The Burton union system comes into use

What was going on around it

An event on its own is a date. These are the periods it belongs to, where the argument about what changed is actually made.

• Industrial brewing

  Beer became the first mass-produced consumer product, and the technologies that made that possible — measurement, power, pale malt, rail — also decided which beers survived.

Why it matters

One of the few fermentation systems distinctive enough to be credited with a regional flavour, and now nearly extinct.

How well this is established

Styles this shaped

• English pale ale4.2–5.8% ABV

  The bottled British pale ale tradition: biscuity malt, earthy and floral English hops, and a firm, dry, mineral finish.

• Best bitter3.8–4.6% ABV

  A step up from ordinary bitter in strength and depth, with more malt body while staying firmly sessionable.

Traditions

• Burton pale ale brewing — The nineteenth-century Staffordshire pale ale trade built on gypsum-rich well water, high hopping rates and export-stable beer.