When it comes to pints, Allsopp’s are the quiet heroes behind the bar. From Pale Ales to Pilsners, they are the ones ensuring proper pours remain the life and soul of the party, whichever tap your bartender reaches for.
We have partnered closely with Allsopp’s to bring exceptional beers with a unique past to our pubs. To celebrate the partnership, we sat down with Jamie Allsopp, the seven-times great-grandson of founder Samuel Allsopp, to talk all things Burton, beer and bar snacks.
Let’s start at the beginning – how was Allsopp’s born?
Samuel Allsopp & Sons was founded in 1730, when my nine times great grandfather, Benjamin Wilson, set up his mash tun at the Blue Stoops Inn on the High Street in Burton-upon-Trent. His grandson-in-law, Samuel Allsopp, took ownership in 1807 and, in 1822, pioneered India Pale Ale, the beer that made Burton the brewing capital of the world. Under Samuel’s son Henry, it became a truly global operation: thirty million gallons a year, two thousand employees, a Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria, and the Red Hand trademark registered in 1876. By the 1880s, Allsopp’s was the second-largest brewery in Britain, locked in a fierce rivalry with Bass.
From Queen Victoria to Imperial Russia, Allsopp’s has seen it all. What’s your favourite tale to share over a pint?
The Arctic Ale story. Brewed so thick it had to be lifted from the copper in buckets, it could resist freezing at −42°F. The sailors on polar expeditions, denied their rum ration, worked out how to freeze-distil it in the snow to concentrate the alcohol. Pure ingenuity under extreme conditions. While Catherine the Great was drinking Burton Ale at St. Petersburg banquets, ordinary sailors were making homebrew super-ale in the ice. That contrast, from imperial courts to the Northwest Passage, is what makes Allsopp’s history worth talking about.
If you had to pick just one, which Allsopp’s pint are you ordering?
The India Pale Ale is an honest attempt to recreate what Samuel Allsopp and head brewer Job Goodhead first made in 1822 in a teapot. Well-hopped, robust, with the distinctive Burton character that comes from the mineral-rich local water. It’s the beer that rescued the brewery after Napoleon’s blockade destroyed the Baltic trade and went on to dominate markets from Calcutta to Sydney.
What makes Allsopp’s different when it hits the glass?
Apart from the uniquely storied past, it’s with the heritage malt and hops. The recipes themselves come from a handwritten brewing ledger dating from the early 1900s – the only surviving document that records Allsopp’s recipes. The modern brewery uses quality British hops and malt, staying true to those historic ingredient bills. Nearly three centuries of accumulated craft is hard to fake.
Has the Allsopp’s mission changed as you’ve grown, or has the heart stayed the same?
The mission hasn’t changed: brew the best possible ale. What has evolved is the sense of responsibility around it. The revival isn’t primarily a commercial exercise – it’s about making sure beers with this much provenance and history don’t disappear into corporate archives. The range has grown, the Blue Stoops in Kensington now provides a proper home, and the methods have modernised. But the anchor remains the same: historic recipes, British ingredients, authentic Burton character, beers that are a physical bridge to the past.
Pint in hand at Cubitt House – what snack are you reaching for?
Start with the oysters dressed with ale and fennel; the beer in the dressing makes it an obvious call alongside an IPA. If you’re drinking Double Diamond, get the pork pie with chop sauce – made for each other. The venison tartare with pickled walnuts and horseradish works particularly well with the Best Bitter.
As more people opt for moderation or low-alc, where does Allsopp’s fit in?
We have the know-how at the brewery to brew high-quality low-alcohol beer; however, Allsopp’s have traditionally been at the other end of the ABV scale. We have no plans yet to produce a low-alcohol beer; however, never say never.
The World Cup’s around the corner. What are you drinking when the whistle blows?
Probably defeat and a taxi home.
Is Thursday the new Friday?
Pubs are best Monday to Wednesday – you can get to the bar, sit quietly, and hear yourself think. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are my Fridays.
What’s the most unexpected place you’ve had an Allsopp’s?
Two weeks ago, in Northern Italy. In Vicenza, the Red Quill pub was serving cask Arctic Ale in exceptional condition – the first time a cask had left the country since the 1875 Arctic expedition. In Venice, a clean pint of Allsopp’s Pale Ale was pouring at Giacomo’s Marciano pub in Cannaregio. In Treviso, Italians were drinking the 11% Arctic Ale by the pint at the North Bar; one gentleman had three and seemed entirely unbothered. In Rimini, the Rose and Crown owner turned out to have been the first Double Diamond importer into Italy, forty years ago, with two original mirrors still on the wall to prove it.
Is there a beer you brewed once and wish you could resurrect?
Watch this space. There’s a keg ale called Sparkling Ale at 4.2% we’re hoping to produce soon.
What’s your soundtrack to the perfect pint pour?
John Prine’s “When I Get to Heaven”. Warm, honest, unpretentious, and completely at ease, celebrating simple pleasures. A song that looks back on a life well lived without complaint.
Dead or alive – who would you love to brew with?
Samuel Allsopp. He inherited the brewery in 1807 when Napoleon had just destroyed its entire export market, bought it at 27, and found a different way to succeed. By 1822, he’d pivoted to India Pale Ale and helped create one of the most influential beer styles in history. He was writing to customers as early as 1808, asking whether they preferred pale or darker ale – arguably the first brewer to seriously think about what drinkers wanted. The recipes we’re using today are his; being able to brew with him would be wonderful.
You’ve got five minutes to convert an “I don’t like beer” drinker. What’s your move?
I don’t think I would. I don’t want to put any pressure on someone, so I’d find a delicious alternative for them at the bar.
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