Second Gen (2003-2016, 2016- )
We have discussed Northdown ale before. One of the seventeenth century’s coastal ales that predate Burton’s arrival on the scene around 1712. Northdown of the strong ales that Locke described as “for sale” as opposed to home or estate use. But in that earlier Northdown post from, what, coming up on two years ago, most of the … Continue reading “A Little More On Northdown Ale And Margate Ale And Lambeth Ale And…”
What is up?!? Happy end of July! No one ever says that. I saw back to school ads this week. That sucked. Except the kid will be going back to school. And we had some wicked storms come through this week – a tornado even hit north of here – and now it’s almost sweater … Continue reading “The Last Lingering Beery News Notes For July 2022”
Have my mentioned my last two and a half years have been a bit of a blur at work? The history blogging has suffered. But it’s always the things we hold most dear that fall away, aren’t they. Well, as I expect is the case with you, it’s a bit quieter in the evenings around … Continue reading “Wouldn’t We All Prefer A Nice Quart of Dorchester Ale… Or Beer?”
For a while now I have been noodling around 1600s English brewing history and have a bunch of posts that you can generally find here with a few other topics from that century woven in. The important things to understand are: (i) there were distinct forms of beer easily recognizable by the consumer, (ii) they … Continue reading “I Get It. It’s Lambeth Ale. But Why Is It “Lambeth” Ale?”
This is a real puzzle. As discussed a few weeks ago, we are largely unaware of what was Lambeth Ale in the second half of the 1600s in England and how it set itself in the hierarchy of drinks. I am just going to note a few more findings in this post with the hope … Continue reading “A Short Update On That Apparently Very Fine Thing, Lambeth Ale”
Building on part one of this struggle, let’s consider the passage above again for a minute. It is from volume 7 of The Reliquary, by John Russell Smith, 1867. It looks a lot like the passage by Mott from 1965 that I quoted (poaching as I noted from the Martyn of 2009) in my previous part of this … Continue reading “Struggling Again With 1600s Derbyshire Strong Ale (Part 2… the Son of…)”
I was thinking I needed to write a post about Derby ale. The other week when I wrote this post with a bit more information about some of the other great 1600s strong ales Margate and Northdown and Hull and Lambeth, I knew I needed to have a look at Derby. I even had this lovely … Continue reading “Struggling With 1600s Derbyshire Strong Ale (Pt 1)”
As a lad, before the internet, I was a keener for the BBC World Service. I actually visited the studios at Bush House on the Strand in 1980 on a family holiday and sat in on a Dave Lee Travis show taping. Most evenings I would listen to the shortwave and at the top of the … Continue reading ““No Liquor On Earth Is Like Nottingham Ale!””
To the right you will see a passage from The Life of John Locke from 1876 that includes a quotation from a letter written by the philosopher in 1679. These is plenty to unpack from the passage but for present purposes I want to consider the bits about beer as it provides an excellent means … Continue reading “A 1679 Classification Of Beer By John Locke”
That’s my new favorite quote about sulfurous brewing waters from around Burton. It’s from The Natural History of Staffordshire from 1686 by Robert Plot. It’s slightly misleading as the beer was brewed as a local health tonic but I love that it was available at the Brimstone Alehouse. I want a black t-shirt from that place. What’s … Continue reading “What The Heck Was Going On in 1680s Staffordshire?”