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Coopers and casks

The Burton union sets were not the only ones to retire from the Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company (CMBC), now Carlsberg Britvic, on 31 May 2024. The sets had been carefully maintained and repaired for decades by one Mark Newton, Burton’s last working cooper. After 30 years, it was time for him to step down from his post. It’s no real surprise that CMBC took the opportunity to stand down the Burton unions for good at the same time. Of course, there has been a lot of coverage of CMBC’s subsequent gift of a union set to Thornbridge brewery in Bakewell and of the genuinely superb beers that it has brewed on it. But there has been surprisingly little mention, to my mind, of the loss of another brewery cooper.