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Allsopp's... Second Time Lucky
17 June 2022
Almost 300 year since their first brew, and after over 60 years in the wilderness, Allsopp’s is back. To brew beer for people who love beer.
Allsopp & Sons, creator of the original Burton IPA, is making a welcome return to pubs, restaurants, bottle shops and homes around the country. The brand returned last year, using the original ledger with a fresh take on the original British beer style that has shaped the beer world today. The re-introduction of two of its classic brews, Allsopp’s Pale Ale and Allsopp’s India Pale Ale have been embraced by today’s real ale drinkers.
Allsopp & Sons is a name synonymous with glorious successes and spectacular failures spanning the centuries. It offers interesting, flavorful, and well-made beer to a new generation of drinkers.
They’ve had their beer impounded by Napoleon while supplying Catherine the Great’s banquets. They brewed the original Burton India Pale Ale in a teapot. They’ve even sent their beer to the Arctic to rescue explorers on the northwest passage. What finished them off was building England’s largest lager brewery in the 1880’s, sadly a bold move a tad ahead of its time.
The Allsopp’s name disappeared from bars. Their assets were destroyed. Until now…
Allsopp’s re-founder Jamie Allsopp, seven times great grandson of pioneering brewer Samuel Allsopp, is fulfilling his lifelong dream of brewing the beers that made his family’s name. Being as faithful as possible to the original recipes, whilst making high quality beers for the modern beer drinker. His secret weapon? The sole surviving ledger of his family’s recipes in existence. He consolidated the scattered trademarks and found possibly the only remaining ledger containing the authentic recipes. The revived company commenced test brewing in 2020, staying as close as possible to the original recipes.
Jamie Allsopp says: “Relaunching Allsopp’s beer after over 60 years in the wilderness and seeing it in drinkers’ hands in pubs across the country is incredibly rewarding. We are proud to be brewing quality cask ale and positioning it to be attractive to a drinker new to the category. One thing is certain, from traditional cask ales to modern craft beers, there is an incredible diversity of quality beers out there. It’s a real honour for Allsopp’s to be welcomed so warmly back into the great British brewing community.”
And now, Allsopp’s Pilsner, once sold all over the world and advertised as ‘The Best Drink Under the Sun’ is being relaunched this summer, 123 years after it was first brewed by the prodigal Percy Allsopp.
In the late 1890’s Percy built England's largest lager brewery to brew Burton's first lager. He acquired a seaside resort and an expensive pub estate, advertised with zeppelins and put on festivals to entice England’s drinkers. Rather premature, as no one had acquired the taste for lager yet. This unfortunate oversight led to collapse of the company and subsequent merger with Ind Coope. Bitten but not shy, Allsopp’s have unfinished business with the ‘Wee Yella’ as it affectionally came to be known in the 1920’s. Jamie Allsopp’s says: “My ancestor Percy Allsopp, travelled across Germany to learn about lagering and designed a cutting-edge lager brewery in New York to have it shipped to Burton on Trent. He has been described as a prophet and visionary for foreseeing the British demand for lager; only he invested in it 60 years too early. Now the country’s thirst for lager is well and truly established, we hope our version of his Pilsner is a worthy manifestation of Percy’s prophecies.”
Here’s to second time lucky.