Mr Bass used the famous Burton well water, drawn from wells situated above the valley gravel beds, and insisted on using the best barley and hops, earning a reputation for quality not just in the UK but also as far afield as Eastern Europe and Russia.
By 1850 it was producing more than 100,000 UK barrels per year. By 1888, the Bass Brewery complex covered 145 acres of land and employed more than 2,500 workers, with output approaching the million-barrel mark.
By 1882 bottled Bass Ale was available in very country where an Englishman had set foot and by 1889 Bass had become the largest brewery in the world. In 1892, Bass’s King’s ale was released to commemorate a visit by Edward VII to the brewery.
By 1970, Bass had about a quarter of the British beer market. It was purchased by Interbrew, now InBev, in June 2000.
Bass is the perfect beer to drink with traditional beer-battered fish and chips with malt vinegar. Bass ale is frequently used as the bottom ingredient in a Black and Tan, where a pub glass is half filled with the pale ale, and using a specialty spoon, a stout is poured on top, creating a two layer beverage where the stout floats atop the pale ale.
Bass Ale
