A Cooper's Trussing In Ceremony
A ONCE-IN-A-GENERATION OCCASION
Last month we had the honour of attending a Trussing in Ceremony - one of Britain’s oldest traditions - where apprentice cooper Euan Findlay, graduated to Journeyman Cooper at the iconic Yorkshire brewery T&R Theakston in Masham.
Beginning over 5 years ago, Euan’s apprenticeship with Theakston came to end that day, as family, friends, colleagues, guests and press gathered to witness one of the countries most unusual initiation ceremonies that remains largely unchanged for hundreds of years and with roots dating back to the 14th century.
Ringing of Axes
Beginning with the “ringing of axes”, a half-constructed 54-gallon Hogshead cask was rolled out and Euan lifted into it by his fellow coopers, who proceeded to build the cask around him in a mesmerising display of ritualistic hammering. One such fellow was our good friend and master cooper Alastair Simms who takes care of our whisky casks.
Buckets of barley, hops, yeast, water and oak shavings were poured over Euan, before he was rolled around the brewery yard. He was then unceremoniously sacked as an apprentice and immediately re-employed as a fully qualified cooper. Emerging from the cask to accept his new role and covered head-to-toe in beer slop, a huge cheer erupted from the crowd to celebrate such a momentous milestone in the long history of this very special and skilled craft of coopering.
Rite of Passage & A Rare Pint
Poet Ben Taylor (aka ‘Yorkshire Prose’) - a master of Yorkshire dialect and famed for his witty and poignant verses - joined Euan on stage and presented him with the magnificent verse ‘Ode to the Cooper’, written especially for the day. We then joined Euan at the bar where he pulled the first pint of Theakston Stave Bender, brewed to honour the occasion, where we cheered and toasted his rite of passage.
Theakston is one of only two breweries in the UK to still have an in-house cooperage, a tradition which it has maintained since it was established almost 200 years ago. Euan Findlay is the first person in over 20 years to graduate as a cooper at a Yorkshire brewery and we are lucky to have witnessed this unique and rare ceremony.
Watch a short video of the Trussing-In ceremony.
Read about Yorkshire master cooper Alastair Simms on our whisky page.