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It may be mid-January, traditionally the month where the licenced trade struggles but this hasn’t stopped people heading out to The Junction in Stretton. The pub first opened in 2018 and recently changed hands last November.

“My locals tell me that they are seeing so many new faces in here,” confirms Fraser Chatburn who runs the place with his wife Karen. “I was going to drop from six hand pulls to four but as you can see I haven’t, there aren’t many pubs in the area that have this many cask beers available at one time.”

On the bar sits a Bass water jug, produced in 1977 to commemorate the opening of the Bass Museum and the bicentennial of the brewery.

“That’s there because it was Bass that first brought me to Burton 29 years ago,” says Fraser explaining the significance. “I ran pubs for Whitbread in the South-East and after gaining a degree at Stafford Uni, I worked for Bass in Burton for ten years.”

Fraser had been looking for a pub for a good while: “I made enquiries about the Alfred and then found The Junction was up for grabs. I used to come in here pre-COVID with an elderly neighbour, it has easy access and wide doors for the toilet etc.”

The Junction used to be a Blythe Brewery house and although now free of tie the Ruby Mild remains a permanent fixture.

“It’s a cracking 5% and we go against the grain at The Junction as the locals love dark beer, it’s our best seller at two and a half firkins a week. We also have stouts and porters on from Shiny, Front Row and Collyfobble.

“I want to keep my purchasing local for ales and lagers. Ciders are from Yoxall and Ashover and gins are from Nelson’s in Uttoxeter! We have a permanent gluten free and vegan friendly lager which is Thornbridge’s Lukas and one hand pull is dedicated gluten free.”

So far, the pub has sold beer from local brewers: 3P’s Brewery, Front Row Brewing, Little Brewing Company, Leatherbritches Brewery, Heritage Brewing Company, Mr Grundy’s Brewery, Brunswick Brewing Company, Lymestone Brewery, Shiny Brewery, Thornbridge, Collyfobble Brewery and of course Blythe Brewery.

Fraser and Karen have made a few changes, the pub is now open seven days a week due to demand, from 16:30 during the week and 12:00 at weekends and they are doing cold food throughout the week, with hot roast potatoes at Sunday lunch, there’s also a monthly quiz he hopes will prove popular.

“We celebrated Burn’s Night, or should that read Chatburn’s Night, by having haggis on the bar,” laughs Fraser.

And if he wasn’t busy enough building up his new business, Fraser is also the organiser of Tap Into Tutbury and is in the early stages of planning the second event which will take place 15th to 18th May. He has approached the venues from last year and thinks he has a few extra on board for 2025 making a total of ten, it is anticipated that it’ll be bigger and better than last year.

There has been a lot of building work on the old National Brewery Centre (NBC) site in the last six months, until recently it was hidden by a tall wooden fence, but this came down recently and the nearly finished Molson Coors Brewing Company (MCBC) offices are now visible. It’s doubtful that anyone needs a recap but for those who need a refresher on 12 September 2022 MCBC announced the sudden closure of the NBC, which was also home to the National Brewery Heritage Trust (NBHT) archives and the Heritage Brewing Company (HBC). Despite the public backlash the closure went ahead, and plans had to be made to secure the archives and the future of the HBC. Initially the HBC closed but later started brewing at the Burton Bridge Brewery and bought the business in May of last year.

The future of the archives and a new Brewing Heritage centre is what Dr Harry White, the Chairman of the NBHT is here to talk about.

“That seems a long time ago now,” says Harry when asked about the progress since October 2022. “Over those two years it feels as though the NBHT’s feet have rarely touched the floor. Once Planning Solutions had vacated the NBC site and the NBHT was permitted access, our first goals were to meet and build relationships with those volunteers from the NBC who were prepared to work with us and to meet, build relationships and agree a way forward with both MCBC and East Staffordshire Borough Council.

“From the outset of 2023, the NBHT’s key priority was to preserve and protect the archives (all 500,000 of them). This required removing them from their shelves in the attics of the NBC building, packing them up into suitable archive-quality boxes (>3,000), and storing them safely on the NBC site (which at the time was rapidly becoming a building site) in the expectation that the premises ESBC were in the process of acquiring and refurbishing in Station Street would meet our requirements for the archives. We also needed to pack and label the archives in such a manner that their contents remained in an accessible format.

“The trans-shipment of the archives to their current home (now named the Brewery Heritage Centre) in Station Street began towards the end of 2023, and was completed by the summer of 2024, and all those who were involved in this process deserve an enormous round of applause!

“Also, during the summer of 2023, the NBHT started to produce a photographic record of all the artefacts on display across the entire NBC site, again no mean feat, since this included a multitude of items from across the entire malting and brewing processes up to and including public houses, via dray wagons, railway memorabilia and board rooms. However, these records have stood us in good stead as during 2024, with building work progressing at a pace across the NBC site, the NBHT was faced with the task of trying to find new storage areas for many of these items.”

Having overseen the move of the archive, the NBHT have been an integral part of designing a state-of-the-art experience at Bass House on High Street.

