The history of Beer. From Britain’s first brewer, to ancient ales made with psychedelic plants. From rules on Viking drinking horns, to the English king who drank himself to death. From the rise of female brewers, to a drunk Queen Elizabeth I. From the legend of the ale-conner, to pubs forced to change names.
Our history podcast starts in Roman Britain. Could the invading wine-loving legions put up with local barbarian beers. Meet Britain’s first brewer, and find out how much a pint cost in ancient Britain.
Hear how the ancient Britons made beer with plants. One of them made you thirsty, and another one made you stoned. But how do you drink beer full of chunks of wild plants?
Find out how the Anglo Saxons drank eight pints of beer every day. Were they sozzled all the time? Hear out about church ales - boozy parties held in the nave to raise money - and what Magna Carta had to say about beer.
Hear the story of female brewers, who ran the beer making business from ancient times. Why were the brewsters forced to stop making ale?
Who were the ale testers known as ale-conners – did they test beer with their trousers? Or were they the original con men?
When were England’s first pubs built? And what is the difference between ale house, an inn and a tavern.
Did the puritans hate pub signs? Did Oliver Cromwell ban drinking?
And what are the origins of porter? Where did the name come from? Who drank it? And why did people who brewed it, risk their lives?
Enjoy part 1. Part 2 is here.
Listen part one of this History Podcast by clicking here: