The Famous Original: Allsopp’s returns to the beer that made it famous with new IPA inspired by 200-year-old recipe found in historic family ledger

• Allsopp’s IPA is brewed with Golden Promise malt and Challenger hops, delivering a dark copper colour, rounded bitterness and sweet malt backbone

• New IPA draws on the historic beer that helped turn Allsopp’s into a global brewing name and established Burton-upon-Trent as the brewing capital of the UK

• Recipe informed by the only known surviving Allsopp’s brewing ledger, containing more than 100 original beers

• Available to the on-trade in nine-gallon casks as revived brewer targets a central role in the continued resurgence of quality cask ale

ONE of the most storied names in British brewing – Allsopp’s – has returned to the beer that made its name with the launch of Allsopp’s IPA, a new 4.4% cask ale inspired by the Burton brewer’s original 1822 recipe.

Brewed with UK Golden Promise malted barley and Challenger hops, Allsopp’s IPA is dark copper in appearance, with herbal, spicy and resinous aromas, rounded bitterness and a sweet, robust malt backbone.

The beer has been developed and brewed with the team at Kirkstall Brewery as a balanced cask IPA rather than a direct reproduction of a nineteenth-century export beer.

Its recipe draws upon the only known surviving Allsopp’s brewing ledger, discovered in a pubin Leeds after founder Jamie Allsopp spent almost two years searching for original records from his family’s brewery as he plotted its return.

The ledger contains more than 100 handwritten recipes, including Allsopp’s IPA, Pale Ale, Double Diamond, Stout and Arctic Ale, and has become the historic-underpinning for the modern revival of Samuel Allsopp & Sons.

Jamie said: “It is with immense pleasure and pride that we offer Allsopp’s IPA to the world, brewed to a recipe inspired by the very first viable IPA, a beer devised by us in 1822 in Burton-on-Trent.

“We did not want to produce a museum piece – the IPA has the malt character, balance and bitterness that belong to our brewing heritage, but it is unmistakably a contemporary cask beer. It is very precisely what I believe Allsopp’s should be and is brewing today.”

The launch returns Allsopp’s to the style that transformed the company from a regional Burton brewer into an internationally recognised name.

In 1822, Jamie Allsopp’s seven times great grandfather Samuel Allsopp and his master brewer, Job Goodhead, were challenged to produce a beer capable of surviving the long sea journey to India and winning the East India Company’s supply contract from incumbent brewer Hodgson.

The pair famously used a teapot as a miniature brewing vessel to conserve time and ingredients while developing the beer. Their solution was to increase both the hops and alcohol, whose combined preservative qualities allowed it to withstand the difficult voyage without spoiling.

Allsopp’s IPA went on to become one of the most popular beers at home and abroad, helping establish both India Pale Ale as a global style and Burton-on-Trent as a centre of world brewing.

Jamie added: “As an Allsopp, the story of IPA has a deep resonance. Samuel saw an opportunity, bet the future of the business on it and produced a beer that succeeded in conditions which had defeated others.

“Arguably, there is no more important beer in brewing history. We have approached the IPA with the same spirit by taking the defining characteristics of the original Allsopp’s IPA and brewing them for today’s drinker.”

The beer was unveiled at Leeds International Beer Festival and joins a revived Allsopp’s range including Pale Ale, Best Bitter, Stout, Lager, Double Diamond and Arctic Ale.

It is available to the on-trade in nine-gallon casks and is intended to be served at cellar temperature between 11°C and 13°C.

Jamie said: “We want this IPA to earn its place on the bar through the quality of the beer in the glass. There is a growing audience for properly brewed and well-kept cask, and we want this IPA to help more drinkers discover its freshness, depth and character.”

Jamie, a ninth-generation family member, resurrected Allsopp’s in 2021 after recovering brand rights from Carlsberg and spent almost two years searching for the brewery’s original recipes. The discovery of its only known surviving brewing ledger, containing more than 100 recipes, provided the foundation for Allsopp’s modern revival.

It provided the foundation to revive beers including Pale Ale, Arctic Ale, Double Diamond and Stout, reopen The Blue Stoops and ultimately return Allsopp’s to the IPA at the heart of its history.

To stock Allsopp’s IPA, contact sales@allsopps.com or call 0113 898 0280. For further information, visit allsopps.com.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Allsopp’s Family

• Allsopp’s IPA – 4.4% ABV: A dark copper cask IPA brewed with UK Golden Promise malted barley and Challenger hops. Herbal, spicy and resinous on the nose, with rounded bitterness and a sweet, robust malt backbone.

• Pale Ale: Inspired by the pale ale that helped build Allsopp’s and establish Burton’s brewing reputation. Pale gold and bright, with bready, cereal and citrus aromas, juicy hops, a biscuit body and a dry finish.

• Best Bitter: A traditional amber bitter brewed with East Kent Goldings, delivering forest-fruit character and thirst-quenching bitterness.

• Arctic Ale: Based on the high-strength beer Allsopp’s brewed for Admiralty expeditions from 1851. Deep mahogany in colour, with treacle, dark fruit and raisin flavours, port-like warmth and a long, sweet finish.

• Lager: A delicate lager with malt, bread and mild honey flavours balanced by clean Hallertau Hersbrucker bitterness.

• Stout: Inspired by Allsopp’s history of brewing Porter from 1807 and Special Stout for the Great Exhibition of 1851. Malt-forward, with cocoa and coffee notes, a soft nitro head and a clean, dry finish.

• Double Diamond: A modern interpretation of the beer first brewed by Allsopp’s in 1934 before becoming one of Britain’s best-known brands. A session pale ale with extra-pale malt, crisp carbonation and a fruity hop character.

For further information, visit allsopps.com.

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