“At the end of 2023 the NBHT was asked to join a multi-disciplinary High Street Operations Group convened by ESBC to produce plans for the redevelopment of the old Bass HQ site in Burton High Street. The NBHT’s role has been to advise both the architects and visitor attraction consultants on the team on the scope, content and format of a proposed Brewing and Pubs Heritage Centre which will form an integral part of the overall scheme. In addition to providing an immersive, mixed media public walk-through tour explaining the heritage and impact of the UK brewing industry through the centuries, the Heritage Centre will also provide a safe, secure and permanent home for the archives, and it will be based in what was previously the HQ offices of Bass, a magnificent late-Victorian, Grade II listed building.

“The High Street Operations Group met regularly throughout 2024 and hosted a series of well-attended Public Engagement meetings in October to communicate its proposals and to seek views. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive and the plans for the High Street development have now been formally submitted into the Planning process.”

What are the plans for 2025?

“Over the last two year it has become increasingly apparent that the NBHT needs to increase both its skill sets and its numbers. The reality is that we are a very small (and increasingly ageing) band of enthusiasts who have been asked to step up and fill a gap. We’ve been happy to do that, but equally we recognise that to succeed in our goals for the future we need to increase our professionalism.

“Towards the end of 2024, we therefore started to actively seek out like-minded individuals both from across the wider brewing industry and also from the world of museums and archives, and at the NBHT’s November AGM, I was delighted to announce the appointment of two new trustees: Anthony Hughes, MD of Lincoln Green a Midlands-based brewer and pub operator, and Tom Stainer CEO of CAMRA. Both Anthony and Tom broaden the expertise and experience of the NBHT and I look forward to working with both of them during 2025.

“In terms of our immediate plans for 2025, they are based on increasing public awareness of the range of material in the archive combined with better management of the artefacts, whether by prioritising their repair, refurbishment and/or cleaning, or by exploring options for their loaning out and where deemed necessary, disposal. I recognise this is a contentious area, but where we have numerous duplicate items (malt shovels is an obvious example) then we need to make some sensible decisions, albeit whilst adhering to national museum standards.

“A third area on which the NBHT needs to focus during 2025 is fund-raising.  As we have recognised the need to increase the level of our professionalism, then we have recruited (on limited hours contracts) suitably qualified staff, and we see this becoming the norm for the foreseeable future. We therefore need to put in place adequate and secure sources of funding. For the last two years the NBHT’s activities have been supported financially by both MCBC and ESBC, a situation that we recognise cannot continue indefinitely. 2025 will therefore see the NBHT increasingly reaching out to other sources of potential funding, both private and public.  Dialogue with the National Heritage Lottery Fund regarding the Heritage Centre has already been opened.

On a personal level, I spent many a happy hour at the NBC archive, but the facilities were basic and limited in space. The new premises on Station Street are a marked improvement.

“They are superior in every respect,” agrees Harry. “Although in the short term the archives are not accessible because they need sorting into some form of recognisable order, they are stored in secure purpose-designed boxes, either on secure shelving or in purpose-designed cabinets, all of which are in environmentally controlled rooms. This had not been the case at the NBC for a number of years.”

Were all the artefacts saved?

“If they were properly documented and accessioned artefacts belonging to MCBC, then yes, they have been saved. In the immediate aftermath of the closure in October 2022, the owners of any artefacts on loan to the NBC were contacted and items were returned if so requested (mostly vehicles). Also, and where appropriate, certain items have been loaned out to companies/other museums for safe-keeping and display (eg. a brass/bronze Victorian Steels Masher made by Robert Morton has been loaned to Briggs of Burton for display in the lobby of their Technical Centre).

“Doubtless further rationalisation decisions will have to be made, as we simply lack sufficient storage space, but any such decisions will always be made according to national museum guidelines and also with a view to the stories we want to see told in the new Heritage Centre.”

What are your hopes for the long-term future and have these changed since the closure?

“My hopes haven’t really changed over the last two years, but they have become far more focussed and tangible. As things stand at the moment, I have high hopes that the High Street project and associated Heritage Centre will gain traction. It is our mission to share the importance of the brewing and pub industry with the people of the town and beyond. We are excited by the plans and believe the development promises to make Burton upon Trent the national hub of British brewing and pub heritage.

“There is a strong desire from within ESBC and the architects and consultants involved to make this succeed and we all feel very positive about it. Now that the plans and design concept for the Heritage Centre have been drawn up and submitted to the Planning Authorities, we in the NBHT can start talking to the wider brewing industry to gain their support and input. So, a lot to do, but I firmly believe it’s worthwhile.”

Last year the new people behind Burton Bridge Brewery launched the first in a of a series of beers based on the legendary Stairway To Heaven recipe called Stairway To Simcoe. Each is a variation on the original brew and is accompanied by a striking reinterpretation of the pump clip.

“Stairway To Heaven is a good starting base for our experiments, a nice beer that lends itself to showcasing other hops,” reveals Head Brewer Al Wall.

Stairway To Heaven was first brewed at Burton Bridge Brewery in 2000 for a pub called The Vine in Wednesbury. The now happily retired Head Brewer Bruce Wilkinson explains how they came to be approached.

“The Landlord was a great Led Zeppelin fan and he had had breweries brewing a 5% pale beer for him. After he’d fallen out with the third brewery producing it, he rang us and asked if we’d do it,” recalls Bruce. “He wanted two barrels a week, so we said we’d need to sell it out to free trade and we came to an agreement to pay a royalty on each barrel of Stairway that we sold.

