They found an old ledger dubbed the ‘missing link’ between one of the world’s most popular modern booze styles and its historic roots in Staffordshire
Brewery bosses have brought back a 200-year-old beer that helped coin the IPA trend. They found an old ledger dubbed the ‘missing link’ between one of the world’s most popular modern booze styles and its historic roots in Staffordshire.
Allsopp’s – the modern version of Samuel Allsopp & Sons – has unveiled The Famous Original, a new 4.4% IPA. Jamie Allsopp has spent five years trying to revive the drink using the ledger recipes after it was found in an attic in Leeds.
And the original bevvy helped launch Burton-upon-Trent as the world’s brewing capital. Jamie, a descendant of founder Samuel, said: “Arguably there is no more important beer in brewing history.
“This is the moment I’ve been building towards since the day we decided to bring Allsopp’s back. IPA was the beer that transformed Allsopp’s from a regional Burton brewery into one of the most famous brewing companies in the world. Everything we’ve done over the past five years has been leading here.”
The only surviving Allsopp’s brewing ledger has more than 100 original recipes. They include IPA, Pale Ale, Double Diamond, Stout, Arctic Ale and dozens of forgotten brews.
Jamie added: “I’ve been surrounded by Allsopp’s memorabilia for as long as I can remember. I never wanted the history of the brewery to be forgotten, so all of my energy had gone into putting Allsopp’s back where I believe it belongs – at the heart of British brewing.
“But I’d almost given up. Without the recipes I wasn’t interested in producing guesswork. There are plenty of breweries making historical interpretations of IPA, but that wasn’t what I wanted to sit at the heart of Allsopp’s revival.”
It comes after we reported that pubs have enjoyed an Indian summer of booze sales – thanks to climate change. Unseasonably warm weather in September sent folks flocking to their locals.
The hot spell was a shot in the arm for Britain’s ailing bars. Sales were up 3% year-on-year, according to data from The Oxford Partnership and Vianet. Draft beer and cider sales shot up 1.3% year-on-year.
Industry experts said it was an ‘encouraging start to autumn trading’ after a poor August. The average spend per person on booze rose 1.5% to £21.12. While cash forked out by customers on pub grub rocketed 5% to £32.54 per head.