Marston's Brewery

BY STEVE HAMBURG

Unlike other world shrines, the Marston's brewery is hard to find, even in a town that practically bleeds malt and hops. Bass and Ind Coope (Carlsberg Tetley) literally dominate the local landscape. Hardy pilgrims should stay the course: the town's not that big. Soon you'll wander past the mountains of casks and kegs to the Shobnall Road roundabout. There's a sign! A right towards Abbots Bromley, and the classic Victorian tower rises on your left. In a moment you're in the Marston's hospitality center, dreaming of a taste of the renowned Pedigree Bitter and set to view the amazing Burton Union system responsible for its complexity and delicate fruitiness.

A century ago, many breweries still used the traditional "union" method of fermentation that has become forever linked with Burton. Today, only Marston's remains devoted to this Rube Goldberg-like system of interlinked oak casks, pipes, and long troughs. Famed British beer writer Roger Protz was the first to refer to the Marston's union rooms as a cathedral. After a visit, you'll see he was not exaggerating. The mere sight of the working unions can move even the most jaded beer hunter to awe and silence. You are in the presence of the last of a species. This is history.

John Marston established his brewery in Burton in 1834, moving to the present site in 1898 after a merger with John Thompson and Son Ltd. Called the Albion Brewery, the structure was originally built for the Mann Brewery of London, but strangely, was never used by them.

Brewing at Marston's actually begins with the famous Burton water, which comes not from the Trent River, but from nearby wells in the river valley. The mineral-rich water is quite hard and high in gypsum (calcium sulfate), yet with virtually no bicarbonate. It contains the perfect balance of minerals and salts to enhance hop bitterness, while also improving clarity and yeast attenuation in pale ales. The high sulfate content also contributes a slight sulfury nose, which has become a hallmark of their flagship brand.

The raw ingredients raised to the loft of the red-brick tower are the finest: floor malted Maris Otter barley malts, Fuggles and Goldings hops from Hereford, Worcestershire, and Kent. The malt mills and screens are original. From here the malt meets the famous Burton water for the first time, as it is mixed in large wood-clad mash tuns. Although they brew twice a day, they still mash by hand. Computers may be used to track mash temperatures, but this still remains mostly a manual operation. The wort runs to the two coppers for a 1.5-hour boil. At last, a splash of modernity! The "coppers" are actually stainless steel (although they're over 20 years old).

After the boil, the hops are removed via a screw compressor separator. Then the wort is further cleared of trub via a whirlpool, then runs to open squares, where the yeast is pitched. All fermentation begins in open square fermenters, although they are shallower than most. The initial temperature in the squares is kept quite low, around 60F, because they don't contain attemperating coils. After around 30 hours, a portion of the fermenting beer is "dropped" to the union sets, which serve as yeast propagators. The remainder completes its fermentation in open or closed squares and is used for some of the standard Marston's house beers as well as for blending. No product contains 100% union beer. The premium Pedigree is a 50-50 blend. All the beers are appropriately labeled if they were made with a portion from the union sets.

The beer in the unions remains in the system for 4.5 days at around 62F. To maintain the proper fermentation temperature, water is pumped through attemperating coils in the casks. The union rooms are light, tall, and airy. This is for practical, not aesthetic, reasons. High ceilings preclude infection due to condensation forming above the troughs. When the beer is drained, the casks are cleaned with lots of hot water. They are never allowed to stand empty, lest they dry out and change shape. A full-time cooper is employed to make repairs or to build the occasional new union. The Marston's yeast strain likes the wood vessels, and couldn't be used in closed fermenters. When Bass stopped using unions, they had to change their house yeast. Draught Bass is still a beer of great character, but even its biggest fans admit it lost much of its complexity when the switch was made.

For all its apparent quirkiness, the Burton Union system is the natural result of experience and experimentation with the time-honored method of fermentation in wooden casks. Through centuries, brewers had been frustrated as beer and yeast were expelled and lost during active fermentation. One solution was to place buckets or troughs below the barrels, but you still had to manually return the beer to the wood and scoop up the yeast to use in future batches. The union system cleverly sidestepped this limitation. In the end, both production efficiency and beer quality improved.