“I struggled a bit with the recipe as no one would tell me much apart from it was a pale 5% beer with a traditional hoppy aroma. I brewed it with pale malt, 25kg sugar and we used Northdown hops with a soft bitterness and we late copper hopped it with Fuggles and Goldings.

“We then found out why he kept changing breweries, he wasn’t very good at paying! He had this etched window in his pub with the Stairway To Heaven logo, this became the pump clip. He went bust owing us some money, so we stopped paying the royalties and around that time Geoff (Mumford) found out the trademark had fallen through, so we registered it.”

Stairway To Heaven went on to become one of the most popular Burton Bridge Brewery beers.

“It is difficult to say how many beers we will do,” wonder Al when questioned about the long term future of the Stairway To … series. “It depends on what hops we want to trial or what we find interesting. The first one was done using Simcoe as that is our brewer John Travis’s favourite hop. The second was Nelson Sauvin, which was to trial an entirely different type of hop. Stairway To Centennial was selected after conversation with Ben at Charles Faram and going forward we will be leaning on them quite a bit for help selecting the right flavours and or combinations of hops. We have talked about doing one with Strata, another with Citra (or Citra & Mosaic) and another with Styrian Dragon. They won’t all be showcases for single hops, they may have supporting hops to help if a single variety would be too flat or uninteresting.”

So far, the three beers have proved very popular, Stairway To Simcoe winning the Best Beer on the Burton Ale Trail last September.

“They have been selling really well!” exclaims Brewery Manager Emma Cole. “Nathan and Terry in sales keep requesting more of them. We will keep doing them as long as there is demand and really popular ones might end up getting repeated. I’m looking forward to getting them in bottles in a few months and they have been really popular in mini casks too.”

At the time of writing the Nelson Sauvin variant is on at Burton Bridge Inn and Centennial is on the bar at The Spirit Vaults in Melbourne, We are also promised that another in the series will be available at the forthcoming Burton & South Derbyshire CAMRA Beer Festival, so if you are sure that all that glitters is gold, make sure you go and buy one.

Home – Burton Bridge Brewery

When Carlsberg issued a Press Release in November detailing the cessation of a number of beers including Banks Mild, Old Thumper and two Marston’s beers, Old Empire and 61 Deep, but there was one glaring omission: Marston’s Owd Rodger. 

When did this legendary Burton brew become so inconsequential that it’s demise didn’t even warrant a mention? Are Carlsberg intending to it bury it in a nameless grave? 

Marked simply as “delisted” on their website, the remaining bottles are currently being sold off cheap, so I messaged Carlsberg for further clarification of the beer’s future in the hope of receiving an in-depth explanation, apologising for their oversight and expanding on the reasons for halting production. I didn’t get one and any attempt at eliciting further comment was in vain. I reproduce the statement here in full.

“Unfortunately, this product is no longer in production.”

Eight words. Eight bloody words! Spoken like a true bunch of accountants or a word to that effect.

Owd Rodger was “a strong specialist dark beer … shrouded in mystery. Although typical of the ales exported to the Baltic in the 18th Century, legend has it that Owd Rodger is brewed to a 500 year old recipe named after its creator. Medieval monk or Elizabethan innkeeper, he certainly knew his beer” according to the mid-1980s bottle label.

The original Burton Ales were around in the 1600s, possibly even earlier, the beer that initially put Burton on the brewing map, predating both the rise of India Pale Ale and the founding of Marston’s brewery by a few centuries. Described as nut brown in colour, strong and sweet, Burton Ale could be bought for a premium price in London by the mid-1600s and would later be exported to the Baltic reaching as far as Russia, only stopping in 1806 when French Emperor Napoleon imposed an embargo on British exports.

Although the recipe may claim to be 500 years old, Marston, Thompson & Evershed’s Owd Rodger was launched as a Strong Ale in November 1908. The label was registered as trademark number 305,015 on 27 July 1908 and it was available in cask and bottle. Marston’s bottling setup, known locally as the “Nut Brown”. was sited near Crossman Street at their Albion Brewery and as was typical for the times, it was a very basic process; no cold storage, straight from the cask via a 24 head bottler with all the labels affixed by hand using female labour.

Early adverts described the beer as “the drink for cold weather … a fine old ale the colour of port,” and it “resembles the beers of bygone days. Its exquisite flavour and invigorating properties make it an ideal Winter Drink.” During the First World War the gravity was presumably reduced, as adverts from the early 1920s boasted “at pre-war strength.” In 1923 a dozen half-pint bottles would set you back 8/6 which was a lot of money in those days.

By the mid-1930s the beer was well established as their seasonal winter warmer, three bottle sizes were available: nips, small and large (presumably the last two being half pints and pints). A cask, designated with the mark No.6 sold for 226/- per barrel in 1933.

Production was paused in 1943 due to restrictions of beer gravities imposed by the government during the Second World War, rather than reduce the quality the company chose to discontinue Owd Rodger until conditions improved, it was certainly readily available by 1950.

It underwent a rebranding in 1966, becoming a Barley Wine and the recipe was also changed slightly increasing the Original Gravity to the 1077-1085 range. It came with the following warning in the 1980s “… deeply satisfying and very ‘more-ish’ – but take care!” It would also be called a Strong Country Ale in the 1990s.

