Saturday 11 September 2010

Burton Ale 1856

Porter and Mild. AK. KK. The prosaic styles that occupy me.

Martyn Cornell has a nobler obsession. Burton. Burton Ale. One of Britain's greatest beers.

Not bloody Pale Ale. That's Burton Pale Ale. Burton Ale is something else.

As this Dutch advert, from 1856, makes quite clear:


Dagblad van Zuidholland en 's Gravenhage, 21-05-1856

See what it says?

Allsopp's  Pale Ale
Burton Ale
Allsopp's East India Pale Ale
Bass Pale Bitter Ale

There's Allsopp and Bass Pale Ale, both from Burton. But neither called Burton Ale. It implies Burton Ale and Pale Ale aren't the same thing.

1 comment:

Rob Sterowski said...

It's Ind Coope's fault for launching a Pale Ale under the name Burton Ale.