History of Beer

For all you history buffs out there the brewer J. W. Lees has put a concise history of beer on the internet. It charts the history of beer from 3,500 BC to the present day and contains a lot of interesting facts you can use to impress your friends over a pint. For example, a yard of ale glass was introduced in the 1600’s to allow landlords to pass beer to stagecoach drivers through a window so the driver did not have to get off the coach. And you thought McDonald’s invented the drive through.

Of course in those days there were no drink driving laws but the perils of drink driving were well known. On the A40 between Llandovery and Brecon there is a memorial to a stagecoach accident which occured in December 1835. The driver, Edward Jenkins was drunk and came round a bend on the wrong side of the road at full speed. He swerved to avoid a cart and the coach plunged 120 feet hitting an Ash tree and breaking into several pieces.