There is power in a Union brew

By Phil Mellows

Vinyl records are back in fashion, you’ll have noticed, decades after they had apparently been superseded by CDs. And I hear there are people trying to do the same for cassette tapes. Good luck with that. These comebacks are rare when you think about all the redundant technology that’s been produced since the industrial revolution, preserved only in museums – if it’s interesting enough.

And it seemed that would be the fate of the Burton Union brewing system, a peculiar contraption from the mid-19th Century that somehow survived almost to the present day at Marston’s Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent, where it was a USP of Pedigree ale.

Then, earlier this year, Marston’s global owners, Carlsberg, came to the, some would say, belated conclusion that it wasn’t worth the faff, and announced that its Union system, bar a museum piece, was finally heading for the skip.

That’s progress I suppose, but a couple of smaller brewers sensed there was still value in a heritage brewing technique and grabbed a set for themselves – a set here comprising six oak barrels (holding around 162 gallons each) linked by swan-neck pipes to steel troughs above. Each is about the size of an ice-cream van.

They form, in brief, an extra stage in the fermentation process. Foamy wort overflows out of the barrels into the troughs and then runs back, leaving the valuable yeast to be harvested and a beer that Victorian brewers believed was more consistent and flavoursome.

You can check that for yourselves thanks to Thornbridge Brewery, which now has a set inside its plant at Bakewell in the Derbyshire Peaks. Production director Rob Lovatt gazed at the equipment with a kind of reverence when he showed me his prized Union set. Brewers understand that this is something special, something that was almost lost.

But what does it do for the beer? Thornbridge first experimented with its Jaipur IPA, noting a fuller flavour, before tweaking the kit a little and creating a new beer in a style that should be more suited to the system. They called it The Union IPA, what else, and it’s a deep copper traditional 6% India Pale Ale that’s deliciously moreish. It’s available on cask at the brewery’s taproom and pubs and is about to go into bottle for a wider appreciation.

Thornbridge has also collaborated with American brewer Odell on a Union version of its flagship 90 Shilling Ale (pictured), and there is plenty more to come.

Another set went further north, to Glasgow, where it landed in the talented hands of Gareth Young at Epochal Brewing on the city’s north side. He was still tinkering with the pipework the other day and excited to get going on it.

“I’m planning to fill the Union with a stock pale ale. That’s the core of the Epochal output and what Unions were most associated with historically, so it has to be that.

“The system is known for producing characterful ale fermentations more consistently and a particularly clean bitterness in highly hopped beers. It’s also famed for its yeast propagation powers, so it should help me to maintain a distinctive house yeast culture in the longer term.

“I also think there should be a subtle contribution of flavour from the wood. The north German oak from which the casks are made is quite aromatic.”

Epochal’s new taproom opens at weekends, and the Union set forms a fascinating feature on the brewery floor, so you can go see it, and soon taste the results, for yourself.