- Want to find out more about the trends, challenges and opportunities shaping the drinks market? Book your ticket to Drink Tank here now – the new meeting place for the UK drinks industry on 10 November.
The 4.4% ABV cask ale IPA has been born from a recipe dating back to its Burton-upon-Trent foundations from 1822.
The beer has been developed and brewed with Kirkstall Brewery as a balanced cask IPA rather than a direct reproduction of the 19th century export beer.
The basis of the recipe comes from what Allsopp’s said is the only known surviving Allsopp’s brewing ledger, which was discovered in a pub in Leeds after founder Jamie Allsopp spent almost two years searching for original records from his family’s brewery.
The ledger contains more than 100 handwritten recipes, including Allsopp’s IPA, Pale Ale, Double Diamond, Stout and Arctic Ale, and has “become the historic-underpinning for the modern revival of Samuel Allsopp & Sons”.
Contemporary cask beer
Allsopp said: “It is with immense pleasure and pride that we offer Allsopp’s IPA to the world, brewed to a recipe inspired by the very first viable IPA, a beer devised by us in 1822 in Burton-on-Trent.
“We did not want to produce a museum piece – the IPA has the malt character, balance and bitterness that belong to our brewing heritage but it is unmistakably a contemporary cask beer. It is very precisely what I believe Allsopp’s should be and is brewing today.”
Join our WhatsApp channel: The Morning Round-Up
Get the biggest pub trade stories straight to your phone. Listen to our one-minute daily news briefing and receive breaking news, exclusives and sector updates throughout the day. Remember to turn notifications on in the top right corner!
Allsopp’s IPA is brewed with Golden Promise malt and Challenger hops, and is claimed to deliver “a dark copper colour, rounded bitterness and sweet malt backbone”.
It is available to the on-trade via nine-gallon casks as Allsopp’s stated it wants to be a central character in “the continued resurgence of quality cask ale”.
Looking at the history of Allsopp’s, Jamie Allsopp’s seven times great grandfather Samuel Allsopp and his master brewer, Job Goodhead, were challenged to produce a beer capable of surviving the long sea journey to India and winning the East India Company’s supply contract from incumbent brewer Hodgson in 1822.
Teapot as a brewing vessel
The pair used a teapot as a miniature brewing vessel to conserve time and ingredients while developing the beer. Their solution was to increase both the hops and alcohol, whose combined preservative qualities allowed it to withstand the difficult voyage without spoiling.
Allsopp’s IPA went on to become a popular beer at home and abroad, helping establish both India Pale Ale as a global style and Burton-on-Trent as a centre of world brewing.
Allsopp added: “As an Allsopp, the story of IPA has a deep resonance. Samuel saw an opportunity, bet the future of the business on it and produced a beer that succeeded in conditions that had defeated others.
“Arguably, there is no more important beer in brewing history. We have approached the IPA with the same spirit by taking the defining characteristics of the original Allsopp’s IPA and brewing them for today’s drinker.”
He added: “We want this IPA to earn its place on the bar through the quality of the beer in the glass. There is a growing audience for properly brewed and well-kept cask, and we want this IPA to help more drinkers discover its freshness, depth and character.”
Allsopp’s beers and descriptions
- Allsopp’s IPA – 4.4% ABV: A dark copper cask IPA brewed with UK Golden Promise malted barley and Challenger hops. Herbal, spicy and resinous on the nose, with rounded bitterness and a sweet, robust malt backbone.
- Pale Ale: Inspired by the pale ale that helped build Allsopp’s and establish Burton’s brewing reputation. Pale gold and bright, with bready, cereal and citrus aromas, juicy hops, a biscuit body and a dry finish.
- Best Bitter: A traditional amber bitter brewed with East Kent Goldings, delivering forest-fruit character and thirst-quenching bitterness.
- Arctic Ale: Based on the high-strength beer Allsopp’s brewed for Admiralty expeditions from 1851. Deep mahogany in colour, with treacle, dark fruit and raisin flavours, port-like warmth and a long, sweet finish.
- Lager: A delicate lager with malt, bread and mild honey flavours balanced by clean Hallertau Hersbrucker bitterness.
- Stout: Inspired by Allsopp’s history of brewing Porter from 1807 and Special Stout for the Great Exhibition of 1851. Malt-forward, with cocoa and coffee notes, a soft nitro head and a clean, dry finish.
- Double Diamond: A modern interpretation of the beer first brewed by Allsopp’s in 1934 before becoming one of Britain’s best-known brands. A session pale ale with extra-pale malt, crisp carbonation and a fruity hop character.