By turning a cask on its side, you could run a swan-necked pipe from the open bung to a trough suspended above. If the trough was tilted slightly, liquid could flow back into the cask while the excess yeast would be left behind. Beer and yeast would continue to circulate automatically until fermentation completed. Because so much of the yeast was eventually left in the trough, the beer in the cask was clearer. In larger-scale production, the basic set-up was expanded to link multiple casks together, "in union." At Marston's, the casks are in twin rows of 10-12, each holding 144 Imperial gallons (approximately 172 US gallons, or 654 liters) and linked by pipes and long troughs suspended above and below. The lower trough is used at the end of fermentation, when beer is drained from the casks and pumped into conditioning tanks for packaging. 80% of their production is cask-conditioned ales.

With the end of the duty on glass in the early 19th century, the popularity of pale ale soared. Now that people could actually see what they were drinking, they began to expect an attractive, bright product. Armed with the Burton Union system, brewers could meet this demand. Not surprisingly, as pale ale increased in popularity, many breweries rushed to adopt this new method. But as the 20th century dawned, so did the realization that the Burton Union system, effective though it was, could also be quirky and difficult to maintain. New technology reigned, and stainless steel conicals eventually would replace the hardy wood casks, even at such historical stalwarts as Ind Coope and Bass. When Bass abandoned its unions in the 1980s, only Marston's remained. To many, it seemed like folly.

The brewers at Marston's -- and the palates of drinkers, as well -- knew that the unions were critical to the flavor of the beers they produced. They have stuck with their system, investing in its upkeep and even expanding with a major investment project in the 1990s. Head Brewer Paul Bayley and his staff maintain a commitment to high-tech quality assurance combined with traditional means of production. You can definitely taste this commitment in their beers.

Marston's Bitter (3.8% ABV) is their basic pint, an excellent session beer with a nice crystal malt character that adds some fullness. Pedigree (4.5%) is the classic Burton Pale Ale when it is on form. Golden-hued, the beer can shock you initially with its sulfury nose. Stay with it, because it will reveal a melange of fruit aromas and nutty malt along with a definite, but restrained, bitterness. Their strong ale, Owd Rodger (7.6%), is enormously malty and fruity, with hints of coffee amidst the esters and fusel alcohols in the nose. A superb strong ale, perfect on a winter evening by a pub fireplace.

Over the last couple of years, Marston's has committed to producing an amazing array of uniquely flavorful beers for the domestic market. Some 40 different beers have been produced as part of this "Head Brewer's Choice Collection," with a new brew rolled out every two weeks. Head Brewer Paul Bayley and his staff have turned out some fascinating beers, including a potent 5.5% ABV India Pale Ale, rye beer, porter, Summer wheat, oyster stout, and a rich Christmas beer. A number have been sold domestically in bottle-conditioned form. The variety is all the more impressive because Marston's is a sizable independent brewery that distributes nationally. Their dedication to expanding public awareness of different beer styles and flavors is remarkable.

After your visit to the brewery, there's no better place to relax and sip a succulent pint than the closest pub, the Albion. Take a left out the main gate on Shobnall Road, past the cricket ground and lawn bowling area. This large and stately edifice was built at the same time as the brewery. Supposedly the owner's house, it never served its original function. Enjoy a fine meal in the glass conservatory, with a Marston's beer, of course. When the weather's nice, sit outside in the garden and marvel at the playground, complete with old union barrels that the kids can climb through. After a day at the brewery, you'll be tempted to climb through one yourself!

October 1, 1996 was a signature date in US beer importing history: Marston's beers debuted in New York City. At last, Americans can sample beers from one of the world's most unique breweries, the last major brewery to ferment its beers in wooden vessels. While others have ditched them as a waste of time and money, Marston's remains firm. "There's no logic to them," says John Cheetham, Deputy Head Brewer, "but they make great beer!" Amen.

Marston, Thompson & Evershed Plc.
The Brewery
Shobnall Road
Burton-on-Trent
Staffordshire DE14 2BW
Tel: +44 (0)1283 531131
Fax: +44 (0)1283 510378

Marston's now have an extensive reception center on site, and they also offer special tours. Make sure to phone ahead to guarantee your visit (you don't have to dial the leading 0 on the area code if dialing from outside the UK).

Steve Hamburg is a veteran homebrewer, beer judge, writer and speaker with a well-known passion for cask-conditioned ales, beer travel, and any sport played with a ball. He is based in Chicago.

For more information on more than 400 breweries in Canada and around the world, check out Michael Jackson's World Beer Hunter CD-ROM.