Marston’S Brewery was founded in 1834 at the Horningblow Brewery in Burton-on-Trent, England as the brainchild of brewer John Marston. In 1898, following a merger with John Thompson and Son Ltd, the brewing moved across town to the Albion Brewery where it became famous for its use of the Burton Union system, a traditional fermenting apparatus based on fermentation in oak barrels. The brewery claims that this system adorns Marstons’s ale with a distinctive signature fruity dryness and accentuates the renowned sulphurous “Burton Snatch” aroma.
In 1905, the brewery joined forces with Sydney Evershed to become Marston, Thompson, and Evershed. Between the 1920s and 1960s, the company remained relatively immune to the oscillating fortunes of British ale-making by acquiring a number of pub companies and breweries throughout England.
In 1952, Marston’s launched a new pale ale called Pedigree. Brewed on the traditional Burton Union System, it is the brewery’s flagship beer and now one of Britain’s best-selling ales with more than 40 million pints drunk every year from casks, bottles, and cans.
In 1999, the Marston’s Brewery, its beers, and a 918-strong portfolio of pubs was purchased for £292 million by Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries which, in 2007, changed its name to Marston’s PLC. As of 2010, it was Britain’s largest independent brewing group.
The company’s brewing arm, known as Marston’s Brewing Company, now operates five breweries including Wychwood in Oxfordshire, Jennings in Cumbria, the Park Brewery in Wolverhampton, and the Ringwood Brewery in Hampshire. Marston’s also now brews Bass Ale and Tetley Cask under licence.
Other Marston’s beers include Old Empire, Resolution, and Oyster Stout and the Marston’s pub estate now exceeds 2,100 pubs. Marston’s is one of only three breweries in Britain that employs its own cooper, and the only brewery in the country to use the Burton Union system.