There was a sharp intake of breath earlier this year when Carlsberg Marston’s announced that it was decommissioning the famous Burton union sets. But cheers when one of those sets was transferred, free of charge, to Thornbridge Brewery, in Bakewell.
The union system dates back to the 1800s and is a beautiful wood-barrel fermentation system that has been used continuously in the production of different beers over the decades. In its latter days it was mostly used for Marston’s Pedigree, one of the first cask ales I drank regularly when younger. Tried some again recently and to me it didn’t have its zip and freshness of those old days.
It’s not the easiest fermentation system to work with, labour intensive and not easy to clean, so it needs a brewer that both takes extreme care of their kit and has a keenness to keep traditional methods. So, Thornbridge is the perfect home.
The first thing they did with their new arrival was a brew of their famous Jaipur IPA, but then it was time to create something new. That beer was a 7% ABV IPA called The Union, and I was lucky enough to have a couple of bottles sent to me to try, along with another new brew, Fonio, which I’ll come to on another blog. Oh, they popped some of that delightful Jaipur in, too. Thoughtful, that!
It turned out to be the exceptional beer I was expecting, and I say that as something of an aficionado of 5 to 8% ABV English-style IPAs. It poured golden with a foaming white head, with orange citrus — juice and pith — on the nose, along with some lemon and berry. Plenty of citrus carried through to the palate but excellent balancing sweetness swept in, biscuity with an edge of dark sugar, all leading to a good bitter finish. A remarkable brew.
Bottles of The Union are available on the Thornbridge website. Furthermore, there will be a tasting of the beer at the St Albans Beer Festival later this month, when beer writer Roger Protz will be in conversation with Thornbridge’s head brewer, Rob Lovatt.
