Go figure.
Schell Stag Series #4: Burton Ale
OG 22 Plato
IBU 60
SRM 24
Before India Pale Ales were synonymous with Burton upon Trent, there was Burton Ale a darker, sweeter beer. Burton Ales were so popular, in fact, that as recent as 1948, it was considered one of the four main types of British draught beer, sitting beside mild, pale ale, and stout.
More so than perhaps any other beer style in history, the demise of Burton Ales happened amazingly fast. Brewers, faced with the consumer preference for bitters and lagers saw sales of Burton and mild ales plummet. By the end of the 1960s Burton ales were virtually gone.
Schell’s Burton Ale is a nod to a forgotten style of beer. Using traditional floor malted Fawcett Maris Otter as a base, the malt bill also includes torrified wheat and two different British Crystal malts. As is traditional for British brewers, we added sugar in the kettle, in our case turbinado and some Dark Candi Syrup. Old Burton Extra is hopped with Nugget and Goldings, fermented with a British ale yeast, dry-hopped, and aged for 3 months prior to release.
Release: Sept 2011
What’s this now, a Burpin Ale?
With an OG of 22 I’ll be more than just burpin’ after one ; )
It’s awesome Schell’s is doing this. The old school Burton ales made in England for import to Russia were more like OG 1.100 – well on par with barleywines. But decreased in gravity a bit when Russia fell out of favor and the beer was brewed more for domestic consumption in Britain, where drinkers were not used to or as appreciative of the syrupy sweet bitter bomb that was a Burton Ale. Great history to a beer like this. Just helped homebrew a version that is supposed to age 18 MONTHS before serving! You gotta earn this beer!
Interesting Chip!!! What will you do for 18 months waiting on this BEAST!!! Where did you brew that Burton?