All the way from Scotland for Burton’s first Ale Trail
BURTON’S first Ale Trail promotion has been declared an overwhelming success after hundreds of people turned out over four days to sample extra beers put on in 14 of the town’s popular venues.
The Burton Ale Trail already looks set to become an annual event, with publicans declaring it “just what the town needed” after so long with their premises either closed or restricted by the pandemic.
The trail was organised by Burton beer buff and author Ian Webster and attracted visitors from far and wide, including a group of five who made a long weekend of it from Ayrshire in Scotland.
It set out to showcase the huge variety of different beers that are now available in Burton, where once customers could only find the products from the town’s big breweries.
Mr Webster admitted to being slightly overwhelmed by the success of the trail, which began on Thursday and finished yesterday.
“The trail has proved beyond doubt that Burton upon Trent is a fantastic place to drink,” he said.
“We are blessed with numerous world class venues that are perfectly sited for a good old-fashioned pub crawl.
“This was the first time an event like this has been attempted in the town. It was hard to know what to expect but the people came out in their hundreds to support us and for that I am truly grateful.
“Social media has been flooded with smiling faces, the whole town felt alive again.
“I hope people have discovered new places to drink and will continue to give them their custom long after the Burton Ale Trail is over.
“A number of the pubs could be described as hidden gems, I think that has changed after this weekend.”
Carl Stout, landlord of the Devonshire Arms, which put on a Lancashire-themed beer festival for the trail in addition to regular brews, said the pub had enjoyed its busiest weekend in a long time.
“It was an incredible weekend for Burton pubs and well done to Ian Webster for organising it,” he said.
“Something like this has been talked about – it just needed someone to knit it together and he’s done that.
“It probably needed to be someone who was independent of any pub.”
Ash Ayling, licensee of Beeropolis in High Street, one of the town’s newer venues, added: “It was absolutely fantastic. Our takings probably trebled this weekend and this has shown that people do want to come out to pubs.”
Stephen Massie, one of the five
friends who visited from Scotland, said they had found the Burton Ale Trail advertised on Facebook by chance and it set them thinking.
“Over the course of a few days we researched the logistics of an expedition and four of us booked into the Ibis (hotel in town).
“Our fifth man had other commitments, including a wedding in Ipswich, so he only managed to join us on the Saturday.
“At the time of writing, Sunday morning, we have enjoyed copious amounts of excellent ale and hospitality in 11 of the 14 venues.
“I think I can speak for all of the ‘Ayrshire Mob’ when I say that a great time has been had by all. It has been an enormous pleasure to sample many different ales during our trip.
“My abiding memory of the trip will be the friendliness with which we have been greeted at each venue.”
The trail has proved beyond doubt that Burton is a fantastic place to drink.
Organiser Ian Webster