I'm currently reading Iain Gately's Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol, an astonishingly thorough history of the world through the eyes of drinkers. In particular, my eyes were drawn to this passage regarding 13th Century England:
Ale was so vital to the very existence of the third estate that its price and quality were regulated by law. In 1267, King Henry III issued a pioneering piece of consumer protection legislation—the Assize of Bread and Ale—which set the maximum retail price of town-brewed ale at one penny for two gallons; the same penny bought three gallons from a country brewer. Prices were to be reviewed each year and could be adjusted in accordance with fluctuations in the cost of grain.
How times change, eh? Henry III would surely approve of Cooking Lager's campaign to 'Make it the Maximum'.
