Draught Burton Ale. Proof that CAMRA did change things for the better
Roger Protz made the discovery in 2015 that Carlsberg Tetley had quietly buried a former Champion Beer of Britain, Draught Burton Ale.
Most recently, according to Protz, it had been brewed at JW Lees but Carlsberg decided that it was uneconomic to continue production and stopped in September.
Protz has provided an admirable summary of the history of the beer:
https://protzonbeer.co.uk/comments/2015/01/06/dba-gone-for-a-burton
It was economic vandalism of Carlsberg to first keep very quiet that they were still brewing the beer and then state that since nobody wanted it they’d stop making it.
That said I hadn’t tasted a pint for many years and it might not be to my taste now, even assuming it was still being brewed to broadly the 1976 recipe.
In 1976 though to (then) youthful fans of real ale like myself certainly in North London it was proof that the early campaigning work of CAMRA had an impact.
At that time there was little real ale available and much that was, was hardly inspiring then, let alone now. Charringtons ipa and sometimes Bass (by far the best cask available), Courage Best (but very rarely Directors). Watneys and Trumans (Grand Met) were all keg. There were a very small number of outlets for Youngs and Fullers.
DBA at an official OG of 1048 was both markedly stronger and much tastier than anything else on offer though. No wonder, as Protz records, it sold so well.
Often in Ind Coope pubs it was the only handpump on the bar and it was far from always available.
The alternative of craft keg was not then available I’m afraid. Rather it was bottled Guinness which in those days was still bottle conditioned.
I distinctly recall drinking it in afternoon and evening sessions at the Royal Oak in Pages Lane Muswell Hill a pub that I don’t think would otherwise have attracted me at all.
The popularity of DBA was not lost on other brewers. Indeed Watneys introduced a ‘fined ale’ though so reluctant were they to admit that they had been completely wrong about hand pumps that it was sold through an electric engine.
Anyway DBA was a trail blazer and really should not have been allowed to die at the whim of Carlsberg.
Its also a reminder on its 50th birthday that CAMRA changed the world of beer and pubs for the better. Without we might have ended up stuck with old style keg beer.
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