This volume provides an extended account of brewing in the modern period. Thoroughly based upon research in brewing archives, it surveys the industry from 1830 to 1980, tracing its development from one in which there were thousands of firms producing beer to one now dominated by half a dozen large companies.

The British Malting Industry since 1830 is the first overall account of malting, dealing with the processes, products and sales, owners and employees, and with the evolution of what in 1830 were almost all small, local businesses. The industry provides a good example of the benefits and limitations, so typical of British industry, of family ownership. The modern malt industry has survived a series of crises and powerful foreign competition to become a significant exporter.

For the past two centuries, brewing has been a constantly innovative and evolving industry, subject to changes in technology, taste and industrial structure. This ground-breaking book is one of the first to examine the industry from the perspectives of economic and business history. It combines chapters on the major European nations with chapters on the United States and Australia.

Beer is widely defined as the result of the brewing process which has been refined and improved over centuries. Beer is the drink of the masses – it is bought by consumers whose income, wealth, education, and ethnic background vary substantially, something which can be seen by taking a look at the range of customers in any pub, inn, or bar. But why has beer became so pervasive? What are the historical factors which make beer and the brewing industry so prominent? How has the brewing industry developed to become one of the most powerful global generators of output and revenue? This book answers these and other related questions by exploring the history of the beer and brewing industry at a global level. Contributors investigate a number of aspects, such as the role of geographical origin in branding; mergers, acquisitions, and corporate governance (UK, European and US perspectives); national and international political economy; taxation and regulation (including historical and contemporary practice); national and international trade flows and distribution networks; and historical trends in the commercialisation of beer. The chapters in this book were originally published as online articles in Business History.

The spread of Pilsner beer from its inception in 1842 clearly shows the changes wrought by globalization in an age of empire. Its rise was dependent not only on technological innovations and faster supply chains, but also on the increased connectedness of the world and the political and economic structures of empire. Drawing upon a wide range of archival sources from Europe, the Americas, and Sub-Saharan Africa, this study traces the spread of industrial beer brewing in Europe from the late 18th to the early 20th century to show how a single beer style became the global favourite through advances in science, business and imperial power. In highlighting the evolution of consumer tastes through changing hierarchical relationships between the British metropole and colonies, as well as the evolution of business organizations and practices, Globalization in a Glass contributes to ongoing debates about globalization, empire, and trade. It argues that, despite the might and power of the British Empire as a colonizing force, the effects of globalization, imperial trade networks, and colonial migration led to the domination of the most popular Continental European style of beer, the Pilsner, over British-style ales.