1066 AD : England – It is said that the Normans Conquered England because of their counterparts ‘over celebrating’ following victory over the Vikings in York. |
1079 AD : Germany – Abbess Hildegarde of St Ruprechtsberg makes the first surviving reference to the use of hops in brewing. |
1189 AD: England – King Henry 2nd imposes first known tax on beer, The Saladin Tithe, to pay for the Crusades. |
1200 AD : Germany/Austria/England – Beer making as a commercial enterprise is fully established. |
1295 AD : Bohemia – Town of Pilsen granted right to brew by King Wenceslas. |
1420 AD : Germany – Brewers master the development of the ‘Lager’ method of brewing. |
1447 AD : Germany – An ordinance is issued by the Munich council, stating Barley, Hops & Water are the only permissible ingredients for brewing. |
1489 AD: Germany – Brauerei Beck, Germany’s first Guild of Brewers, was established. |
1490 AD : North America – Indians found producing a beer brewed from Corn & Black Birch sap, by Christopher Columbus. |
1516 AD : Germany – Rheinheitsgebot Purity Laws are introduced through the Bavarian Guild of Brewers. |
1520 AD : England – Hops commercially grown in Kent. |
1542 AD : England – Dr Andrew Bourde, one of the first men to write about beer scientifically and appreciatively, wrote of the health benefits of ‘good ale’ over water. |
1577 AD : England – Reportedly 1 ‘Alehouse’ for every 120 of population. |
1587 AD : North America – Sir Walter Raleigh’s colony in Virginia see’s the first beer brewed in the new world. |
1588 AD : Bohemia – Tadeas Hajeck, writes the first ever brewing textbook. |
Late 1500’s AD : England – Strong Ale was the preferred breakfast tipple of Queen Elizabeth 1st. |
1602 AD : England – A happy accident helps Dr Alexander Nowell discover that Ale can be stored longer in cork sealed glass bottles. |
1612 AD : North America – America’s first commercial brewery is opened in Manhattan, NYC. |
1620 AD : North America – Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock because of dwindling beer supplies. |
1620 AD : North America – Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock because of dwindling beer supplies. |
1709 AD : Germany – Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit invents the alcohol thermometer. |
1722 AD : England – Ralph Harwood of The Bell Brewhouse, Shoreditch, reportedly the first to blend successfully 3 beers in a cask, that eventually became known as ‘Porter’ (although some evidence that style of beer existed from 1721). |
1759 AD : Ireland – Arthur Guinness takes over the site of the St James Gate Brewery, Dublin. |
1768 AD : England – Captain James Cook reports from Plymouth of the Endeavour carrying only one month’s supply of beer. |
1770 AD : England – Richardson is trialing the Hydrometer. |
1780 AD : England – The Alcohol Hydrometer is patented by John Dicas. |
1785 AD : England – Sir James Watt installs a steam engine to replace men and horses at the ‘Whitbread’ Chiswell St Brewery, London. |
1790s AD : England – London brewer, George Hodgson, begins shipping his ‘India Ale’ from the Bow Brewery, a variation of his popular ‘Pale Ale’, an instant hit in India, and forerunner of today’s IPA. |
1793 AD : Australia – James Squire commences brewing in Sydney. |
1793 AD : Australia – James Squire commences brewing in Sydney. |
1796 AD : Australia – Australia’s first legal pub, The Masons Arms, is opened in Parramatta, NSW. |
1804 AD : Australia – Australia’s first and last government brewery is built in Parramatta, NSW. |
1804 AD : Australia – James Squire begins growing Australia’s first hops. |
1806 AD : Australia – Andrew Thompson opens Australia’s first ‘Country’ brewery in Windsor,NSW. |
1810 AD : Germany – The Oktoberfest is established as an official celebration in Munich. |
1811 AD : Australia – NSW see’s Australia’s first commercial brewery licenses granted. |
1818 AD : Australia – Tasmania’s first brewery is opened by Richard Clark in Launceston. |
1830 AD : Australia – Lt R.N Bull is Western Australia’s first brewer at Canning Ford (suburb ‘Bull Creek’ is named after him). |
1830’s AD : Germany – The ‘Lager’ method of beer production is developed by Bavarian Gabriel Sedlmayr 2nd . |
1832 AD : Australia – Cascade Brewery, Australia’s oldest operating brewery is started by Frenchman, Peter Degraves in Hobart. |
1832 AD : Australia – Thomas Foster starts Australia’s first ‘Fosters’ brewery in Hobart. |
1834 AD : England – American, Jacob Perkins patents first Apparatus and means for producing ice, with cooling fluids. |
1837 AD : Australia – Western Australia’s first commercial brewery, The Albion, is opened by James Stokes in Spring Street. |
