page_title: Burton ale
section_title: Burton ale from the early 19th century to the mid 20th century: co-existence with pale ales
hierarchical_section_title: Burton ale / Burton ale from the early 19th century to the mid 20th century: co-existence with pale ales
caption_attribution_description: English: Bottle label for Bass Jubilee Strong Burton Ale 1977
context_page_description: Burton ale is a type of strong ale which is dark and sweet. It is named after the brewing town of Burton-on-Trent.
  Burton ales were generally aged and needed cellaring for months before serving, and almost certainly had some degree of secondary fermentation going on during that time. In London, the terms Burton ale and old ale were interchangeable, but compared to other old ales and barley wines Burton ale is distinctively dark, sweet and fruity.
context_section_description: Strong Burton ale co-existed with the pale ales and India pale ales for which Burton–on-Trent became famous from the 1820s. However, opinions about these ales differed.  One writer in 1827 mused: 
  "How various are the tastes of men in the matter of malt-liquor! One … will drink nothing but the luscious Burton - almost innocent of hops; whilst [another] detests the honey-sweet draught, and regales upon beer of most bitter brewage: some affect the new, and some the old".
  
  A couple of devotees of the original strong Burton ale wrote: 
  From India the taste for the thinner bitter ales was brought back to this country, and for many years bitter beers were considered a kind of panacea for want of appetite, loss of digestive power, and many other deranged conditions with which it had no relation. A sort of false appetite for bitterness was stimulated, and less attention was paid to the other valuable characteristics of beer than to the two fashionable requirements - that of paleness and excess of hop flavour.
  Samuel Allsopp & Sons expanded rapidly under the direction of Henry Allsopp, 1st Baron Hindlip.  The catalogue of The Great Exhibition in 1851 advertised: 
  Allsopp's East India and strong Burton ales. Foreigners visiting England are particularly requested to ask for these favourite Ales.  The Pale Ales have been long consumed in the East Indies and all hot climates for their highly wholesome and antibilious properties.  The strong Burton ales (as originally brewed by Wilson and Allsopp) have been celebrated throughout Russia, Prussia, and Germany. The [company's] agents are empowered to give letters of introduction to all respectable Foreigners who may desire to visit the Brewery at Burton-on-Trent.
   In 1853, the firm opened a depot in London in which year an 18-gallon cask of Allsopp's Strong (the Old Burton) Ale cost 45s, compared to 30s for pale ale and 33s for mild ale. In 1893, Samuel Allsopp & Sons received the highest awards at Chicago for their India pale ale, their stout and their strong ale. Well into the 19th century, Bass had six different versions of Burton ale, ranging from 6% to 10.5% in strength. Bass No 1, labelled a barley wine, is in fact the last-remaining example of Bass's Burton ales. In 1876, Bass obtained the first two trademarks ever issued in the UK for its red triangle and red diamond, the latter having been used for Burton ales since the 1850s. Bass issued several limited bottlings of Bass No 1 Burton Ale to celebrate special occasions, starting with Ratcliff Ale in 1869 and continuing with King's Ale to mark the visit of Edward VII, a friend of Michael Bass, 1st Baron Burton,  in February 1902 and Prince's Ale in 1929 when the mash was started by the then Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII. Bass No. 1 was brewed almost continuously (with a 10-year break from 1944 to 1954) until its discontinuation in 1995, "its demise pretty much marking the end of barley wine production on any real scale the UK".
  Although the Burton brewers were the first brewers of Burton ale, and it remained a Burton speciality (many old pub mirrors from companies such as Bass and Allsopp advertise 'pale and Burton ales'), other brewers soon made their own versions, just as they did with IPA. Burton ale was brewed from Newcastle upon Tyne to Dorchester. There was also a Scottish version, Edinburgh Ale, again dark and sweet.  Burton ale appeared in school textbooks such as Thomas Carpenter's The young scholar's manual of elementary arithmetic of 1842: Q - What are 56 hogsheads, 2 firkins and 6 gallons of Burton ale worth at £4.11.8 per hhd? Ans - £258.14.0½ [1hhd = 54 gallons, 1 firkin = 9 gallons, £1 = 20s = 240d].  In the 1880s, it was noted that:
  "The limitation and classification of ale and beer according to their strength, was maintained down to quite recent times because of the duties laid upon them, but on the repeal of those duties ales of every strength, kind and description were, and have since been, extensively manufactured. Every want, whim, and fancy of the ale-drinker may now be gratified. There is old Scotch or 
caption: Bottle label for Bass Jubilee Strong Burton Ale 1977, brewed for the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II
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