The King pulled himself a pint when he visited a brewery making a name for itself in the country’s former centre of beer production. Charles visited family-owned Tower Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, where dozens of breweries shipped millions of barrels of beer across the country and the globe during the industry’s 19th century heyday.
After pouring a pint called Gone for a Burton, a traditional mid-strength beer brewed by Tower, brewery owner John Mills cheekily asked Charles “going to have a slurp of that sir?”. The King replied that if he was not, he was in the “wrong place”, and held up his pint as he said: “To your very good health,” then joked “I could pass the rest on to them”, as he looked at the press.
Mr Mills joined the King at the brewery’s bar, pulling himself a pint of his Imperial IPA in the town from where India Pale Ale was first exported in the 1820s, but then suggested they try something stronger. Behind them was a bottle of The Spirit of Burton, a 41% proof Tower spirit distilled from IPA which, if left to mature, would be the basis of whisky.