1837 AD : Australia – South Australia’s first brewery, The Torrens, is started by John Warren in Adelaide. |
1837 AD : Australia – John Mills opens The Melbourne Brewery, Victoria’s first. |
1840 AD : Australia – Western Australia’s oldest operating Pub, The Rose & Crown, Guildford, begins beer production. |
1840 AD : England – Isambard Kingdom Brunel invents the first ‘central island’ bar at Swindon railway station, to provide Optimum servery space. |
1841 AD : Austrian – Viennese brewer, Anton Dreher, further developed Lager brewing with his Schwechater Lagerbier. |
1842 AD : Western Bohemia – The world’s first ‘Golden’ beer is produced at Burgess Brewery, Pilsen by Josef Groll. |
1847 AD : England – Sugar permitted to be used in ‘English’ beer (Ale). |
1853 AD : Australia – Queensland’s first brewery, The Brisbane Brewery is opened by John Beach. |
1854 AD : Australia – James Harrison invents and installs the first Practical ice-making machine. |
1857 AD : Australia – The Swan Brewery, Perth, WA is started by Frank Sherwood. |
1858 AD : Australia – The forerunner to Carlton & United Breweries, The North Melbourne Brewery is founded by Theodore Rosenberg. |
1858 AD : Australia – Nicholas Fitzgerald starts his Castlemaine Brewery in Castlemaine, Victoria. |
1859 AD : France – First Ammonia Gas Refrigeration Developed by French Engineer, Ferdinand Carre. |
1862 AD : Australia – Thomas Cooper founds the Coopers Brewery, Adelaide. |
1869 AD : Australia – John & James Toohey purchase the Darling Brewery. |
1871-1876 AD : France/England – Louis Pasteur worked on ‘Etudes Sur la biere’ a groundbreaking study into yeast and micro-organisms in the brewing process. |
1873 AD : Germany – Carl Von Linde’s first commercial refrigeration system was patented and installed. |
1876 AD : England – The Bass ‘Red Triangle’ becomes the world’s first registered trademark. |
1876 AD : France – Louis Pasteur develops pasteurization to stabilize beers, 22yrs before it is applied to milk. |
1878 AD : Australia – Fitzgerald, Quinlan & Co (the forerunner to Castlemaine Brewery, then Castlemaine Perkins) is established in Brisbane. |
1879 AD : Australia – The Esk Brewery is founded in Launceston (becoming Boags Esk Brewery three years later). |
1882 AD : Australia – Excelsior, Australia’s first Lager beer commercially produced by The Cohn Brothers Victoria Brewery in Bendigo, Victoria. |
1882 AD : Germany – The brewer, Thausing, mentions the ‘skunky’ aroma developed by beers in clear glass bottles (light-struck)- Leading many brewers to adopt brown bottles. |
1883 AD : Denmark – Emil Hansen succeeds in isolating single yeast strains for the first time, enabling long term consistency in Carlsberg brews-the lager yeast was named in his honour – Saccharomyces Carlsbergensis. |
1885 AD : Australia – Gambrinus Brewery the first in Australia to be ‘specially fitted up and devoted solely to the production of Lager beer’. |
1902 AD : Australia – Perth’s Swan Brewery installs new machinery for wiring corks onto bottles – It’s capacity was 70doz bottles per hour – a saving of £4 per week in wages. |
1907 AD : Australia – Six Melbourne brewers come together to form Carlton & United Breweries (C.U.B). |
1919 AD : Australia – Six o’clock closing made permanent for hotels. |
1932 AD : Australia – Stainless steel kegs progressively begin to replace wooden barrels. |
1935 AD : America – The world’s first beer can is retailed by the Krueger Brewery, Newark, NYC in partnership with the American Can Co. |
1950’s AD : UK – Aluminium Kegs first introduced. |
1956 AD : Australia – Introduction of steel cans to Australia. |
1959 AD : America – Coors Brewery introduce the first all Aluminium can. |
1962 AD : America – Pittsburgh Brewing Co. introduce the tab-top can. |
1966 AD : America – Budweiser becomes the first beer brand to sell 10million barrels in a year. |
1967 AD : Australia – Stubby beer bottle is ready. |
1969 AD : Australia – Perth’s Swan Brewery releases ring pull cans. |
1970 AD : Australia – Tasmania’s Boags brewery first to use aluminium cans. |
1974 AD : UK – Introduction of the Good Beer Guide. |
1976 AD : America – California see’s the rebirth of the boutique/micro brewery sector with the opening of The Albion. |
1984 AD: Australia – The Sail & Anchor leads Australia’s boutique brewery scene, opening in Fremantle, W.A. |
1987 AD : Japan – Asahi Super Dry is the first in a new beer category, ‘Dry’ beers. |
1993 AD : Canada – Labatts create a new process in brewing technology, Ice Brewing, and with it Labatts Ice –The first ‘Ice’ beer. |
1997 AD : England – Mobile hop picking machinery is made available to English hop growers. England introduces ‘dwarf’ hops. |