Do you know your ale from your stout?

On By tintinsIn Burton Old Cottage Beer Company

So here is a little fun fact about moi: my premarital surname is Burton (I haven’t actually officially changed it yet. Ssshhh…don’t tell my husband).  What is even more peculiar; I was born and bred in a little midlands town in the U of the K called Burton upon Trent (I don’t have shares in the town. No. I’m not rich).  What some of you may or may not know however is that this little town is synonymous with the production of beer.  It has a history of brewing stretching back to the middle ages and was once regarded as the brewing capital of the world.  How crazy is that?  This little town, once, thee Brewing Capital. Of. The. WORLD.  It has something to do with the water and transportation links (don’t quote me on that).  Should the heritage interest you, head over to the Burton CAMRA website where you will find lots of useful information (makes great bedtime reading).

Anyhoo, I bet you are all wondering why I am rambling on about my little home town and why I am boring you with this information.  Well…let me fill you in good people, let me fill you in.  In this little town of mine, I have a family, and in that family there is a brewery, and from that brewery there is beer!

Burton Old Cottage Beer Company was originally established in 1989 and although recently acquired by (my) relatives (yes that’s right, my, oh and a few others) it has a great reputation for its signature ales and stouts:

OAK ALE

Our take on the classic English bitter; drinkable and moreish! A copper-coloured beoak-ale-innerer with a fresh fruity aroma balanced by a dry ‘oaky’ finish. The malty caramel flavours are balanced by Bramling Cross, WGV and Target English hops.

Great with fish and chips!

ALC/VOL : 4.0%

OG: 1044

JUST SO STOUT

We aimed for balance with our stout, in stark contrast to mass-produced varieties! This porter-style beer mixes deep roasted flavours with fruity plum and blackberry and an almost smoky finish. The fruitiness has a harmony with our Target English hops.just-so-stout-inner

Likely to please with cheese!

ALC/VOL : 4.7%

OG : 1047

HALCYON DAZE

A strong pale ale with an amber body, offering the sweetness of fudge toffee flavours balanced by the classic herbal characters of First Gold and English Goldings hops.halcyon-daze-inner

Try this with your next curry!

ALC/VOL : 5.3%

OG : 1050

For all real ale lovers out there, Burton Old Cottage Beer Company is one to watch.  The rels (family) are also putting on Prince Philip’s (Duke of Edinburgh) rumoured favourite tipple just in time for the Royal Wedding: Dual Diamond.  This is being brewed to the original Double Diamond recipe.  A letter is being penned to Her Majesty’s Buckingham Palace as we speak to offer such a sample.

So how can you help lovely people?  If per chance you have a Facebook page (and lets be honest, the global population surely does), I would be most grateful if you wouldn’t mind popping over to the link here.  Please click it, like it, share it, ask your friends and family to share it (go crazy).  I am part of the admin team and trying to get some love for this amazing company.  Remember kids….Alcohol may be mans worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy (I hear you Frank*).

Also, if you head over to BBC Stoke & Staffordshire and scroll down to the comments section, the post by RB had me rolling around with laughter.  RB thank you for making my day:

Credit – RB – I still regret passing on the fact that beer is cleared with the stuff called Isinglass – i.e. cleaned up fish-scales – to a colleague. I knew he was a vegetarian and the sort who wouldn’t even wear leather shoes. But I didn’t think his food faddery would destroy his relationship with beer for ever.  Now when he and I go for a drink, he has to have bottled beer and spends hours examining bottle labels to find [out] if it is vegetarian-friendly.  My suggestion that he drinks several pints first, then he won’t care, goes down like a steak sandwich at a vegetarian wedding.

*Sinatra

26 thoughts on “Do you know your ale from your stout?”

  1. I like a nice proper beer, not the fizzy light stuff that people call beer.
    My favourite is a Dark and Mild, which is very hard to get. I don’t like the coffee taste of stouts but I do like a dark beer. The Oak Ale sounds very nice. I will look out for that one. Thanks for the interesting post.

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  3. Not to forget the phrase “gone for a Burton”
    During the war, pilots that died weren’t referred to as that because they’re a superstitious lot. Instead of saying they’d died they’d say they’d “gone for a Burton” which apparently was the most popular beer at the time 😊

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  4. This is wicked! I’d LOVE to have a brewery history in my town if not my family. ‘O course, they’d be bankrupt by now, I’m such a souse.

    So, I wrote a book, another book actually, The Gribble’s Eye. And I (don’t ask me why, I live in Oregon for got’sakes) I based it in Berwick Upon Tweed, Newcastle Upon Tyne and up in Edinburgh. So, any interest in perhaps spinning a few wheels on its chapters…

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      1. I’d love to give a few chapters a lookover… BOT is nowhere near Newcastle upon Tyne though… not to put you off , I have a very good friend who comes from that neck of the woods and I can run it by her?

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