incert) was a 13th-century law in high medieval England, which regulated the price, weight and quality of the bread and beer manufactured and sold in towns, villages and hamlets.
[1][2] At the local level, this resulted in regulatory licensing systems, with arbitrary recurring fees, and fines and punishments for lawbreakers (see amercement).
This law can be traced back to proclamations from the reigns of Henry II and John that regulated the purchasing requirements of the royal household.
This resulted in a perceived need for regulations controlling quality and pricing, and checking weights, to avoid fraudulent activity by food providers.
The price of ale was regulated by provisions like those stated above, and the quality was ascertained by officers of great antiquity, called gustatores cervisiae, that is, "aletasters" or ale-conners, chosen annually in the court-leet of each manor, and were sworn "to examine and assay the beer and ale, and to take care that they were good and wholesome, and sold at proper prices according to the assize; and also to present all defaults of brewers to the next court-leet.