Joseph Addison in The Spectator in 1712 recorded visiting Vauxhall Gardens where he drank a glass of Burton ale.
In the poem "Terence, this is stupid stuff" from A.E. Housman's A Shropshire Lad, the speaker asks the question, "Say, for what were hop-yards meant, / Or why was Burton built on Trent?" referring to the town's history of beer brewing.