‘The Cathedral of Brewing’ to close

In early 2020, Carlsberg and Marston’s announced a joint venture: the Danish corporation taking 60% of the new Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) with Marston’s holding 40% and receiving a cash payment of over £270M. At the time, we commented that we had concerns regarding the future of the internationally unique Burton Union System as used in Marston’s Albion Brewery. http://tinyurl.com/498ss642

Almost four years later, these concerns have come to fruition: CMBC have announced plans to retire the historic Union System, a method of brewing using an arrangement of wooden barrels and pipes which recirculates beer and yeast during the fermentation period. This system was developed in Burton-on-Trent, patented in 1838, and used extensively for many years. Brewing scientists regard the system as unparalleled for the production of bright, clean, strong-tasting pale ales.

For example, Draught Bass, the best-selling cask beer in the 1970s was brewed using the Union System. Over the following decades, Bass fell into decline, in both quality and sales. The turning point came in the early 1980s, when Bass decided to rip out the System that had been used to produce its flagship Pale Ale for over 150 years. 

Across town, Marston’s established their Union System in 1898 when they relocated from their Horninglow Brewery (built 1834) to their current site, the Albion Brewery on Shobnall Road. Described by Roger Protz as, ‘The Cathedral of Brewing,’ there are ten sets of Burton Unions in a single brew-house, mostly used to produce, Pedigree (4.3% abv), a beer originally introduced in 1952. In recent years, volumes of Pedigree have declined and only four of the sets were in use during 2023. Until earlier in January, the Marston’s website described Pedigree as ‘the only beer to come through the Burton Union System. It gives Pedigree it’s one-of-a-kind taste. No Burton Union. No Pedigree. End of.’

After 125 years of use, including over seventy of Pedigree, Marston’s are now to follow the lead of Bass, leaving, world-wide, only one variation on this unique brewing method. The Firestone Walker Brewing Company (Paso Robles, California, USA) use a modified Burton Union system: forty, 65-gallon, American oak barrels.

This decision will see a unique, and historic, part of Britain’s brewing heritage extinct. Ideally, CMBC would reverse their decision or, at least, make the Union Sets, in situ, available to others. This is unlikely to happen – I’d hope to see them, as, at least, a working museum piece. However, with the recent closure of the National Brewery Museum, this is unlikely. For many years, one of the Bass Union sets was on display in the museum car park.

It seems Carlsberg have no care for the heritage they have acquired in the UK – in addition to this backward step, recent years have seen the closure, or disposal, of several cask breweries: Eagle, Jennings, Ringwood and Wychwood. In their home country, Carlsberg have a reputation as a patron of the arts and a respecter of heritage and tradition. However, not in the UK, where a race to the lowest common destination seems to be the plan.

Carlsberg: probably the worse respecter of brewing tradition in the world.

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