Masterpiece IPA 5.6% ABV

Burton Upon Trent, my hometown, the place where the magic happens, a town where the air smells of malted barley, a famous location where beer is brewed, this is Burton the Brewing Capital Of The World!

Beer is so big in Burton, we are so proud to have some of the finest microbreweries in the country which play there part to deliver Burton’s Brewing Heritage!

When you’re out and about, any of the pubs that you venture into will always be packed full of locals drinking there favourite locally brewed beer, whether it’s Bass, Pedigree, Burton Bridge Bitter, you name it anything, the locals love to drink something which is close to their heart and town!

It’s not just the beer that makes this town special, Burton Upon Trent is incredibly lucky to have a fantastic Beer Museum which takes you through the history of Burton’s Brewing Heritage as well as the techniques that are used to brew beer.

Have you ever thought to yourself how one small piece of Barley can be turned into a pint of beer, well if you visit The National Brewery Centre, the answers will be waiting for you in this charming historic museum.

This proudly brings me on to my next post which is based on Masterpiece IPA, which is brewed at the museum’s micro-brewery, Heritage Brewing Company!

History

The Heritage Brewing Company was first established in January 2017 and is situated in the heart of The National Brewery Centre. It is one of the only microbreweries which specifically brews iconic beers from the past towards the modern audience of today.

Some of these beers date back to the 1950s, but the beer I am basing my review on today has been around since 1830 and can still be widely found in bottles and cask form.

How many of my followers have heard of a beer called Worthington Whiteshield?

Worthington Whiteshield is a historic name when it comes to Burton’s Brewing Heritage it was formed with Bass in 1927 up until 2002 when American brand Molson Coors took over the Bass Brewery, the Whiteshield brand was retained by Molson Coors!

Whiteshield is formally linked to Masterpiece, in other terms, Whiteshield is owned by Molson Coors and Masterpiece is owned by The Heritage Brewing Company, this all sounds confusing, but it really isn’t!

Former Master Brewer, Steve Wellington who has worked for Bass Brewery and previously retired from The Heritage Brewing Company decided to bring something special to the people’s eyes of Burton.

At the time when the micro-brewery was launched, there were four beers which were listed in the core range and were available in museums’ public bar, The Brewery Tap!

There was Charrington IPA 4.5% ABV, Offiler’s Best Bitter 4.0% ABV, St Modwen’s Golden Ale 4.2% ABV and Masterpiece IPA 5.6% ABV!

Now, when it came to Masterpiece IPA which launched in the Brewery Tap and many other pubs in the town, everyone had that initial thought that this beer reminded them of something, it was like people had tasted this beer before.

Then it all became clear, Masterpiece IPA was effectively Worthington Whiteshield in cask form, the signs were all there, the ABV was the same and so was the taste!

The name of the beer is taken from one of the former dray horses that lived at the museum, the shire horses played an integral part in the brewing industry, the horses were used as transportation to deliver beer across Staffordshire county.

Since starting production, Masterpiece IPA has become increasingly popular, the demand for this beer has been tremendous, to add to the fact with how well it has been doing in cask form, the beer has also been produced into bottles as well.

As I look into the future, I can truly see that this legendary beer, Masterpiece IPA is going to be at the helm of this unique microbrewery and shall remain as one of the flagship beers that’s got Heritage Brewing Company to where it is today.

Tasting Notes

A sweet and fragrant fruity beer that delivers hints of smoke and spice on the palate, which corresponds to a luxurious mouth-feel with a subtle peppery character which leads to an exquisite finish.

Review

You’re probably at the point now where you just want to go to the pub, preferably one in Burton and try this iconic beer, unfortunately, though the pubs are closed!

However, because I live right next to the centre of Burton, there is a tremendous beer shop which stocks some of the most amazing beers that you can lay your hands on!

Currently, if you live far away under the restrictions you can’t travel across half of the country, but let’s just say that if things were normal, I would have to tell you about this beautiful shop called Brews Of The World!

Brews Of The World is an independent beer bottle shop which stocks beers which are brewed locally in Burton, beers from Nothern England and even as far as London!

But that’s not all, you can even find beers from around the world, specifically places like Germany, Belgium, Japan and many more, there is so much to choose from!

I absolutely love coming to this shop, because there is something inside here for everyone, a huge variety of different styles of beer: Stouts, Porters, Bitters, IPA, you name it there’s everything!

I’ve visited this shop a couple of times now and  I always come away with a few bottles to build up my beer stock up at home. One of the bottles which was on stock was Masterpiece IPA! My favourite!

Chris who works at Brews Of The World persuaded me to buy a couple of bottles, I just couldn’t resist and had to buy some more beer.

Masterpiece IPA in bottle form is retailed in the shop at £3.90, and in my personal opinion I think that is a fantastic bargain, so I would highly recommend you to check out their prices!

I was really excited to try this beer, I mean it was probably over a year ago since I last tried Masterpiece, so I was really looking forward to indulging into this beautiful beer.

What a tremendous beer this is, I could smell the aromatic hops as soon as I poured the beer into the glass, it was remarkable and very welcoming. The flavour was perfect, a sweet and fruity character which led to a spicy and smokey finish which was totally pleasing.

The beer contained so much flavour and was really refreshing, the beer took me back in time to when I first tried it, which would have been when I turned 18.

You could easily taste the strength of this beer, but it was ultimately moreish and the flavour on the palate was completely long-lasting, what an astonishing beer this is and also the fact that it’s brewed in my hometown.

I can honestly say this beer is truly inspirational, I was totally impressed with everything about it, from the aroma to the flavour, it was all there!

I can now understand why Masterpiece IPA has become the flagship beer for The Heritage Brewing Company, I can’t get over how amazing this beer is!

If any of my followers get the chance to come to Burton in the future, I would highly recommend you to visit the National Brewery Centre and take a tour of the museum, but I also have to recommend you to visit Brews Of The World, trust me it’s like Beer Heaven!

I really hope you’ve enjoyed this post if you have any questions on Masterpiece IPA or Brews Of The World, please, by all means, post them in the comments and I’ll answer them as best as I can.

Finally, to show some support towards this iconic beer shop, why not follow Brews Of The World on Facebook and keep a lookout for what they’ve got coming in stock soon.

Cheers Everyone!

The Cask Connoisseur

This is a collaborative post with Brews Of The World, all beer review posts are subject to my own honest opinion.