Not without its accolades, in 1987 it won the best beer in its class at the Brewing Industry International Awards, which was equivalent to an Oscar, it was described as a “Burton brewed brainscrambler” and it was also lauded by the Derby Telegraph’s Beerhunter as his favourite beer of 2018 described as “powerful, at 7.4%, it’s bursting with fruity flavours, in a Christmas pudding sort of way. It’s smooth and satisfying.”

I have fond but very fuzzy memories of The Bridge at Branston stocking Pins in the 1990s which were stillaged in a small room next to the bar, there was something sacred about asking for a beer that the Landlord had to leave the room to fetch! It was there that I learnt that no matter how I tried, and believe me I did, I could never finish the third pint. Perhaps I should have stuck to Pedro instead, a half and half mix of Pedigree and Owd Rodger that was a firm favourite in Burton?

So then, to try Owd Rodger for the final time. I’m assuming a twelve month shelf-life (this has a best before 31/12/24) and an extended period of cellaring prior to bottling, so the last brew of Owd Rodger would have been late 2022 or early 2023. It had a fruity nose, was dark in colour with a slight red tinge and boasted a complex taste. Initially the fruit came through, followed by warmth from the alcohol, then the sweetness, slight bitterness and an aftertaste of sweetness. Although Owd Rodger is not an authentic Burton Ale, due to the use of whole leaf aroma hops (ales traditionally did not use hops in the 17th century) it was the closest remaining relation to the early Burton beers and anyone who could tell you different hasn’t been around for a very long time.

Looking back, Owd Rodger has been under threat for a few years, the last time I saw it on cask was pre-COVID and I can’t recall seeing it for sale outside of the local area, ever. This historic seasonal and regional beer never stood a chance against Carlsberg. It has been well and truly rodgered.

Apart from the blindingly obvious, what do Gates Reservoir and Burton Bridge Bitter have in common? Both started out life as a home brew; Reservoir in Stuart Gates’ kitchen and the recipe for Burton Bridge Bitter was finalised by Bruce Wilkinson using Boots Home Brew Kits.

Outwoods Home Brewing Club (OHBC) launches at Outwoods Brewing Company on Thursday 3rd October 6.30pm until 8.00pm (and the first Thursday of each month thereafter) and aims to be of interest to home brewers of all abilities, promoting discussion about all aspects of the hobby. This isn’t the first home brewing club held in the town, Marston’s founded one in 2016 in their DE14 Nanobrewery and it was thriving nicely until COVID arrived, hopefully the OHBC will be able to generate the same level of interest.

“My wife Sam and I began homebrewing some years back, starting with a Nutbrown Ale; we paused for a while, but over the last year or so we have really gotten back into it again,” says Chris Murphy co-founder of the OHBC. “From wines to beers, it’s an amazing and rewarding hobby creating your own brews, the same as people who have allotments and grow their own vegetables.”

“I still think of myself as a home brewer at heart, cask is my new learning curve which I’m loving!” says Colin Trowell of the Outwoods Brewing Company who opened in July. “I still use a lot of the same equipment I did back in my garage, the same suppliers for my ingredients and kegs, same recipes, just the volume has changed and the selling point.”

Chris: “We met Colin the day Outwoods opened, we absolutely fell in love with the place and the beers he produces. He is a very approachable young man, with an amazing aptitude for brewing. Having spoken to Colin about the OHBC, Sam and I knew this was the right place, person and time to start the club.

“Being novices Sam and I had the thought to start the club to gain more knowledge about brewing. Being able to talk to other homebrewers and holding the club at the Outwoods Brewery will engage the brewing community in Burton and surrounding area. With Colin’s wealth of knowledge and experience and having the brewery on site, it will make the club one of the best.”

Colin: “The format will evolve over time, like one meeting will be about different hops and I will have 40 on show that people can smell and talk about the hop profile and which recipes I use them in etc. I’ll do the same with malt, but that is less fun. I will do technical demos on my old little kit, as it’s the same process as how I brew now. The ideas I have for OHBC are insane!”

Sam will be organising trips, club events, guest speakers etc. and is keen to promote an all-inclusive atmosphere at the OHBC.

“Anyone interested is welcome to join, even if they don’t homebrew yet but are thinking about it. All sexes and ages are welcome, the more people we can engage, the better the club will be,” says Chris excitedly. “All three of us have a passion for beer, brewing and all things related to Burton on Trent, the history of brewing in Burton and the industry of brewing throughout.”

Chris: “The OHBC is set up to bring together like-minded home-brewery fanatics who want to get together to drink each other’s brews and chat about all things beer and provide an excellent resource for learning. Most of all make it fun and not too serious!”

Outwoods Home Brewing Club will be held at Outwoods Brewing Company on Thursday 3rd October 6.30pm until 8.00pm.

In late August CAMRA released a statement to the effect that the long-standing National Chairman Nik Antona would be standing down with immediate effect, due to being diagnosed with a serious medical condition. Following a vote by the National Executive over the weekend, Ash Corbett-Collins. who has held the position of Vice-Chairman since November was elected as Nik’s successor.

