Ninety years ago in a small, unpretentious Wiltshire town, a new beer was brewed. It was coppery gold in colour, modestly malty and fruity in flavour, and gently hoppy on the palate. They called it 6X.
Fast forward to 2013 and the same classic beer is still being brewed at the same brewery. It’s still delicious, still intense and still one of the nation’s favourite ales. This thoroughly decent pint has seen Wadworth drinkers through two world wars, a general strike, a winter of discontent, a World Cup victory, two home Olympics, 16 prime ministers and four monarchs.
It got its famous name from an ancient tradition and has become a modern talisman in the pubs and bars of Britain. It is the beer of choice for many a pub-goer through good times and bad.
The recipe has been tweaked across the years, but remains basically the same flavoursome brew. Special editions of the popular ale include this years’ 90th anniversary version, given a festive note for the celebrations, but still retaining the distinctive 6X flavour notes.
The X was developed during the middle ages, says Wadworth, when most people couldn’t read so barrels of ale were marked with an X to denote strength — the more Xs, the stronger the brew. This tradition continued into the modern era, and at different times Wadworth brewed an XX Mild, an XXX ale and an XXXX pale ale. When XXXXXX was introduced as a stronger variant it’s believed that one of the lads in the brewery shortened this to 6X — and the rest, as they say, is history.
“We are very proud of 6X here at Wadworth,” said sales and marketing director, Paul Sullivan. “We believe it to be one of the oldest … beer brands and its popularity and staying power is down to its remarkable flavour and ultimate drinkability. It has the character to appeal afresh to each new generation of drinkers, providing all that is required in a high quality pint.”
