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Marston's is the colloquial name for the brewer Marston, Thompson and Evershed plc; its beer; and the Marston's Brewery. John Marston founded the brewery in 1834, and it moved to its present site in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England after Marston's company merged with Thompson's in 1898.
Details
Marston's Brewery makes use of water from the famous Burton Well, reputedly discovered by Benedictine Monks in the thirteenth century.
In 1999, the company and brewery were acquired by Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries PLC. Burton's other brewers today include Coors, Tower, Old Cottage and Burton Bridge Brewery. Marston's Brewery took over production – under licence from Interbrew – of Draught Bass in 2005, succeeding Coors.
Marston's is also the only remaining brewer to use Burton Union Sets; a system whereby fermentation barrels and troughs are linked together by a complex system of copper and brass pipework. The basic principle is one of preventing excessive beer and yeast loss through foaming, but the consequence is that the beer is both in contact with more wood and in contact with more beer (fermenting in a bigger volume). This results in a vastly more consistent flavour; and very little chance of a whole batch being ruined.
All other large-scale brewers have abandoned this method in favour of stainless steel vats, which while they assure (through volume) a consistent flavour, do not permit the use of traditional yeast varieties. They also make selective use of the unusual Double Dropping process which introduces complex flavors due to a period of accelerated yeast growth.
Beers
- Pedigree
- Marston's flagship beer is Pedigree, a bitter. Typically Marston's uses the standard combination of Maris Otter barley and Fuggles and Goldings hops. The Pedigree brand used to be the shirt sponsor of Derby County F.C.).
- Burton Bitter
- Resolution
- Old Empire
- Marston's Smooth
- Double Drop
- Oyster Stout - Introduced in 1994 as a 4.5% standard stout marketed to accompany oysters.
The brewery
Marston's brewery is open to visitors.
External links
Beer and breweries in the United Kingdom | Staffordshire | 1834 establishments
"Marston's Brewery"