Take a look at this:
Het Nieuws van den dag, 3rd June 1891.
See there at the bottom? Four beers from Bass, including Pale and Burton Ale. Clearly Bass didn't see them as the same thing. And, at 20 cents a bottle, Burton was more expensive than Pale Ale.
Coincidentally, a good snapshot of Heineken's products before they became a Pils-only (just about) brewer. Beijersch was a dark Lager, in case you're wondering. Intirguing that Van Vollenhoven brewed two Stouts.
Here's another slightly earlier advert, with India Pale Ale and Burton Ale clearly differentiated:
Can we agree Burton Ale and Pale Ale or IPA were completely different types of beer, that just happened to both be brewed in Burton?
Yes we can agree :~)
ReplyDeleteI thought 'Burton' was a darker beer, perhaps malty, perhaps aged - someone wrote a WB article about it (might have been you?).
Wasn't/isn't there a Marston's beer that can trace a line back - Merrie Monk or Owd Roger?
Yes we can. I hadn't realized this was controversial. Granted, most of what I know of British brewing history I've learned from either you or Martyn Cornell, but I thought that it had been firmly established that Burton ales were the strong dark ales that made Burton famous well before the heyday of pale ale. Who's arguing differently? Let's get 'em!
ReplyDeleteCan we also assume that not only was it different, but that it was a stronger beer? Interesting to see that it's the most expensive beer in both lists (OK, tied with Imperial stout in the first advert).
ReplyDeleteDidn't Barclay Perkins label some of their stronger K beers as Burton (I seem to recall you saying that the KKK was called a Burton at some point)? I need ot go back and look at some of your older posts.
Thanks, Ron: for those that don't know, this springs from a recent claim on the Ratebeer forum that Burton Ale was a synonym for IPA.
ReplyDeleteBurton Ales weren't automatically strong, incidentally: the weaker ones were often sold as mild ales. I'm currently about 2,500 words into a post that, when I've finished it, will cover the dreadful tangle that is Burton Ales, Old Ales and Mild Ales, and yes, MicMac, Owd Rodger did indeed begin life as a Strong Burton Ale.
But I'm just wondering, the Burtons of tobay seems to use darker sugar (Owd Rodger, Old Peculier and Young's Winter Warmer), but was is the case with the one from the 18-19th century? We can say that these complex sugars are an essential component of a Burton, but what of before sugar was allowed?
ReplyDeleteealusceop, this is based on the K Ales brewed in London. Before 1880, they were all-malt. All pale malt, to be precise.
ReplyDelete'Bill, in the 1930s Barclay Perkins KK was sold as Burton, their KKKK as Old Burton Extra.
ReplyDelete