The Assize of Ale & the moral economy of the cost of a pint of beer in 2022
Sparked by a tweet from the author and beard wearer Michael Rosen about a family member paying £5 for a half of bitter in a North London pub, I think its time to have another look at the price of beer in 2022 and that means the Assize of Ale.
The £5 was clearly an error- the pub in question sells cask and craft beer for around £5.40-£6.80 a pint but it begs the question of how someone who perhaps does not use a pub regularly knows what a fair price is.
50 years ago while the price of a pint varied around the UK it was within a knowable range. Now it isn’t particularly with the rise of Pub Cos. For example Wetherspoons in London sells locally brewed (& usually very good) cask ales for £1.99. Elsewhere you might pay £4.50-5 a pint
Below is an edited piece that appeared on the Culture Matters site which argues that some form of an Assize of Ale might be a democratic way forward:
The price of beer has been a significant issue in the history of Britain. Until the beginning of the 1800s the cost of a pint of beer was set by law and governed by an Assize of Ale. The law took account of the price of raw materials such as malted barley and allowed different prices for beers of superior quality. It was enforced by ale tasters or ale conners who had the difficult task of tasting beer from brewers. They checked particularly for beer quality and price.
Brewers who transgressed were subject to fines and ultimately if probably rather rarely to physical punishment. The holding of Assizes of Ale was patchy but the principle was underwritten by the idea of what E.P. Thompson called a moral economy. Beer was a staple of the poor person’s diet in pre-industrial England along with bread, which was also subject to price control by an Assize. Water was not safe to drink and lower strength or table beer was the standard liquid consumption.
In the two hundred years or so since the rise of market capitalism and the decline of the Assize of Ale the price of a pint has continued to be a key issue. The State has occasionally intervened directly but more frequently consumer pressure was the important thing. Beer in the public bar, frequented by working people, was less expensive and working men’s clubs (women were allowed in at weekends as guests) also sold beer cheaply.
After World War One the Government did set up a State brewery in Carlisle with associated pubs that sold beer at a regulated price and strength. It was eventually sold to Theakstons. It was though a successful experiment that might be a template for a time when the untrammelled market does not rule all.
Obviously for those on a limited income, pensioners, those in low paid jobs or unemployed a cheap pint is important. The alternative is to suggest that only the well to do should drink beer. This important point is far too easily overlooked. Wetherspoons can be criticised for squeezing brewers profit margins to the bone but if it means someone with little money can afford a pint it is not wholly bad, at least for the drinker.
In short the price of a pint is a matter of as much complexity as it was when the Assizes of Ale sat in judgement on such matters. An attempt to impose a moral economy of beer as opposed to a political economy where profit dominates all is surely in tune with the mood of the times. Profit should not dominate the quality of the beer produced and the price people have to pay for it, even if we accept that if brewers don’t make money they certainly won’t produce beer until we manage to move to a socialist economic order.
With the Assize of Ale if the quality and price of beer were not to the standard expected, remedial action followed. It was a way of controlling the market that took account of the market but didn’t allow brewers to take advantage of it or drinkers to suffer because of it. Putting people before profit when it comes to a staple like beer is as important to the daily lives of many as making sure companies pay their taxes.
Perhaps it is time to bring back the Assize of Ale.
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