Worthington's White Shield (5.6%

ABV Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

) is an India pale ale (IPA) available principally in

bottle conditioned Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

form. White Shield was first brewed by the

Worthington Brewery Worthington Brewery, also known as Worthington & Co. and Worthington's, was founded by William Worthington in Burton upon Trent in 1761. It is the second oldest continuously brewed British beer brand, after Whitbread. The best known Worthington ...

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011, it had a ...

in 1829, primarily for export to the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. Worthington merged with local rival

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

in 1927, which was itself taken over by Coors in 2002. White Shield has won the

CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is the ...

Champion Bottled Beer of Britain Gold award three times, more than any other beer.

Production

White Shield is principally available as a bottle conditioned beer, although it has periodically been made available in cask-conditioned form. White Shield is brewed using

pale malt Mash ingredients, mash bill, mashbill, or grain bill are the materials that brewers use to produce the wort that they then ferment into alcohol. Mashing is the act of creating and extracting fermentable and non-fermentable sugars and flavor co ...

and a small amount of

crystal malt Mash ingredients, mash bill, mashbill, or grain bill are the materials that brewers use to produce the wort that they then ferment into alcohol. Mashing is the act of creating and extracting fermentable and non-fermentable sugars and flavor ...

. The

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whi ...

used are

Challenger Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to: Entertainment Comics and manga * Challenger (character), comic book character * ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga Film and TV * ''The Challengers'' (TV series), a 1979 ...

Fuggles This is a list of varieties of hop (''Humulus lupulus''). As there are male and female plants, the flowers (cones) of the female plant are fertilized by the pollen of the male flowers with the result that the female flowers form seeds. These se ...

and Northdown. Different yeasts are used for

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and secondary fermentation. After primary fermentation, the beer is conditioned in bulk for three weeks. Once packaged, it is matured in the bottle for a month before being sent out for distribution. Molson Coors claim that the beer will continue to mature in the bottle for up to three years. Former brewer Steve Wellington described the product in 2011 as "pretty much unchanged since appearing first in 1829".

History

Worthington launched East India Pale Ale, their first IPA, in 1829. It was exported to British expatriates across the Empire, mostly officers and civil servants, as the soldiers tended to drink

porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

, which was more affordable. The growth of the railway network allowed for increased distribution of the beer throughout the United Kingdom. The beer was brewed using the

Burton Union Beer is produced through steeping a sugar source (commonly Malted cereal grains) in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BC, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was u ...

system. The White Shield logo was introduced from the 1870s, and by the end of the nineteenth century the beer took on this name with drinkers. Worthington officially renamed their India Pale Ale White Shield from 1950. 92,000 barrels of White Shield were brewed in 1952–53. Bass announced that White Shield would be discontinued in 1961: it was unpopular with many publicans as it had to be stored at a certain temperature and could not be served chilled. Bass ultimately reversed their decision, but just 15,000 barrels were brewed in 1965. Bass lowered the alcohol content of the beer in 1967. White Shield found renewed popularity in the early 1970s as the demand for

real ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...

grew, but lost this position as the availability of cask ale improved. Bass relocated production from Burton to their Hope & Anchor brewery in Sheffield in 1981, and the beer ceased to be brewed using the Burton Union method. Production in 1988 totalled 12,000 barrels. The Hope & Anchor brewery was closed down in 1992, and production was moved to

Cape Hill Cape Hill is an area in Smethwick, Sandwell, West Midlands. It is centred on the road of the same name and includes the adjoining streets. Cape Hill starts at Waterloo Road near Shireland Collegiate Academy and ends at the High Street near Victoria ...

in Birmingham, before production was contracted to

King and Barnes {{no footnotes, date=March 2013 King and Barnes was a family-owned English brewery in Horsham, Sussex. History The brewery, founded around 1800 as Satchell & Co., was later bought out by maltster James King and renamed King & Sons. In 1906, anot ...

of Sussex in 1998. By this time, production was down to just 1,000 barrels a year, and the beer's long-term survival was in doubt. The King and Barnes brewery closed down in 2000, and production moved to the Bass owned White Shield

microbrewery Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

in Burton upon Trent. In 2000, a total of 500 barrels were produced. In 2010, production was moved to the newly constructed William Worthington's Brewery, a microbrewery based at the

National Brewery Centre The National Brewery Centre (formerly the Bass Museum of Brewing and later the Coors Visitor Center) is a museum and tourist attraction adjacent to the Bass Brewery in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The centre celebrates the brewing ...

in Burton. In 2012, increasing demand saw White Shield production moved to the main Coors brewery in Burton. Roger Protz reported that White Shield was the highest selling bottle-conditioned beer in Britain in 2013. However in 2018 he suggested that distribution of the beer had declined.

References

{{reflist, 2 Beer brands of the United Kingdom 1829 introductions Molson Coors brands