“I want to thank Nik for all of his support over the last six years together on the National Executive,” says Ash respectfully. “He was also one of the first people I met in CAMRA when I went to my first branch meeting almost a decade ago and he’s been a friend ever since. His knowledge, skills and experience have been invaluable to supporting me in the various roles I’ve had over the years.”

Ash was interviewed in the early days of The Beertonian in 2018, just after he had been elected to the CAMRA National Executive (link here).

“When we last spoke, I’d not long moved from Swadlincote to Birmingham. Since then I’ve gotten married (in 2021) and I’m now in the process of buying my first house in Sutton Coldfield. My wife and I also adopted our dog Vinnie, a Bedlington Terrier crossed with a Lurcher, he now accompanies us on our trips to pubs and brewery taps across the country.”

How have things changed with CAMRA in that time?

“Obviously the last few years CAMRA has faced major challenges, like all membership organisations. The pandemic and lockdowns meant that we couldn’t run our usual festivals and many are still finding their feet. It’s a credit to the volunteers locally that Burton was able to stage the Great British Beer Festival Winter, which has been major boost to our profile and generated a surplus that we can put towards our campaigning activities.

“Another major change is in how we work; the pandemic forced us to quickly adopt a remote/online approach. Of course running meetings online doesn’t have the same social benefits as meeting in a pub but it has allowed us to work faster and more efficiently. Whereas national working groups used to meet quarterly, we now often meet once a month for shorter, more focused sessions.”

What are the main challenges facing the organisation in 2024?

“CAMRA today is facing a number of challenges: while our retention rate remains incredibly high at almost 89% year on year, we aren’t attracting new members at the rate we used to. A lot of this is down to the cost of living crisis, we know that similar organisations are struggling with recruitment as people tighten their belts. That’s why it’s so important to support festivals across the country as they are our main source of recruitment. We’re looking at how we can boost this nationally but at a local level we’re encouraging members to sign up their friends and drinking buddies; people they already know support our aims of protecting and promoting real ale and the Great British pub. If everyone signed up just one friend over the next 12 months we’d double our membership!

“We’re also still seeing an ageing active membership, while we’re eternally grateful to the hard work that volunteers do, we have to be realistic about the fact that we can’t rely on the same people forever. That’s especially true of physically demanding tasks such as the set up and takedown of festival equipment. Many people ask me how we get more young people involved in CAMRA but I think that’s a difficult ask when so many of them simply don’t have the spare time, energy or money when they are starting their careers and families themselves. We need to be encouraging our members who are at the next stage in their life, maybe their kids are becoming independent, their careers are settled or they are recently retired. These members are more likely to have the time and energy to get involved in the Campaign.”

What does the role of National Chairman entail?

“It is still a voluntary role so I’ll be continuing do this alongside my day job, I’m a Bid Manager for a connectivity company, which has taught me the importance of time management and team building, skills that lend themselves to my new role in CAMRA. I’m also involved in my local branch, where I’m the Good Beer Guide, NBSS and Pubs Database Coordinator. I also run the Pub and Club of the Year competitions. It’s a lot to juggle but I have to be smart with prioritising and also be honest and hold my hand up when I don’t have the time to do something. At the end of the day, we’re all volunteers and we respect that people’s family, friends and work come first, but CAMRA is a huge passion of mine and I’m privileged to be able to part of the team stewarding it towards its next fifty years.

“The role of National Chairman is multi-faceted: on paper the primary duty is to lead the National Executive, the twelve national directors elected by our membership at AGM, but it’s also about setting the strategy and vision for the Campaign and working side by side with the Chief Executive, who is responsible for our paid staff, to deliver it. The National Chairman is also expected to be a figurehead for the Campaign and I’ll be talking directly with colleagues across the industry as well as with decision-makers in Government to drive CAMRA’s message.”

Ash is a proud Burtonian, what does he think of the current pub scene in Burton and why does it appear to be bucking the trend of pub and brewery closures?

“My Mum and my Nan both still live in Burton so I’m often visiting, which is always a great excuse to visit the pubs, brewery taps and clubs across the branch. It’s great to see so many thriving and new openings such as The Arches, it’s already on my list for next time I visit. I think Burton benefits from still being known nationally as the Home of Brewing and people come from across the country to visit. There’s also a great community around the pubs locally and events like the Burton Ale Trail have encouraged people to get out and try new ones, and the Burton Ale Trail attracts visitors from as far as Scotland, but we can’t take it for granted.

“The publicans and brewers are still struggling and that’s why CAMRA is calling on the Government to reduce VAT for hospitality businesses, reduce the duty paid on draught beer and reform business rates. These three core asks are vital to safeguarding the sector over the next few years. The new Government is keen to get Britain growing and to do that it needs to support our pubs and clubs. They already contribute £34bn to the economy and provide over a million jobs but with 50 pubs a month closing that is in danger. No matter whether someone is a CAMRA member or not, we’re urging them to contact their local MP and ask them to support our Great British pubs before it’s too late.”

I’ve never understood why CAMRA issues Wetherspoon vouchers. If the campaign is about protecting the British pub why offer an incentive to visit a chain that sells so cheaply that other pubs cannot compete?

