Country house brewing in England, 1500-1900
Details
Type of record: Book
Title: Country house brewing in England, 1500-1900
Classmark: Bedford Collection D157
Creator(s): Sambrook, Pamela
Additional creator(s): Bedford, John Victor (1941-2019) (Former owner)
Publisher: Hambledon Press
Publication city: London
Date(s): 1996
Language: English
Size and medium: xii, 311 pages
Persistent link: https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/722149
Printed items catalogue: https://leeds.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?vid=44LEE_INST:VU1&docid=alma991019737345505181
Description
Includes bibliographical references (pages 298-305) and index.
1. Introduction and Sources -- 2. The Brewhouse -- 3. Private Beer -- 4. Beer-Making -- 5. Beer-Drinking -- 6. The End of Household Beer -- Archaic Cask Sizes and Measures of Ale, Beer and Malt -- Surviving Country House Brewhouses.
"Until the eighteenth century or even later, beer was the staple drink of most men and women at all levels of society. Tea and coffee were expensive luxuries while water might well carry disease. To supply the needs of both owners and servants, every country house with an accessible source of water had a brewhouse, usually close at hand." "The scale of brewing in country houses, which went on to a surprisingly late date in the nineteenth century (with odd survivals, such as Hickleton in Yorkshire, into the twentieth), was often considerable, if small besides that of commercial brewing. Copious records for both brewing and consumption exist. Pamela Sambrook describes the brewing equipment, such as coppers, mash tuns, underbacks and coolers; the types of beers brewed, from strong ale to small beer, and how they were kept; and the brewers themselves, their skills and attitudes." "English Country House Brewing, 1500-1900 shows the role beer played in the life of the country house, with beer
allowances and beer money an integral part of servants' rewards. Generous allowances were made for arduous tasks, such as harvesting. For celebrations, such as the heir's coming of age, extra-strong ale was provided. This book, which is heavily illustrated is an important and original contribution to architectural, brewing and social history."--BOOK JACKET.
Provenance
Leeds University Library copy at D157: From the John Evan Bedford Library, gifted in 2019. Twenty-first-century pictorial bookplate on front pastedown: John Evan Bedford. Former reference: HL/154.
Access and usage
Access
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