Beer in England
A series of domestic and military accounts written on wooden tablets were dug up at the Roman fort of Vindolanda, at Chesterholm in modern Northumberland, dating to between AD90 and AD130.
They reveal the garrison at Vindolanda buying ceruese, or beer, as the legions doubtless did throughout the rest of Roman Britain, almost certainly from brewers in the local area.
[6] An ale-conner, sometimes "aleconner", was an officer appointed yearly at the court-leet of ancient English communities to ensure the goodness and wholesomeness of bread, ale, and beer.
The Ale Conner was a type of early tax-man whose job it was to test the quality and strength of beer, not by quaffing, but by sitting in a puddle of it!
[11]A survey in 1577 of drinking establishment in England and Wales for taxation purposes[12] recorded 14,202 alehouses, 1,631 inns, and 329 taverns, representing one pub for every 187 people.
It was the first beer that could be made on any large scale, and the London porter brewers, such as Whitbread, Truman, Parsons and Thrale, achieved great success financially.
[18] Some brewers dropped the term "India" in the late 19th century, but records indicated that these "pale ales" retained the features of earlier IPA.
Beers from Burton were considered of a particularly high quality due to synergy between the malt and hops in use and local water chemistry, especially the presence of gypsum.
In 1880, prime minister William Gladstone's government used the Inland Revenue Act 1880 to replace the long-standing malt tax with a duty on the finished product – beer.
As a side effect, homebrewers that produced their own beer for "domestic use" were subject to registration, regulation and inspection, and were required to pay a licence fee.
[21] In the 19th century, a typical brewery produced three or four mild ales, usually designated by a number of Xs, the weakest being X, the strongest XXXX.
The temperance movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in combination with First World War emergency measures, introduced a number of changes, such as higher taxation on beer, lower strengths, a ban on "buying a round" and restricted opening hours.
The drinking of porter, with its strength slot now occupied by single stout, steadily declined, and production ceased in the early 1950s.
Newly popular foreign brands included Beck's from Germany, Heineken and Grolsch from the Netherlands, Leffe and Hoegaarden from Belgium, Peroni from Italy, San Miguel from the Philippines, Budweiser and Sierra Nevada from the US and Corona Extra from Mexico.
[33] This was the basis of a national chain of pubs, (over 900 as of 2016) which were to prove influential on the British beer scene, because of their low prices, large premises, and championing of cask ale.
Interest in imported beer continued to rise, with an influx of Eastern European workers making Lech and Tyskie particularly popular,[37] alongside Staropramen, Budvar and Kozel.
Iain Loe, a spokesman for Camra, explained a preference for moderate alcohol levels and a perception that real ale was healthier as responsible for the shift.
[51] Levels of alcohol consumption amongst young people in England is significantly lower than previous generations, leading to the rise in popularity of lower-alcohol and alcohol-free beers.
In recent years the explosion of microbreweries has led to a partial recovery, and an increasing number of mild (sometimes labelled 'Dark') brands are now being brewed.
Some breweries have revived the traditional high-gravity strong mild, with alcohol content of 6 per cent or so, the classic example being Sarah Hughes Ruby, brewed to a Victorian recipe.
They differ from dark milds and old ales in the use of roast grains, which adds to the bitterness, and lends flavours of toast, biscuit or coffee.
In a similar manner, one would punch through the centre of a bung on the upper side of the barrel's belly with a hardwood spile (tapered peg).
Nitrogen is used under high pressure when dispensing dry stouts (such as Guinness) and other creamy beers because it displaces CO2 to (artificially) form a rich tight head and a less carbonated taste.
The keykeg format is suitable for transporting beer internationally, unlike traditional cask ales, allowing pubs and other outlets to offer a cosmopolitan range.
[82] Some establishments imitate Dutch or Belgian cafés, or German bierkellers as a novelty, with a range of draught and bottled beer to match.
Typically the seated figure is a heavy-set, jovial man holding a mug of beer in one hand and a pipe of tobacco in the other and wearing 18th century attire: a long coat and a tricorn hat.
The resulting decline in brewpubs was something of a boon to other forms of microbrewing, as it led to an availability of trained craft brewers and brewing equipment.
A growing trend in the late 20th century was for the brewery to run their pubs directly, employing a salaried manager (who perhaps could make extra money by commission, or by selling food).
The low returns of a pub-owning business led to many breweries selling their pub estates, especially those in cities, often to a new generation of small chains, many of which have now grown considerably and have a national presence.
This comes from the high proportion of dissolved salts in the water, predominantly caused by the gypsum in the surrounding hills; the resulting sulphate brings out the hops—see Burtonisation.
