A remarkable beer from Victorian times that’s steeped in heroism and tragedy as well as alcohol has been recreated by a Scottish brewery working with Jamie Allsopp, a direct descendant of the leading Burton brewer Samuel Allsopp.
Dougal Sharp (above left) founder of Innis & Gunn in Perth, paid £3,000 for a bottle of Arctic Ale that had been brewed by Samuel Allsopp in 1875 for an expedition to the North Pole. Dougal, famous for beers aged in whisky and rum casks, got in touch with Jamie Allsopp (right) who has recreated many of the old Allsopp’s beers, including Double Diamond, one of the leading keg beers of the 1950s and 60s.
Jamie has opened a pub, the Blue Stoops, in Notting Hill in London, where he sells draught versions of the Allsopp’s beers. The pub takes its name from the first Allsopp tavern in Burton.
Dougal’s bottle of Arctic Ale had been found in a garage in Shropshire. He got in touch with Jamie and both were keen to brew a batch of beer that would be a close as possible to the original. They also researched the fascinating history of the original beer.
Allsopp’s Arctic Ale was brewed in 1875. In 1845, Rear Admiral Sir John Franklin had led an expedition to the Canadian Arctic in an attempt to chart and navigate the North West Passage linking the Atlantic and the Pacific.
Such a passage had for centuries been considered of enormous potential benefit to the world’s trading nations, as it would substantially reduce sailing times. Franklin’s expedition failed. The ships foundered and were lost and the crew perished.
Franklin became a national hero and Queen Victoria demanded that attempts should be made to find any remains of his ships and crew. Along with the Admiralty, she asked brewers in Burton, with their experience of brewing strong export beers, to create “life sustaining ale” for five ships commanded by Sir Edward Belcher. Such beers would contain high levels of Vitamin B that would prevent scurvy.
The contract was awarded to Allsopp who had faced competition from other Burton brewers, including Bass, Salt, Truman and Worthington. Belcher failed to find any remains of the Franklin expedition.
In 1857 a second expedition led by Sir Leopold McClintock was also unsuccessful. It was supplied with further batches of strong beer brewed by Allsopp. Arctic Ale was again brewed in 1875 for Sir George Nare’s expedition to locate the North Pole.
It’s thought it was a beer from this batch that was found in the garage in Shropshire. A portion of the beer was poured into the brew made by Dougal Sharp and his team at Innis & Gunn. They used all British ingredients as close to those used by Allsopp in the 19th century:
Maris Otter and Chevallier pale malts, amber and crystal malts and Fuggles and Goldings hops. 10 per cent brewing sugar was used to reach a strength of 9.5 per cent alcohol. It’s thought the original beer was more than 10 per cent but the strength of beer was not revealed in those days. Allsopp’s original yeast culture was used.
The finished beer has a deep burnished bronze colour with a massive aroma of dark burnt fruit – raisins and sultanas – with powerful hints of liquorice, herbal and spicy hops and roasted malt.
The palate is dominated by fruit but is complemented by liquorice, sweet dark malt and spicy hops. There’s a long, bittersweet finish with malt balancing fruit, liquorice and gentle spicy hops.
The beer is filtered but not pasteurised. As a result of its strength it will age like wine with proteins helping it to mature and remain drinkable for many years.
Jamie Allsopp says: “This beer is a story of heroism, endeavour and human daring. It was a beer brewed for explorers setting out to survive the extremes of the Arctic in conditions as low as minus 40 degrees C.
“We were pouring history into the new brew.”
