India pale ale had originally been developed elsewhere, when the long sea voyage to India was found to greatly improve the taste of ‘stock’ beer – four to five months of being gently rocked by the ship and the gradual introduction of heat as the ship neared India resulting in great depth of flavour – but Bass marketed it brilliantly to the shopkeeper-and-clerk class, and in the process helped to transform the brewing industry and put Burton at its centre.5
