Description:This photograph marks a very significant event in British brewing history: the main-stream introduction of lager beer brewing. Previously, supplies were imported from Germany or had been produced in smaller breweries without ny long-term success. Allsopp's foresaw a rapidly increasing demand from London and the provinces.
In 1884, Casper Pfaudler, an apprentice at Bartholomay Brewing which was a pioneer in brewing lager beer in Rochester, N.Y., invented vacuum fermentation. The system speeds up the process of fermentation by means of a vacuum in glass-lined, steel containers. It was designed to produce 50 to 60 thousand barrels per year and for it to be brighter and purer than the German version.
After research in Germany, Percy Allsopp commissioned the American company, Pfaudler Vacuum Fermentation Co.. of Rochester, New York to supply the equipment for installation at Allsopp's old brewery premises on High Street, Burton-upon-Trent at a cost of about £80,000 (equivalent to around £11 million in 2024). It was stated that it was the largest shipment of its kind to be transported from the United States. A special train took the vessels from Detroit, Michigan to be loaded onto vessels in Boston and New York for simultaneous sailing to Liverpool, Hull and Grimsby for assembly at Allsopp’s brewery. Conveyance from Liverpool required forty rail trucks.
Unfortunately Percy's venture was ultimately not successful. Allsopp's became a Ltd Company and he relinquished participation in 1900 and was declared bankrupt in 1914, mainly due to property related looses and losses by Allsopp & Partners Ltd. but was this was discharged in 1920. He served in the Intelligence Corps in WW1.
The lager making equipment was transferred to Alloa in 1921; Scotland was said to have acquired a taste for lager in advance of England. In 1959 it was rebranded as Skol. It could be said that Percy was a man ahead of his time!
Afred Percy Allsopp was the sixth son of the company founder. He was Mayor of Worcester on three occasions and was Member of Parliament for Taunton between 1887 and 1896. He died in 1929 aged 67.
Photograph from ‘Boots Fine Art Views of Burton’, published by Boots Limited in the 1890s. The caption for this image reads: 'This photograph represents the first arrival of Machinery and Utensils for the Brewing of Lager Beer in Burton. (Allsopp & Sons, Ltd.)’