“CAMRA is a consumer organisation and we know that over half of Brits already think that the cost of a pint is unaffordable, the CAMRA voucher scheme provides up to £30 off over a calendar year and it can be used in a number of different pub chains to help drinkers make their pint more affordable. Thousands of pubs also choose to offer CAMRA members a discount on their beer simply by showing their membership card.

“I believe it’s important that there is a broad range of pubs that cater to the varying needs of all drinkers, it’s just as important that there are specialist bars serving weird and wonderful beers that excite some drinkers as it is that there are pubs offering affordable beers to those are mindful of the rising cost of a pint. It is also important to remember that the reason so many pubs are closing isn’t competition but because of the rising cost of doing business that we are urging the Government to address.”

How will you measure your success in the role and where do you see CAMRA being in five years?

“For me, success as National Chairman is about ensuring CAMRA is a thriving organisation at every level, that people want to be a member, understand how we are making a difference and are excited to volunteer to be a part of that. In five years, we’ll be coming to the end of this Parliament and I hope to see that our core asks of this Government have been enacted to help support our pubs and breweries. We’re going to continue working with partners across the industry to do that and be backed up by our army of thousands and thousands of volunteers.”

At first glance Inn-Uendo’s, Burton’s new Micro Pub / Bar looks like a classy joint; the jazzy green wallpaper and massive clock centrepiece suggests an upmarket Wine Bar but look closer at the pictures on the wall and you’ll spot the saucy seaside postcards, “Carry On …” film posters and the name will begin to make sense. And that’s before you’ve read the risqué cock-tail menu!

“I wanted a continental vibe, I’ve spent a lot of time in Benidorm so have loads of idea from visiting the bars over there.” Yes, Inn-Uendo’s is different and reflects the personality of owner Richard Peace, who is also known as Dicky to some of his friends.

“People can expect lots of laughter and a friendly environment, we are well known for making people feel very welcome. Maybe that’s why we’re so popular in town,” he says, the last part is probably tongue in cheek, or tongue somewhere else.

‘We’ refers to Richard and his partner Jason, who started their career at Blush in the town centre in 2009. Following its closure in 2015 Richard worked at the Devonshire Arms and latterly at the Burton Bridge Inn. He is well known around town and has a face that you’ve probably come across, so to speak.

“I spent a good five years at Burton Bridge Inn but once the brewery sold it was time to move on. My vision for the last couple of years was to open my own place again, many people have said to me and Jason since leaving Blush that we are missed, and we really need to do something to create the fun atmosphere we are known for.”

Richard spotted the empty unit early 2024 and immediately knew he found the place he could slide in and make his own.

“The location and size was bang on, we finally got the keys in March and it’s been a long and stressful process having to go through planning permission but I knew it’d be worth it in the end.”

Along with the cock-tails, lagers, ciders and premium spirits, Richard has two handpulls and is fully committed to serving real ale.

“It is important to me to be offering real ale as this is what people know me for from working at the Devi and the Bridge. I’ve gained the experience to know how to keep a good pint and what people want. I won The Best Beer on the Burton Ale Trail in March 2022 when we launched the Ruby Red for Burton Bridge’s 40th anniversary, this is something I’m very proud of. We are not tied to any brewery so I can have anything on the pumps that I choose and what the punters request.”

Inn-Uendo’s is on Station Street between Sainsbury’s and the Gurkha Lounge and opens this Saturday at 5pm. Why not slip in for a cheeky one?

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If enthusiasm and passion can be used as a measure of success, then expect great things of Burton’s newest brewery and pub venture. It’s been nigh on a decade since the town centre welcomed a new brewer, so the foundation of the Outwoods Brewing Company and the adjacent tap room is cause for celebration.

The chap behind this is Colin Trowell, who has been a keen home brewer since May 2020; here is a man chasing his dreams and he is prepared to make massive sacrifices to realise them. Since taking on the lease in early March he has been working seven days a week to convert two derelict railway arches into his brewery and pub.

“What I want to do is make a unique experience,” says Colin sitting in the partially finished bar, “so it’s not a brewery which has a pub, it’s a pub that has a brewery. I’ve got a lot of ideas in the pipeline, but I need a starting block to get going. Ideally, I want to get more into brewing, but I had to put a pub in so I can make revenue because the free trade market doesn’t exist anymore. Unless you’ve got a ten-barrel system, which is going to cost a fortune, the big breweries just dominate it.

“This is my market, my own pub, there’s no way I could sell to third parties. I’ve looked at the pricing and it doesn’t work unless you’re making 100 Firkins with fifteen quid profit on each, if you’re making ten it’s not a lot, but if you’re like me making two like me …”

Colin is operating on the smallest scale possible, a nano brewery: “I brew half a barrel which is 54 litres, which produces 90 pints per batch. I can take risks and if it doesn’t work out, I’ve only spent 15kg worth of grain and hops. I want to do a lot of collaborations with other brewers because I’ve got such a small system, we can just play about with it especially experimenting with newly released hops. They can go back to their bigger breweries and brew on a grander scale. This is a pilot system, so breweries can come down and take a gamble.”

In the last few years Colin has built up a wide range of recipes to choose from.

“As it’s such small batches, I can do anything, I can have five beers fermenting per week so in a month I can technically brew twenty different beers.”

That said, the plan is to eventually have a core range, but this is very much still to be decided, and this will be decided by customer feedback.

