge Brewery, in Bridge Street, was built in the late 17th century as the Fox and Goose Inn and the old bridge finished just outside the front door.
The remains of the first two arches from the bridge are still there but buried under the road.
It was while separating the ale and lager liquor streams at Ind Coope’s Romford brewery in 1979 that engineering manager Geoff Mumford and technical manager Bruce Wilkinson discovered that they had a mutual interest in starting their own brewery.
They decided that the best way to do it would be to have a small brewery joined on to a pub and own the freehold rather than rent an industrial site to brew on. In 1981 the Fox and Goose had been closed for two years so they made a visit to the pub on the May Bank Holiday in 1981.
It was in October 1981 that notice was given to leave Ind Coope and after finding equipment and six months of hard work, brewing started on May 25, 1982.
The Burton Bridge Brewery website states: “The first brew was Bridge Bitter with an OG (original gravity) of 1042 (4.2% ABV) the strength determined by the fact that all the other Burton brewers main bitters were around that strength but none with a OG of 1042.
“We wanted an all malt brew and Maris Otter was selected, as it was the malt being used by the brewers producing beers that had a good reputation.
“The brew length of 15 barrels is still the same as in 1982 but the number of different brews required for the present market is larger,” he added.
“Some landlords when you ask what beer they want as a guest beer will only take something that they have never had before, as do some beer festival organisers.”
We come to an exciting anniversary...an appropriate way to celebrate is to look back 40 years.
Mr Mumford