Category: History by the Glass

WWI had a permanent legacy. UK beer became relatively weak and pubs remained closed for much of the day.

Not only was Barclay’s innovative in lager brewing, it was also one of the first breweries to start canning. And there was one beer where these two acts of daring combined: Sparkling Beer.

Before the proliferation of Pilsner, Germany had Kulmbacher—a strong, dark, and surprisingly hoppy lager.

While it may sound like a style that could only be conceived in today’s genre-pushing beer world, Session Imperial Stout is nearly 100 years old.

No longer known as a beer mecca, Albany, N.Y., was once the epicenter of beer production in the US, shipping Albany Ale as far as the Hawaiian Islands.

A document detailing the 22 styles of beer permitted in East Germany offers a glimpse into the former country’s Cold War-era brewing culture.

While the Fuller’s London Pride poured at pubs across London may appear unchanged over the decades, there was tinkering going on behind the scenes.

The quality and popularity of the once-iconic Draught Bass has been on a steady decline since the 1980s. With the brand up for sale, could it be saved?

How a 1911 court case against a South London brewery producing Milk Stout without a license cemented the style’s definition as a beer brewed with lactose.

How Mackeson, a provincial brewery on the south coast of England, patented a lactose-based formula in 1909 and created the Milk Stout.

In remembrance of Best Mild, a beer popular in 1950s England that was usually a somewhat stronger and darker version of a brewery’s Ordinary Mild.

Following the evolution of William Younger’s XXP over time, from a premium export IPA clocking in at 200 IBU to a standard pub Bitter.

Last year Whitbread Pale Ale was relaunched in the UK, brewed by the highly regarded Windsor & Eton. Let’s not worry too much about whether it’s an IPA, Pale Ale, or Light Ale. Just rejoice at the return of Whitbread’s iconic hind logo.

Known as “the Dog” in its home of England, Newcastle’s ubiquitous Brown Ale was atypical in its strength and production methods when it debuted in 1927.

In the 1950s, Tennant Brothers advertised Gold Label, its pale Barleywine, as a beer “as strong as a double whiskey and half the price.”

Scottish and English brewing records from over a century ago reveal a surprising number of low-ABV hoppy beers that look a lot like today’s trendy Session IPAs.

Beginning as a government effort to curb drinking by WWI munitions workers, state-controlled pubs persisted in some English towns until the 1970s.

England’s attempt to create a free market in beer led to an explosion of small, beer-only pubs—and the beginning of the end for Porter.

The history of England’s tied houses, or brewery-owned pubs, isn’t quite as black and white as it might seem.

Untangling the origins of Scottish 60 Shilling Ale and the now virtually extinct style’s transformation over time.

The history of Mild stretches back several hundred years, but why and when a dark version emerged has long been a mystery for beer historians.

Despite the strict rules of the Reinheitsgebot, in the mid-1800s, Germans were no less prone to tampering with beer than the British.

The popularity of British imports like Bass Pale Ale made India Pale Ale a popular style in Canada at the turn of the 20th century.

A look at the coronation beers of 1953, the first Strong Ales brewed in Britain after supply shortages at the end of WWII forced brewers to ration ingredients.