“I’m my worst critic, a perfectionist,” admits Colin. “If I won’t drink it, I wouldn’t expect anyone else to. I used to be a Stock Auditor, then I kind of decided to start home brewing. I spent a good six months planning it all out initially but didn’t start off in plastic barrels, I went stainless steel all the way. The first brew was really good, second one too. I’ve had six failures out of 250 batches but I know why, it was the yeast. That being said now I have my core yeast strain which hasn’t failed me yet.”

When asked what he thinks will sell well, he is the first to admit that he doesn’t know.

“Redwood Original, a 5% American Red,” he suggests immediately, before describing a citra beer he’s recently brewed that isn’t quite on point and needs a few tweaks.

“Until customers come in,” he paused. “I can’t make up my mind. I could suggest beers, but it’d be completely wrong, everyone’s taste is different which is one the best things about beer.”

Outwoods Brewing Company will be producing both cask and keg beers, but also intend to explore the area that bridges between the two.

“I’ll be doing cask when the cold room is up and running, keg is a lot safer because it is a sealed vessel, it’s a bit like a bottle conditioned beer. It’s got yeast in it and it’s lively and active, but you’re not losing it to oxygen, it’ll keep for six months. What I want to do is fill the gap in between keg and cask. They aren’t hazy beers everything’s got to be clear, clean flavours, not wacky prices or ABV. It’s just normal beer but it’s in keg, it’s just how I dispense it.

“Most of my beers are around the 4% mark, I’ll have three handpulls and eight taps but the pricing is pretty much going to be the same, probably looking at about four quid a pint for up to 5%, if it’s 5.5% it may be £4.50.”

Colin isn’t a fan of the high prices charged for keg beers and he intends to challenge this head-on: “The craft market is coming down now, I think people are fed up paying astronomical prices. My keg is nearly cask, but the price isn’t keg, I’m not going to stick another quid or quid fifty on the price. It’s a little bit colder than cask it’s not over carbonated, it’s a new market.”

In practical terms Colin doesn’t see himself being able to brew enough beer to meet demand so will be serving guest beers.

“I’ll always have Tower Bitter on,” he says, John Mills from Tower Brewery has helped Colin out a lot in realising his ambitions this far. “Dancing Duck, Ashover, Shiny, Abbeydale, Muirhouse if they want to …”

The tap room, which will probably be known as The Arches, will open the first week of July:

Tuesday to Thursday 15:00 – 20:00
Friday & Saturday 12:00 – 2200
Sunday 13:00 – 18:00

Unit 21-22, Station Street Yard, Burton upon Trent, DE14 1AZ.

facebook.com/outwoodsbrewco

Burton Union Systems may be expensive to run, outdated, maintenance heavy and inefficient, but the recent decision by Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC) to retire the remaining four sets at their Albion Brewery on Shobnall Road in Burton upon Trent has been steeped in controversy, as it marks the end of a chapter in Burton’s brewing history that stretches back to the mid-1800s.

In simplistic terms the Burton Union System is a method of fermentation that takes place in an interconnected series of paired barrels, swan neck pipes allow the yeast to feed into a trough above where it is retained, and clear beer can run back into the barrels. It was once the predominant method of fermentation in Burton in the 1880s and 1890s, back when it was the Brewing Capital of the World: Bass had them, as did all the other big breweries: Allsopp, Truman, Hanbury & Buxton, Worthington, Ind Coope, Eadie, Andrew Barclay Walker … and of course The Trustees of the Late Peter Walker on Clarence Street, the man that history records as inventing, or at least patenting, an early version of the Burton Union System in 1838.

Over the years the Burton Union System was deemed no longer viable and confined to the scrap heap, or in the case of Bass, the carpark of the now defunct National Brewery Centre on Guild Street. Ind Coope and Allsopp decommissioned theirs in 1959, Trumans closed their Burton brewery in 1971 and with it went their Unions. The last mash took place at Bass No.2 Brewery (formerly the New Brewery) on 16th August 1982, the Union System was then abandoned, leaving one brewer committed to their use Marston, Thompson & Evershed.

Ever since then the various incarnations of Marston’s have been proud of their Union Room, calling it the “Cathedral of Brewing.” In 1991 their commitment expanded with the installation of more Unions. “No Burton Union. No Pedigree. End of.” Not my words but those on marstonsbrewery.co.uk.

Marston’s premium bitter Pedigree has had a long association with the Burton Unions. Originally called P or P Quality, a competition took place in 1952 to rename the beer and the moniker Pedigree was chosen. By the 1980s it was marketed as “The King of Bitters” albeit one that ruled locally as Pedigree was a notoriously bad traveller, I remember being told that if it’s journey was broken up more than twice the flavour would be affected. I started drinking Pedigree in the mid-80s (it was my first legal pint) when it possessed the Burton Snatch, a massive sulphurous smell that was popular in Burton but not so suited for the rest of the country. Pedigree was marketed on TV in 1995 and the brand became a national concern but with this the recipe was toned down for the wider palette and the beer was never quite the same again. But it was still brewed in Burton Unions.

