Got to hand it to Jamie, the Allsopp revival is a great idea
Relates the story of the man determined to revive his family’s fine Burton-based brewing history
ONE of the highlights of the recent Burton Ale Trail was to taste the revived Allsopp’s beers, available at several venues. There was a pale ale at 4% in casks, 4.4% in bottles, and an IPA at 5% in cask, 5.6% in bottles, and both were excellent. The story behind them is quite something.
The name and the beers have been revived, fulfilling a dream, by wealthy Old Etonian financier Jamie Allsopp, the seven times great grandson of pioneering brewer Samuel and a cousin of the TV presenter Kirstie.
When Samuel Allsopp founded his hand-built brewery in Burton in 1730, he laid a claim to being one of the first to come up with an India Pale Ale – the strong brew capable of withstanding the rigours of a boat trip to India for British troops to drink.
The company’s chequered history included building a lager brewery in 1897 before anyone wanted lager and the financial fallout from that just about did for them.
They merged with Ind Coope in 1934, that company taking on the famous red hand logo, but the Allsopp’s name disappeared after more takeovers and mergers in 1959.
The logo stayed and featured on branding for beers like Double Diamond and Draught Burton Ale for many years. Both of those are beers which have been revived by small brewers in recent times.
But now it is the turn of Allsopp’s.
From an early age, Jamie liked the idea of reviving it. And after a hugely successful career in the city, he could afford to spare no expense indulging his dream.
He revealed his interest in the family history in 2020, when he paid £750 for a bottle of Allsopp’s Arctic Ale from 1875 at an auction in Exeter. That beer, a 9% monster, had been commissioned by the Lords of the Admiralty to accompany a mission to the Arctic.
But it was the pale ale and IPA he was more realistically interested in reviving. He didn’t want to make just any old beer, either. He wanted to reproduce the original beers as closely as possible.
His secret weapon was when he discovered the sole surviving ledger of his family’s recipes, more than 250 recipes in fact, from the 1930s. He also found the old Allsopp yeast in the National Yeast Archive.
Next, he enlisted the help of Burton-style brewing expert Jim Appelbee, who adapted the original recipes to work for today’s ingredients, methods and tastes. The fact that IPA is currently, once again, a hugely popular beer style helped. Where to brew? Jamie was introduced to Sheffield-based brewer Mark Simmonite, whose much-admired brewery is Aardvark.
Along the way, Jamie also had to buy back the branding. Bizarrely, BrewDog now owned the red hand logo and Carlsberg the Allsopp brand itself.
Would there be a battle to get them back? Apparently not. Jamie says both companies were supportive and helpful. It would be cynical of me to suggest that the cheques he was probably waving would have helped, of course, but that’s business.
Remarkably, all of this was going on largely by Zoom at the height of the pandemic. As lockdown projects go, it was a biggie.
Soon, the comeback brews were ready.
The pale ale was the beer which first made the Allsopp’s name, golden-hued, a proper session beer with bread and citrus notes. It uses aurora and cascade hops.
The IPA is a faithful recreation of the original one from Allsopp’s but with the added benefit of better malt and hops than Samuel Allsopp had at his disposal.
The re-creation is darker and clearer than most modern IPAs. The tasting notes speak of “fresh hay, citrus and dark fruit, with a hint of caramel. Grass and spicy notes playing off a light toffee-like base, before a dry, lingering finish.”
Jamie has, not surprisingly, used premium ingredients and is very proud of the results.
“Allsopp’s is for everyone: the new generation of beer drinkers who may be lost or overwhelmed by choice, as well as fans of traditional, classic British ales,” he says.
“Like our history, Allsopp’s beers have layers and depth. But above all, they’re beers made with good ingredients, skill and heart. Beers for people who like beer.
“While we respect the best of the past, these ales are still true originals, embracing innovation, bold, contemporary design and modern culture, for modern beer lovers.”
You can forgive him a bit of PR speak. There is no doubting Jamie’s commitment to the project and his pride in it. He does not intend to stop here.
Next up – in more favourable times – is a planned revival of the lager that ruined the original family business. It is said that the original recipe eventually became Skol. I suspect whatever they come up with now will be an improvement.
Further ahead, perhaps, is the enticing prospect of bringing the brewing of Allsopp’s back home to Burton.
“The dream is to have my own brewery; the community aspect of Allsopp’s is important to me,” says Jamie.
Based on his record so far, it’s a fair bet Jamie Allsopp will do it, too.
While we respect the best of the past, these ales are true originals, embracing innovation, for modern beer lovers Jamie Allsopp