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So what WAS the first purpose-built lager brewery in the UK?
It’s a comment on the public perception of beardy beer buffs that people who know I like pongy ale* frequently look surprised when they discover that I drink lager too. My response, of course, is that...
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Bride ale – too many of you are getting this wrong
Just one day into six months or more of continuous “royal” wedding bollocks, and already I’ve made the first sighting of the claim that “the word ‘bridal’ is a corruption of ‘bride-ale’ – a special...
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Imperial Stout – Russian or Irish?
A very early Russian Stout ad from 1922 It was terrific to see a positive story on the BBC about beer, with the coverage of the Great Baltic Adventure, the project to take Imperial Russian Stout back...
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Four IPA myths that need to be stamped out for #IPAday
There’s an amazing amount of inaccurate, made-up rubbish that has been written about the history and origins of IPA, or India Pale Ale. So read on, and turn yourself into an IPA mythbuster for #IPA...
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Wells gets Younger – which isn’t as old as claimed
Excellent news, I think, that Wells & Young’s has acquired the Scottish brands McEwan’s and Younger’s from their current owner, Heineken. The announcement last week that W&Y was bringing back...
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The origins of pils: a reality Czech from Evan Rail
If there is one blessing the Oxford Companion to Beer has brought us, it’s the beginnings of a much better, and myth-free understanding of the origins of the world’s most popular beer style, pale pils...
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Caught on the horns of a yard of ale
You’ve read the stories, I’m sure: you’ve probably got, as I have, a mental picture. The mailcoach rattles through the arch into the straw-strewn innyard, chickens flying out of the way, the outside...
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Guinness myths and scandals
‘Guinness Marmite’ from the 1930s Is there a brewery business with more books written about it – is there any business with more books written about it – than Guinness? Effectively a one-product...
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More IPA myths that must die on #IPADay
It’s #IPADAY again, and time for some more IPA mythbusting. Despite the best efforts of many, an amazing amount of inaccurate, made-up rubbish continues to be perpetuated about the history and origins...
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Worthington ‘E’ is NOT a Burton Ale
This week’s letter comes from a Mr R Protz of St Albans, who writes: Martyn, I took a snap of the clip for ‘E’ in the National Brewery Centre Bar y’day. I’ve included it in 300 More Beers … in the Best...
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Was water really regarded as dangerous to drink in the Middle Ages?
It’s a story I’ve been guilty of treating a little too uncritically myself: “In the Middle Ages people drank beer rather than water because the water wasn’t safe.” But is that correct? No, not at all,...
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You won’t believe this one weird trick they used to fly beer to the D-Day...
Normandy, 70 years ago, and one of the biggest concerns of the British troops who have made it over the channel, survived the landings and pushed out into the bocage against bitter German resistance is...
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Remembering the victims of the Great London Beer Flood, 200 years ago today
Wherever you are at 5.30pm this evening, please stop a moment and raise a thought – a glass, too, if you have one, preferably of porter – to Hannah Banfield, aged four years and four months; Eleanor...
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The three-threads mystery and the birth of porter: the answer is …
One of the biggest mysteries in the history of beer concerns a drink called three-threads, and its exact place in the early history of porter. Three-threads was evidently a mixed beer sold in the...
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The IPA shipwreck and the Night of the Big Wind
The “IPA shipwreck” is one of many long-lasting myths in the history of India Pale Ale. The story says that IPA became popular in Britain after a ship on its way to India in the 1820s was wrecked in...
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The Twelve Beers of Christmas
On the 12th day of Christmas my True Love gave to me Twelve draughts of Duvel Eleven pints of porter Ten Landlords leaping Nine Lagunitas Eight Mackeson milk stouts Seven Silly Saisons Six Geuze...
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More frequently repeated beery history that turns out to be totally bogus
It’s depressing and frightening, sometimes, if you start tugging at loose threads in the historical narrative, because the whole fabric can start unravelling. This all began with the Canadian beer...
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Wells gets Younger – which isn’t as old as claimed
Excellent news, I think, that Wells & Young’s has acquired the Scottish brands McEwan’s and Younger’s from their current owner, Heineken. The announcement last week that W&Y was bringing back...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The origins of pils: a reality Czech from Evan Rail
If there is one blessing the Oxford Companion to Beer has brought us, it’s the beginnings of a much better, and myth-free understanding of the origins of the world’s most popular beer style, pale pils...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Caught on the horns of a yard of ale
You’ve read the stories, I’m sure: you’ve probably got, as I have, a mental picture. The mailcoach rattles through the arch into the straw-strewn innyard, chickens flying out of the way, the outside...
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