London Drinking Culture - Beer

May 19, 2021

This podcast will focus on the London Pint of Beer

It will look at the facts, its history, the different types of beer,  how and where to drink it

Beer has a lot going for it

1. Around the world, humans consume over 50 billion gallons of beer every year.
2. Beer is the most widely consumed alcoholic drink on the planet.
3. beer is one of the oldest beverages in the world - Dating back to 7000 years – at least!

 

And beer has been given 5 star ratings from the great and the good – and here are a few examples

 

•  Plato He is a wise man who invented beer
• Shakespeare, Henry V  I would give all my fame for a pot of ale and safety. –
• Benjamin Franklin  Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. –
• Homer Simpson  Ah, beer. The cause of and the solution to all of life’s problems.–
• Henry Lawson – Australian poet Beer makes you feel the way you ought to feel without beer. –

Beer is in grained in British and European society  - and ironically  it’s  Grain that has provided us  food (bread) and drink (beer) for centuries  in fact

• Prior to 1700, the average European consumed 182 kg of bread and 182 litres of beer per year (Allen 1992) – so in equal weight as I litre of beer is around a kg in weight.. Half of all spending was on beer and bread, and three-quarters of all calories came from these two sources alone. The reason for massive beer consumption was simple – water was often contaminated. The problem note by – WC Fields who said that the problem with by water is that you never know where its been

 This was especially true in the cities where  clean drinking water was in short supply but beer was plentiful cheap and safe to drink. It is hence not surprising that it was consumed throughout the day, from breakfast until  the late evening.

We have evolved to drink less beer but its still a firm favourite

As is bourn out from the figures – physical and numerical

Quantity wise

In 2018, 8.5 billion pints of beer _ more than any other alcoholic

In comparison 7.4 billion  glasses of wine were sold in the UK

And 1.2 billion pints of cider

And the government benefits from this as the British  pay a staggering 11 times more beer duty than drinkers in Germany or Spain.