Marston's

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Marston's
Location	Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire England
Year opened	1834 / 1898

Marston's is the colloquial name for the brewer and pub operator Marston's PLC (formerly known as Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries PLC until 8 January 2007 when it rebranded as Marston's ^[1] ); some of its beer output; and the Marston's Brewery.

1 Company history
2 Brewing methods
3 Beers
4 The brewery
5 Sponsorship
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Company history

John Marston founded his brewery in 1834, and it moved to its present site in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England after Marston's company merged with Thompson's in 1898.

In 1999, Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries purchased Marston, Thompson & Evershed PLC of Burton upon Trent (including Marston's Brewery). Marston's Brewery took over production – under licence from Interbrew – of Draught Bass in 2005, succeeding Coors. Also in 1999 the company purchased the Mansfield Brewery Company of Mansfield. Later, in 2005, the Jennings Brewery of Cockermouth was also purchased and most recently in July 2007 Hampshire based Ringwood Brewery, which was established in 1978 [1]. Ringwoods beer portfolio includes Best Bitter, Fortyniner, and Old Thumper.

[edit] Brewing methods

Marston's Brewery makes use of water from the famous Burton Well, reputedly discovered by Benedictine monks in the 13th century.

Marston's is also the only remaining brewer to use Burton Union Sets; a system whereby fermentation barrels and troughs are linked together by a complex system of copper and brass pipework. The basic principle is one of preventing excessive beer and yeast loss through foaming, but the consequence is that the beer is both in contact with more wood and in contact with more beer (fermenting in a bigger volume). This results in a vastly more consistent flavour; and very little chance of a whole batch being ruined.

All other large-scale brewers have abandoned this method in favour of stainless steel vats, which while they assure (through volume) a consistent flavour, do not permit the use of traditional yeast varieties. They also make selective use of the unusual double dropping process which introduces complex flavors due to a period of accelerated yeast growth.

[edit] Beers

Pedigree

Marston's flagship beer is Pedigree, a bitter. Typically Marston's uses the standard combination of Maris Otter barley and Fuggles and Goldings hops.

Burton Bitter
Resolution
Old Empire
Marston's Smooth
Double Drop
Single Malt
Owd Rodger
Oyster Stout - Introduced in 1994 as a 4.5% standard stout marketed to accompany oysters.
Smooth Extra Cold - 2007-2008 sponsor of England's Cricket Team.

[edit] The brewery

Marston's brewery is open to visitors.

[edit] Sponsorship

Wrexham FC - Under the terms, the Mold Road Stand at the Racecourse Ground will be renamed the Marston's Stand, while the brewery will also become the supplier of beers to the club for sale inside the ground and also at the club's function and hospitality rooms. And recently it was revealed that Marstons would be the new sponsors of Cambridge United. Marstons have signed of sponsorship for Abbey Stadium south stand