was a brewery based in Burton-on-Trent, England, famous for producing India pale ale. The brewery, established in 1774, was originally a malting company adjacent to another Burton brewery, but later made the transition to brewing independently, possibly to capitalize on Burton’s success in the Baltic trade. It was one of the few breweries to survive the collapse of that trade in the early 19th century.

Around 1823, Salt followed Allsopp’s lead and began brewing pale ale for the Indian market. See samuel allsopp & sons. Soon, according to Alfred Barnard, “Salt’s pale and Burton ale became well known in all parts of the world.”

The brewery grew steadily throughout most of the 19th century. In 1874–1875, near the peak of beer production in Burton, Bass and Allsopp together accounted for 62% of the 2.6 million barrels brewed, whereas Salt’s was fourth biggest with 180,000 barrels. This was still large by any reasonable contemporary comparison, and Salt’s ale stores dominated the huge eastern façade of St. Pancras station in London.

Like all other Burton brewers, Thomas Salt and Co. suffered financially after coming late to the race to acquire tied houses and entered voluntary liquidation in 1906. See tied house system. It struggled on for another 20 years before being absorbed by Bass in 1927. The old Salt’s well—still running under the streets of Burton—is still used today in the production of traditional Burton ales now brewed under the William Worthington brand name.

See also burton-on-trent and india pale ale.