British Beer

A recent trip to Birmingham, England gave me a great opportunity to explore the beer culture there, and to learn more about the history and current state of British beer. The tradition of brewing in Britain is as important to the history of beer as that of Belgium and Germany. Britain is famous for two things in the brewing world: ale, or more specifically cask ale, and the British pub.

Cask Ale is the heart and soul of British beer. Unlike bars in America, where kegs are received in serving condition, and poured through taps that use carbon dioxide, British pubs serve beer from casks that mature in their cellars. Traditionally secondary fermentation happens in the casks. Carbonation occurs naturally, and beer is not refrigerated or pasteurized. Cask ale is drawn to the taps through hand pumps, so no CO2 is used at all. Therefore it is important to have a good cellar master who knows how long to mature the beer in the casks and when to begin serving it. Traditional ales are typically between 3.6% and 4.5% ABV (alcohol by volume).

British pubs are iconic and known for being cozy "2nd homes" where people gather for communal drinking and socializing. Ales are traditionally the drink of choice, and each pub is unique in its own way. One of Britain's main tourist attractions are its pubs.

The history of beer in Britain began with Anglo Saxons who colonized the islands and brought beer with them in the 4th century. Brewing became wide spread in homes, which eventually led to ale houses and on to the public houses or pubs. Originally ale was the term for un-hopped beer. Flemish immigrants brought hops with them and these drinks were distinguished from ale and called beer. Over time the terms became interchangeable as almost all contained hops. Monasteries helped spread the craft and standardize the brewing process. But after the monasteries were wiped out by Henry the VIII, Britain's history of beer took a different course than that of Belgium. As was the case throughout Europe, beer in Britain was seen as a source of clean water, safer than the often contaminated water from rivers during the middle ages, and also as a source of nutrition. A source of British pride, beer was considered an important way of making the population strong and healthy.

The Industrial Revolution brought larger breweries into play as the city centers grew, and the departure from the tradition of small local brewing began. Competition helped lower prices and increase the idea of large scale brewing. During this time breweries were pioneers in steam power, coke smelting, microbiology, and the growth and streamlining of transportation systems. The main style of beer enjoyed during the Industrial Revolution was porter, deriving its name from the porters that carried goods throughout London. Harwood's brewery in London is credited with perfecting porters. Strong porters became known as extra stouts, and Arthur Guinness brought this style back to Dublin, perfecting the Guinness stout. Whitbread, Truman and Barclay also were famous for brewing porters during the mid 1800's.

IPA's (Imperial Pale Ales) began as a tiny fraction of the beer market in Britain. They were originally intended for the growing British empire in India, and were made hoppy and strong to survive the long voyage to India, which also conditioned the beers. George Hodgson's brewery in London was the first to produce these beers for the East India Company to export. But a falling out with Hodgson led the East India Company to approach brewers in Burton on Trent, who had a good reputation for producing sweet Burton ales for export to Russia and the Baltic region. As the Russian market dried up, brewers in Burton on Trent concentrated on brewing IPA's. Samuel Alsopp copied Hodgon's ales, and it was discovered that the combination of minerals and salts in the Burton water, filtered through layers of gravel, was superior to the water in London for brewing, and produced a much better beer. The brewing of IPA's in Burton on Trent took off, and it became one of the most important brewing centers of the world during the 1800's. IPA's eventually became popular in Britain itself after the glass tax was repealed in the 1850's. Drinking through glass allowed the Brits to see the impurities in the porter style, and gave rise to the popularity of the clearer IPA. But the IPA's in Britain were initially expensive and hard to get, as they needed to be matured for long periods of time in order to replicate the conditioning that took place on the ships to India, and could only be brewed during the cooler months when wild yeasts were less active. Advances in microbiology and refrigeration allowed increasing amounts of the beer to be brewed for the masses in Britain. When the taxation reforms of 1880 came into place, and beer began being taxed based on its original gravity, the ABV of beers plummeted and weaker pale ales, also known as bitters became the beer of choice for the working man. The common thread of all of Britain's beers, from porters and stouts to India Pale Ales and eventually the weaker bitters, was that they contained live yeasts during secondary fermentation, which gave the beer natural carbonation, and complexity and depth of character. The lager revolution that swept the rest of Europe during the late 1800's, and eventually the world throughout the first half of the 20th century, was resisted in Britain; partially due to the fact that refrigeration in Britain was slower to establish itself, and also out of a strong sense of national pride in their traditional ales.

