'Last working' traditional brew kit comes to town

Dom Driscoll, from Thornbridge Brewery, said the Burton union system was a piece of brewing history

A traditional brewery set called a union - which is claimed to be the only working one "left in the world" - has been moved to Derbyshire.

Thornbridge Brewery, in Bakewell, will do its first brew using the Burton union kit on Tuesday.

The company said Carlsberg-Marstons in Burton, Staffordshire, was brewing with unions, which use wooden barrels, until the beginning of this year before retiring them.

Dom Driscoll, production manager at Thornbridge, said: "It is a piece of brewing history."

Dom Driscoll (left) said they were grateful to Carlsberg Marston's for donating the kit

He told BBC Radio Derby: "Marston's were the last brewery using this system but it became unviable on the scale that they are.

"They were retiring them and a friend of ours said he might be able to facilitate getting one of the unions to Bakewell.

"Carlsberg Marston's donated part of the union set to us and facilitated putting them back together again and teaching us how they work.

"We are really very grateful to them."

He added: "This will be the only working union left in the world.

"Bass pale ale used to be made with them - up and down the country breweries had them but they fell out of favour because they are difficult to clean.

"It is a very manual, labour intensive cleaning process.

"On our scale it looks like it's perfectly manageable."

The union system was also manufactured in Burton

He added: "By keeping it alive we have a great piece of kit to play with and it will be great to invite people down to show how they work.

"It is a real slice of British brewing history. They are an iconic symbol."

He added a union consisted of large wooden barrels, holding 150 gallons each.

Mr Driscoll said: "In the 1800s it was developed as a system to crop yeast for the next brew and they discovered it was a really good way to ferment the beer."

Emma Gilleland, director of brewing at Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company, said: “This collaboration is a perfect showcase for the ways brewers can come together to deliver something special, for the love of beer and Britain’s incredible brewing heritage.

"We’ve been proud to support Thornbridge through the process."

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