was a rich, strong, dark amber ale, probably up to as much as 11% ABV, which pre-dated (and later co-existed with) the pale ales and India pale ales for which Burton–on-Trent, UK (also known as simply Burton), became famous. See burton-on-trent. It fit squarely into the category of “brown beers,” which were the most common brews in Britain certainly up until the 18th century. Like most British beers up to that time it was not brewed to a definite style, and never really achieved a clear identity even as porter, stout, pale ale, and others emerged as separate entities.

There is evidence that the abbots of the monastery in Burton were brewing in the 13th century. This had ceased by Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century, but by this time small commercial brewers were making ale in the town. In those days ale was produced in its original sense, in that it was not brewed with hops; these came to Burton later, probably in the 16th century. Burton Ale was brewed by collecting the first and richest wort and fermenting it separately to make strong ale. The grain would then be re-mashed with hot water two or more times and the dilute worts collected and used to make table and small beers. See small beer.

Burton Ale would have been brewed from malt paler than the brown high-dried malt used for porter, but one that was still much darker than modern pale ale malts. By the 18th century it was still only brewed on a relatively small scale, compared to London porter. But Burton must have obtained a sound reputation by then, for there was a small export trade to London and Hull, after the river was opened to shipping with the 1699 Trent Navigation Act. In the last quarter of the 18th century, with the opening of several canals, Burton Ale was also able to reach Manchester and Liverpool by barge. One result of this improved accessibility to deep-sea ports was that Burton Ale was regularly exported to the Baltic countries, notably Russia. Here it apparently held its own against the strong Imperial Stouts which were being exported from London to the Russian Court.

Such trade came to an end with the Napoleonic Wars, as a result of blockades and embargoes. The Burton brewers saw India as an alternative export destination, developed a method for producing paler malt, and began to brew India Pale Ale. From then on breweries in Burton saw phenomenal growth, outpacing even the great London brewers. In particular Bass became the world’s largest brewing company by 1876. See bass & company.

Brewing methods too had changed. The practice of collecting separate liquors from the grain mash and making separate beers from had largely ceased. This approach had been superseded by the technique of continuous collection of liquor (wort), coupled with sparging, or sprinkling of hot water on the grain bed. The collected wort would then go to make a single beer, instead of two or three beers of differing qualities.

The popularity of Burton Ale began to fade by the 1830s, however, it was not yet extinct; in 1839 just under half of Bass’ output consisted of porter and Burton Ale. By 1865 this proportion had dwindled to some 7% of the total, some of which was described as “export ale,” and was presumably Burton Ale, as in 1876 a label for this was trademarked by Bass. It was available in the United States in the late 19th century, and this is where we have the best information on the strength of this beer. Brewers could not measure gravity until almost the end of the 18th century when the hydrometer became a brewing tool; even after this, there is little to be found on analysis of Burton Ale.

In 1908 results of analysis on various beers were published in Chicago, and included two samples of Burton Ale tested, respectively, in 1879 and 1890, and containing 8% and 10% ABV. The authors also quote an 1890 result on a “ninety years old” sample of Worthington Burton at 11% ABV. Interestingly, “Burton Ale” was brewed in North America in the mid-20th century by the Ballantine Company, then brewing out of Newark, New Jersey. This beer was red-amber in color, highly hopped, and aged in lined wooden tanks. This perhaps suggests its brewing was influenced by Burton’s pale ale expertise, rather than by its history of strong ale brewing.

A dark brown version of Burton Ale was still in production in the early 1960s, when Ind Coope & Allsopp offered it as a special winter brew. It then disappeared from view, although in the 1970s Ind Coope brought out a pale bitter beer (about 4.7% ABV) and called it Burton Ale, another instance of a British brewer twisting brewing history for marketing purposes.

See also britain.