Beer in England

Beer has been brewed in England for thousands of years. As a beer brewing country, it is known for top fermented cask beer (also called real ale) which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with only natural carbonation. English beer styles include bitter, mild, brown ale and old ale. Stout, porter and India pale ale were also originally brewed in London. Lager-style beer has increased considerably in popularity since the mid-20th century. Other modern developments include consolidation of large brewers into multinational corporations; the growth of beer consumerism; expansion of microbreweries and increased interest in bottle-conditioned beers. Brewing in what is now England was probably well established when the Romans arrived in 54 BC, and certainly continued under them. In the 1980s, archaeologists found the evidence that Rome's soldiers in Britain sustained themselves on Celtic ale. A series of domestic and military accounts written on wooden tablets were dug up at the Roman fort of Vindolanda, at Chesterholm in modern Northumberland, dating to between AD90 and AD130. They reveal the garrison at Vindolanda buying ceruese, or beer, as the legions doubtless did throughout the rest of Roman Britain, almost certainly from brewers in the local area. One list of accounts from Vindolanda mentions Atrectus the brewer (Atrectus cervesarius), the first named brewer in British history, as well as the first known professional brewer in Britain. The accounts also show purchases of bracis or braces, that is, emmer wheat (or malt), doubtless for brewing. Quite possibly the garrison bought the malt, and hired a local brewer to make beer from it for the troops. In Roman Britain, brewing, both domestic and retail, must have been widespread: remains indicating the existence of Roman-era malting or brewing operations have been found from Somerset to Northumberland, and South Wales to Colchester.