The last decent pint I had was in the summer of 2016, by which time it had been rebranded from a Pale to an Amber Ale. I’d been shown around the brewery as I was writing a book and ended up in the now closed Visitors’ Centre for refreshment. I was assured at the time every single drop of cask Pedigree was Union brewed but since then, I couldn’t say. For research purposes I tried a Pedigree a few days ago and it was that bland I left half of it. Since the formation of CMBC in 2020 I’ve read comments that I cannot substantiate that Pedigree has been brewed at Wolverhampton and that the cask version has been blended with beer brewed in Squares, all I know is it isn’t the beer I used to love so maybe it’ll be impossible to tell that it’s not Union brewed.

Why the fuss about the retiring of the Burton Union System at Marston’s? These are not just any old Burton Union Sets, these are the last working sets not only in Burton, but the world. Now let that sink in for a moment. We are talking about a pivotal moment in world brewing history; if the Burton Union System was an animal, it would have been protected under law.

Over the last decade I have grown tired of using the word “tragically” when referring to Burton’s brewing history and it hasn’t escaped me that I am writing in what will probably be the end times. In the last eighteen months we’ve lost the National Brewery Centre, Worthington White Shield and now this and that is the problem when foreign companies buy into our industry, they may pay lip service to the importance of our history but ultimately it isn’t theirs and money talks louder. Granted there are easier ways to brew than the Burton Union System, but for the sake of tradition it should continue, I see no sense in stopping a process that is the last remaining example in the entire world, surely this should be a cherished asset and not something to be disposed of because the accountants deem it poor value for money. This is so short-sighted that I’m contemplating booking CMBC an eye test.

Having been at Ind Coope when Carlberg merged with Allied Breweries, I witnessed their treatment of Ind Coope Draught Burton Ale, which had won CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain in 1990. Their attempt to sideline the brand and persuade drinkers that Carlsberg’s products were preferable showed a lack of understanding of the real ale market and it’s a worrying sign that nearly 30 years on, little appears to have changed. The unique selling point of Pedigree was it being the only beer to still be Burton Union brewed, take that away and the brand will likely see sales decline further before being quietly withdrawn, but hey at least we can drink Carlsberg Lager instead.

History will record that the Burton Union System was ended by CMBC and that’s not “Probably …”

There’s been something special about Burton upon Trent and beer that stretches back centuries and if the present climate is seeing breweries closing, Burton is showing signs of bucking that trend with certainly two and possibly three companies either actively searching for premises in or planning to move to the town in the near future. When picking Burton as a base, it’s not just a case of “opening a brewery”, they are choosing to add another page to the town’s unique history that has seen over 100 commercial endeavours in the last 300 odd years.

One of these hopefuls is G3 Brewery who launched their first beer at Brews of the World last weekend, it is the passion of Daryl Hollier.

“I was born in Burton Hospital and I’m still here!” says the proud Burtonian. “As far back as I can remember I’ve known Burton is a brewing town, I’ve always been very interested in the town’s heritage. Up until now I have only ever been a passionate homebrewer.”

This changed when Daryl bumped into an old friend George, fittingly in Brews of the World, and they got talking: “We both use to be drummers of local bands in Burton. George is the owner and brewer at Bluntrock in Padstow, and we spoke about my brewery plans and decided to do a collab for my first beer. I went down to Bluntrock for the brew day with George and six weeks later here we are launching G3 with an event at Brews of the World, along with a Bluntrock tap takeover and live music from local band Dirty Bomb.”

The first G3 beer is Spacetime and is described as a 5.6% New Zealand hazy craft beer but with one big difference, it is Gluten Free.

“Around ten years ago I started to develop Gluten Intolerance, which was a bummer as I’m a beer enthusiast,” confesses Daryl. Finding there was very little choice for Craft Beer he has decided to make it his mission to change that. ”I’d usually have to settle for a cider when drinking out although things have improved recently and you’re starting to see more Gluten Free beers around. Even still statistics show that only one third of pubs offer Gluten Free beer and they’re usually lagers.”

With millions of people on the UK alone living with Gluten Intolerance, it is an important issue, particularly for those who are undiagnosed.

“With intolerances it’s usually a quantity thing, I can usually get away with one normal beer without getting too many symptoms, these can vary from person to person: some minor, like bloating, indigestion, and fatigue but can also be more severe, similar to food poisoning!”

The brewing process for Gluten Free beers has improved in recent years, as Daryl explains: “It was nearly always brewed with grain alternatives, like sorghum syrup. In recent years, it has become possible to brew using the standard all-grain methods but strip the gluten out of the beer at the end of the process. This has drastically improved Gluten Free beers, making them almost indistinguishable.”

Spacetime has been brewed with all the grain you would get in a standard beer and then had the gluten removed during the brewing process. 

“It isn’t easy to find good Gluten Free craft beer. I plan on changing this by bringing hoppy and hazy Gluten Free craft beer to the market with no compromises on taste and quality.”

Anyone who drank Spacetime at Brews of the World would have been hard pressed to differentiate it from the other Hazy IPA Craft Beers on sale, so mission accomplished!

G3 will continue as a Cuckoo brewery for the time being, but there are plans to find a permanent home: “For the next beer I’m looking at either a Pale Ale or a West Coast IPA, I’m starting with collaborations and contracting, but the goal is to open my own brewery in Burton when the time is right.”

Spacetime is available in keg and you can buy cans from the web site www.g3brewery.com