Ale and the Law

by Paul Hathaway

In days gone by (well. Medieval times) bread and ale were absolute necessities for daily life. So much so that certain laws were passed to ensure both were available to all. Bread being required goes without saying but ale was needed to provide liquid and calories, bearing in mind that many people were involved with manual labour. Also note, it was ale they drank, not beer. The difference being that ale was an alcoholic beverage made from malted cereals, water and yeast but not made with hops (which arrived in this country in the 15th century. Ales were often flavoured with herbs whatever was available locally. Hops provided two qualities to beer that ale didn’t have: firstly, hops provided a balancing bittering characteristic along with different flavours and aromas to the malt forward, sweet ales and secondly also hops have antibacterial qualities, extending the shelf life of beer.

To ensure that all folk could afford both bread and ale, Henry III introduced the Assize of Bread and Ale Act in 1267, which linked the price of both bread and ale to the price of wheat and barley, If the price of wheat or barley went up, the price of bread and ale also went up but if the price of wheat and barley fell, the price of each would fall! And it didn’t stop there. To ensure that prices of bread and ale and the quality of the ale was appropriate, an Officer was appointed by the local Court Leet to check the quality of ale! His job was to test every new brew, and in order to make it easier for the ale taster, or ale conner, to find the ale house Richard II introduced an Act in 1292 that each ale house must display a sign (noting that the population was generally illiterate so a sign was a good alternative to naming an ale house. In the event that the ale house keeper didn’t show a sign, he would forfeit his ale! The Ale Taster was appointed by the local Court Leet (a manorial court charged with dealing with lesser legal issues. The first Ale Taster in London was appointed in 1377 and four ale tasters are still appointed in London even today! William Shakespeare’s father, John, was the ale taster for Stratford-on-Avon in 1556. The town of Alcester in Warwickshire still has its Court Leet which appoints an ale taster today! His job today is still to visit each pub in the town and certify its beer is of suitable quality.

With regard the the quality of the ale, it is reasonable to say that in medieval times clean drinking water was not freely available, especially in urban areas where water courses were no more than open sewers. Dr John Snow, of London, discovered that the cause of the cholera outbreak in 1854 in the Broad Street, Soho, area of London, was the water from the local water pump was contaminated, but as part of that study he discovered that the workers at the local Huggins Brewery, who only drank beer, and not the contaminated water from the local pump, weren’t affected!

Going back to hops, were cultivated in England from the 15th century or imported from Europe, but there were problems with their quality such that an Act of Parliament, was introduced. The Hop Act of 1603 was a significant piece of legislation aimed at regulating the importation of hops into England. This act was introduced during the reign of King James I to combat issues related to fraud and contamination in imported hops. The purpose of the Act was to Prevent Contamination: to address the problem of foreign hops being mixed with harmful substances such as powder, twigs, sand, and other impurities and protect quality by regulating imports, the Act aimed to ensure that the hops used in brewing were of high quality, thereby safeguarding the health of consumers and the reputation of English beer.

Impact on Trade Support for English Merchants: The Hop Act was intended to protect English merchants from unfair competition posed by contaminated foreign imports. Health Considerations: The act recognised the potential health risks associated with using contaminated hops in brewing, which could affect the quality of beer produced in England. the Alehouse Sign Act of 1292 The act you’re referring to is known as the Alehouse Sign Act of 1292, introduced during the reign of King Richard II. It required that every alehouse display a sign so that the local Ale Taster (or Ale Conner) appointed by the Court Leet could easily identify where ale was being sold. At the time, most people were illiterate, so pictorial signs were used instead of written names. The law stated that if an alehouse keeper failed to show a sign, he would forfeit his ale — a remarkably practical way to regulate quality and ensure accountability in medieval brewing. It’s considered one of the earliest examples of pub signage law in England — the origin of the traditional pub sign still seen today.

Assize of Bread and Ale Act in 1267, Alehouse Sign Act of 1294 and the Hop Act of 1603 are all part of the rich history of Ale and the Law