Beer in the United Kingdom: history, traditions and breweries
The land of the pub and real ale: fresh from the cask, lightly carbonated and served at cellar temperature.
History
In the Middle Ages ale was brewed mostly by women, the “alewives”, for the household and for sale. Towns appointed “ale conners” to check quality and price. In 1393 King Richard II required innkeepers to hang a sign outside their house – the origin of the colourful pub signs.
For a long time England brewed ale without hops. Only in the 15th and 16th centuries did hopped “beer”, brought by immigrants from Flanders, take hold.
In the 18th century dark porter made London the beer capital of the world. Burton upon Trent became famous for pale ale and IPA thanks to its gypsum-rich water, and its beer was shipped as far as India. In the 20th century mergers and keg beer pushed traditional ale aside, until the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) was founded in 1971.
In 1830 the Beer Act allowed any householder to sell beer for a small fee. Within a few years tens of thousands of new “beerhouses” opened.
Since the 2000s Britain has seen a wave of new breweries: today there are well over 1,500, from tiny pub breweries to craft breweries such as BrewDog in Scotland.
Traditions and drinking culture
You order at the bar and pay straight away, and friends often take turns buying a round. A British pint is 568 ml, about 19 US fl oz – more than an American pint of 16 fl oz. Real ale finishes maturing in the cask in the pub cellar and is served with a hand pump. Shortly before closing time a bell rings for “last orders”.
Fun facts
- “Burtonisation” still means hardening brewing water with gypsum – modelled on the water of Burton upon Trent.
- The red triangle of the Bass brewery became the first registered trademark in the UK in 1876. Bass bottles even appear in Édouard Manet’s painting “A Bar at the Folies-Bergère”.
- On 17 October 1814 a huge porter vat burst at the Meux brewery in London. A flood of beer poured through the streets of St Giles; eight people died.
- In the 18th-century Royal Navy, sailors received a gallon of weak beer as their daily ration – about 4.5 litres (about 1.2 US gallons).
- The most common pub name in England is “The Red Lion”.
- In Scotland beers used to be named after their price per barrel in shillings, for example “60 shilling” or “80 shilling”.
Typical beer styles
Beer cities and their stories
London
Home of porter. In 1814 a huge vat burst at the Horse Shoe Brewery, and a wave of beer killed eight people – the London Beer Flood.
Burton upon Trent
The hard, sulphate-rich water made the town the capital of pale ale. Marston’s still ferments part of its beer here in the Burton Union system.
Edinburgh
Once the brewing centre of Scotland. Scottish ales used to be named after their price per barrel in shillings: 60/-, 70/-, 80/-. The names are still used today.
Faversham
Shepherd Neame, considered the oldest brewery in the UK, brews in this small town in Kent. Kent is also England’s traditional hop country, dotted with oast houses and their pointed cowls.
Tadcaster
This small Yorkshire town has several breweries, including Samuel Smith (1758), which still makes some local deliveries by horse-drawn dray.
Innerleithen
At Traquair House, the oldest inhabited house in Scotland, the old 18th-century brewery was revived in 1965. Legend has it that the house’s Bear Gates will stay closed until a Stuart sits on the throne again.
Glasgow
Tennent’s has brewed at the Wellpark brewery since the 18th century. In 1885 it began brewing lager here – Tennent’s Lager became Scotland’s best-selling beer.
Breweries and their stories
Shepherd Neame
Considered the oldest brewery in the UK; it brews with water from its own well and hops from Kent.
Known for: Spitfire, Bishops Finger
Bass
William Bass founded the brewery in 1777. Its red triangle became the first registered trademark in the UK in 1876 and even appears in a painting by Manet.
Known for: Bass Pale Ale
Samuel Smith
Yorkshire family brewery that still ferments its ale in open slate vessels known as “Yorkshire squares”.
Known for: Old Brewery Pale Ale, Taddy Porter, Imperial Stout
Marston’s
Still ferments part of its Pedigree in the Burton Union system of linked oak casks from which the yeast overflows.
Known for: Pedigree
Fuller’s
The Griffin Brewery in Chiswick is known for London Pride and ESB.
Known for: London Pride, ESB
Timothy Taylor
Yorkshire family brewery whose Landlord is regarded as one of the classic English pale ales.
Known for: Landlord
Traquair House
Brews in an 18th-century brewhouse in the oldest inhabited house in Scotland.
Known for: Traquair House Ale, Jacobite Ale
BrewDog
Founded by two young Scots, it became one of the best-known craft breweries in Europe.
Known for: Punk IPA
Tennent’s
In 1885 the Wellpark brewery in Glasgow brewed one of the first lagers in Britain.
Known for: Tennent’s Lager
Timeline
- 1393whole country
King Richard II requires innkeepers to hang a sign outside – the beginning of pub signs.
- 1698Faversham
Shepherd Neame in Faversham, Britain’s oldest brewery, traces itself back to this year – right in Kent’s hop country.
- 18th c.London
With dark porter, London becomes the beer capital of the world.
- 1758Tadcaster
The brewery known today as Samuel Smith is founded in Tadcaster. In town it still delivers partly by horse-drawn dray.
- 1777Burton upon Trent
William Bass founds his brewery. Its gypsum-rich water makes Burton the capital of pale ale.
- 1814London
A huge vat bursts at the Horse Shoe Brewery. The London Beer Flood kills eight people.
- 1830whole country
The Beer Act allows any householder to sell beer. Tens of thousands of “beerhouses” open.
- 19th c.Edinburgh
Edinburgh is Scotland’s brewing centre. Its ales are named after their price per barrel in shillings: 60/-, 70/-, 80/-.
- 1876Burton upon Trent
The Bass red triangle becomes Britain’s first registered trademark.
- 1885Glasgow
At the Wellpark brewery in Glasgow, Tennent’s brews one of the first lagers in Britain.
- 1965Innerleithen
At Traquair House, Scotland’s oldest inhabited house, the old 18th-century brewery is revived.
- 1971whole country
Beer lovers found the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) to save traditional cask beer.
- 2007Ellon
Two young Scots found BrewDog in Aberdeenshire, today one of Europe’s best-known craft breweries. It brews in Ellon.