Only joking of course – –
But with a pub for every day of the year and our crazy medieval ancestors drinking ale as it was safer than the water, you do wonder what the streets of Norwich were like. I image a bit like the Prince of Wales road on a Saturday night – if you’ve not had the pleasure drive up there after 11pm – it’s better viewing than Netflix.
Norwich has over a 600 year history of Brewing starting in Medieval Britain with people producing ale in their own houses for their own consumption or selling on to Inns – theres were known as “victualers”. By the 1800’s we had over 450 pubs with 27 breweries. We were producing more ale than London and even imported it there. The Adam and Eve is one of our oldest pubs dating back to medieval days probably one of the many pubs in the Cathedral quarter servicing the Norman builders working on the Cathedral.
Taxation forced the smaller produces out of business and by 1920 only 4 large companies survived ‘Steward & Patteson’, ‘Bullards’, ‘Morgans and Youngs’, ‘Crawshay & Youngs’
Drink forward another 100 years and we have got micro brewers popping up all over Norwich in-fact we have over 30 brewers in East Anglia and well over 100 pubs along with the big boys Adnams, Green King and Woodfords breweries producing ale for all over the world.
This year we are on our 39th beer festival, we host tons of beer celebrations all over this region, offer brewery tours and if i’m not bathing in the stuff I’m cooking with it – like beer bread (but you’d have to come on one of my cookery courses to get the recipe for that one)
Ever wondered why we have a huge history of ale – – its in the water, we have the perfect soil for the perfect filtration to make the perfect pint.
It’s funny how things go around – – – usually your head if you drink too much!