By the 1960's, lagers dominated the world scene, and although they were still not widespread in Britain, the Brits became increasingly familiar with lagers as air travel increased, and they became more familiar with the beers they saw overseas. Heineken began large advertising campaigns in Britain during the 1970's, and the breweries in Britain started merging into larger outfits that began to steer away from the traditional cask ales toward mass produced, filtered ales that were pasteurized and used CO2 instead of the natural carbonation. By then there were 6 big breweries in Britain that dominated the scene and were increasingly brewing beers other than the traditional cask ales that were the backbone of Britain's brewing history. Much like in the U.S., small independent breweries were quickly becoming a thing of the past. The large breweries dominated the pub scene, each owning its own string of pubs in which only their beer would be sold.

In March of 1971, four men from the northwest of England got together to form an organization called CAMRA, in an effort to battle back against the domination of the big breweries. CAMRA stands for Campaign for Real Ale, and real ale was defined by the group as being "beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide." During its early and intermediate stages, CAMRA was seen as having an almost militant attitude toward brewing and acceptable ales. Its members were often looked upon as beer geeks who were behind the times out of touch with the hip new lager scene. The negative image persisted through the 80's and into the 90's. Around the turn of the millennium, the Progressive Beer Duty was passed to give tax breaks to small breweries. This, combined with the boom of the craft beer scene in the U.S., has started a new revolution in British brewing, bringing back small independent breweries that combine a reverence for the tradition of cask ales with the innovation of the times. U.S. hops and wood barrel aging have become increasingly common, and currently Britain has a thriving craft scene of its own. CAMRA no longer holds the negative image it did during the 70's and 80's, and today CAMRA is seen as an important part of preserving the heritage of cask ales as well as traditional British pubs, while at the same time helping to promote the newer small breweries and beers that have sprouted throughout Britain. Freehouses, pubs that are not owned by major breweries and are allowed to sell whatever beers they please, have become increasingly common.

Today's beer scene in Britain is thriving, and there are many pubs that serve traditional cask ales which are inspired by the new trends in modern craft brewing. Some contain American hops, others are barrel aged, and many come from new small breweries that have sprouted in the last decade. Most still are comparatively low in alcohol, in the 4% to 5.5% range ABV. Ales are still hand drawn, and the glasses fill with an explosion of bubbly beer that quickly reduces to an inch tall head, resulting in a creamier mouth feel than many carbonized American counterparts. The beers are served at cellar temperatures, mid 50's degrees Fahrenheit, and the warmer temperature brings out so many unique flavors. In general, bready and biscuit flavors prevail, with a touch of sweetness that is balanced by a hoppiness that is not as over the top as the new breed of American ales. Unlike some well known American lagers, these ales do not have to be super cold to taste good and refreshing. A visit to a specialty beer store was one of the highlights of the trip. We found a good selection of Belgian, German and even some familiar American beer, but the seemingly endless variety of bottle conditioned beers from Britain was fantastic, and really emphasized the healthy state of the craft beer scene there. Soon we were back in the pubs. Sitting back on a cushioned chair in a cozy British pub, sipping unique hand drawn ales, and taking in the sights and sounds of the local crowd is something that all beer drinkers should experience at some time in their lives.
Cheers!

The main styles of beer (all ales) that Britain is famous for bringing to the world are:
Pale Ales: A wide category ranging from light summer ales, to fruity and malty ales to the bitter IPA's.
Bitters: Mid brown in color and well balanced between citrus and biscuity notes with a dry finish.
Porters and Stouts: Dark in color with roasted, chocolate or coffee flavors.
Milds: Dark, but low in alcohol, exhibiting mocha flavors but still light and refreshing.
Old Ales and Barleywines: Strong, over 7% ABV and often aged for complexity.

Much of the information on the history of beer in Britain was gleaned from the amazing book: The Oxford Companion to Beer, edited by Garrett Oliver. It is a must have for anyone wanting to learn more about beer.

Chip Bartsch
Beer Buyer
West Vail Liquor