The Union

"It will give us a chance to collaborate, innovate and create premium cask beer whilst providing a new showcase for this important piece of brewing history."

Union

When Carlsberg Marston's announced, at the start of this year, that they were retiring their historic Burton union system, we were as sad as everyone else. So when we found out there was an outside chance Thornbridge were going to be able to obtain a small section of a Burton union, thanks to our old friend Garrett Oliver and the CMBC team, we grabbed the opportunity with both hands. It’s now May and to actually have them on site, ready to use, is a dream come true for myself and the rest of the brewing team. Clearly, this is a fantastic opportunity for Thornbridge to take a piece of brewing history and be able to continue producing beers on one of these sets, rather than the entire process being consigned to the history books and drinkers never being able to sample beer produced in this unique way.

The barrels of the union system at riverside brewery

It took numerous visits from the brewing team in the early part of the year to determine if the unions were actually going to be workable for us. Firstly, we needed to make sure we had the space for the union set, which we created by moving the bottling line from the smaller brewhouse area, at the back of the taproom. Crucially, we had to get our heads around how the process worked, so we knew we could not just fill the barrels and ferment beer in the union set, but also be able to clean it all properly. As one of the reasons the system is being decommissioned in Burton is just how labour-intense the process is, we thankfully saw that, although it will be hard work looking after it, as it is just part of the original set, it looks doable! I must say that the team at CMBC, their engineers and particularly Mark Newton, their Cooper, have been incredibly helpful and are as enthusiastic as we are. We fully intend to help protect the historic legacy of the union system and also see how it can help us innovate and develop our beers in the future.

Save The Union

The Union System dates back to the 1800s and is a beautiful wood-barrel fermentation system that has been used continuously in the production of different beers over the decades. Thornbridge has stepped in to save one of the sets, not only for its historic importance, but also to utilise it in a modern way and continue to premiumise their cask beer range. Starting with a brew of their flagship beer, Jaipur, they will follow up by brewing other much-loved beers from their catalogue, new beers specifically for the Union kit and collaborations.

Jaipur on the Union

On the 20th of May, we brewed a double Jaipur at the Riverside brewery, producing 10,000 litres of wort. About 14 hours later, on the 21st of May, half of this Jaipur wort was transferred to the Union system and fermented there for about 4 days before being dropped out of the Union and pumped back into a separate racking tank. A few days later, we racked this, our first ‘union’ beer, into casks in the usual way, with priming sugar and finings and cask-conditioned them in our cold store.

On Friday we racked up a cask of the Union Jaipur in our taproom cellar, vented and tapped it and finally today we’ve got our first pour of on the bar, through a handpump, next to the normal version, to try them next to each other. It’s not that easy to tell the difference between the two, but they are certainly different and both are great beers in their own right.

Even as a Head Brewer with 20 years plus experience, I am still trying to find the words to articulate the difference. I would describe the Union-fermented version as more rounded and softer and perhaps less bitter. Let us know what you think!

Rob Lovatt, Head Brewer/Production Director

Collaboration Brews

Collaboration brews on the System will be an integral part of its future at Thornbridge; bringing together breweries with a keen sense of history who would like to help innovate with the system.

"When I heard that the unions were slated to go silent, I immediately thought that Thornbridge would be the perfect inheritors of this beautiful piece of British brewing heritage. I'm thrilled to provide the 'assist' on this historic play." Garrett Oliver, Brewmaster, Brooklyn Brewery.

“To have the chance to brew on a small part of The Union is incredible for us. We are so grateful to be given this opportunity and will make sure that great beers are brewed on the Thornbridge Union. It will give us a chance to collaborate, innovate and create premium cask beer whilst providing a new showcase for this important piece of brewing history.” Simon Webster, CEO and Co-Founder, Thornbridge Brewery.