Historic brew to mark 200 years of IPA in Burton
SPECIAL EDITION COMING TO COOPERS TAVERN TONIGHT
A NEW alcoholic tipple based on an historic brew is coming to the home of beer.
Samuel Allsopp & Sons Celebration Indian Pale Ale will be available to try at The Coopers Tavern tonight, from 7pm, to mark the 200th anniversary of Indian Pale Ales in the town.
At 7.5 per cent, the new IPA is a modern take on the IPAS which built Burton’s reputation as the brewing capital of the world in the late 1800s. The beer, however, is not being brewed in East Staffordshire. Allsopp’s, once one of the greatest names in Burton’s brewing heritage and one of the town’s biggest businesses, is now being brewed on a smaller scale in Sheffield by
Jamie Allsopp, the seven-times great grandson of Samuel Allsopp – the man who introduced IPA to Burton in 1820.
Burton brewing historian Ian Webster said: “This is the 200th anniversary of the first commercial brew of India Pale Ale in Burton. This was done by Samuel Allsopp at his premises on High Street, where Carling House [Molson Coors headquarters before it moves to the National Brewery Centre site] currently occupies the site.
“Without the discovery Burton water was perfectly suited for Pale Ales, the town would never have become the brewing capital of the world. Burton has a rich history and is unique as a brewing town, with all the recent turmoil it is vital we remember and shout about just how important our town is.”
Beer aficionados from all over the country will be in the town tonight to mark the bicentenary.
A ticketed celebratory conference at the Constitutional Club in High Street, that is now all but sold out, will see Jamie Allsopp unveil a plaque commemorating the event.
Speakers at the conference include
Roger Protz, widely-regarded as the country’s leading beer writer and, for many years, the editor of the Good Beer Guide; Marston’s director of brewing Emma Gilleland; the brewer of the new Allsopp beers, former Bass brewer Jim Appelbee; and Ian Webster.
It will be compered by Emma Inch, chair of the British Guild of Beer Writers.
Jamie Allsopp, who announced the revival of the Allsopp brand last year, said: “I would like to celebrate the achievements of Samuel Allsopp on the 200th anniversary of his breakthrough brew.
“Here was a man who was down on his luck, he’d bought a brewery from his uncle that had lost the majority of his business because Napoleon blockaded his main trade routes.
“His brewery was faltering but he didn’t give up and, in doing so, brewed the first Burton India Pale Ale – the rest is history.
“I hope that in another 200 years, an Allsopp brewer will remember a Jamie who relaunched the family brewery into a global pandemic, with runaway inflation and a four-month period in which the UK has seen four chancellors, three home secretaries and two prime ministers!”
The conference begins at 1pm, when Mr Webster will speak about why it is important to mark anniversaries in local history.
Mr Protz will give an overview of the history of India Pale Ale and Burton’s vital role within it before Mr Allsopp tells the story Allsopp’s and Jim Appelbee lead a tasting of the beer.
Ms Gilleland will explain why and how Burton is the natural home for hoppy pale ales.
After further talks in the afternoon, from around 5.30pm, delegates will move on to the Coopers Tavern, where the beer will be available for anyone to try from 7pm.