Newcastle Brown Ale and ale in the Federation Brewery site in Dunston, Gateshead, which was to pass to them with their £7.2m purchase of the Federation Brewery. The purchase and consolidation at Dunston created the new brewing company, Newcastle Federation Breweries. The last production run of Brown Ale in Newcastle came off the Tyne Brewery line in May 2005. Pre-production trial brews were conducted at Dunston to ensure no change occurred in its taste after the move. The Tyne Brewery site was bought by a consortium of Newcastle University, Newcastle City Council, and the regional development agency One NorthEast, as part of the
Burton Ale and "needed cellaring for months before serving, and ... it almost certainly had some degree of secondary fermentation going on during that time – sour beers aren’t a new or strictly continental-European thing". At least in London the terms Burton Ale and old ale were interchangeable, but compared to other old ales and barley wines Burton Ale is distinctively dark, sweet and fruity. Old Burton is a strong version of Burton Ale. Allsopp’s Arctic Ale was originally 11.24% ABV. Old Burton was referenced in The Wind in the Willows: "The Rat, meanwhile, was busy examining the label on one of