Beer in Wales


Welsh beer is beer brewed in Wales.

History

At least as early as the 6th century, the Druidic legendary person Ceridwen is associated with cauldrons and intoxicating preparations of grain in herbs in many poems of Taliesin, particularly the Hanes Taliesin. This preparation, Gwîn a Bragawd, is said to have brought "science, inspiration and immortality".
The Welsh Triads attribute the introduction of brewing grains barley and wheat to Coll, and name Llonion in Pembrokeshire as the source of the best barley, while Maes Gwenith in Gwent produces superior wheat and bees.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 852 records a distinction between "fine ale" and Welsh ale, also called bragawd. Bragawd, also called braggot, is somewhat between mead and what we today think of as ale. Saxon-period Welsh ale was a heady, strong beverage, made with spices such as cinnamon, ginger and clove as well as herbs and honey. Bragawd was often prepared in monasteries, with Tintern Abbey and the Friary of Carmarthen producing the beverage until Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1536.
In the Laws of Hywel Dda, meanwhile, a distinction is drawn between bragawd and cwrwf, with bragawd being worth twice as much. Bragawd in this context is a fermented drink based on cwrwf to which honey, sweet wort, and ginger have been added.
Welsh beer is noted as a distinct style as late as 1854, with a recipe made solely from pale malt and hops described in a recipe book of the time.
Wales, along with the rest of Britain, came under the influence of the temperance movement, along with a burgeoning Welsh moral code based on Presbyterian and other Non-conformist beliefs in relation to alcohol. This rested against a background of places where there has historically been a lot of heavy industry such as coal mining in south Wales and the north east. This has given some people the impression that all Welsh beers have been very weak. However, as with beers all over Britain, alcohol percentages vary.
Wrexham was one of the first places in the UK to brew lager. Homesick German immigrant brothers from Saxony started the process in 1882. Its demise came in 2000, when the site of Wrexham Lager was sold and subsequently demolished.
Investment by the Welsh Development Agency has helped establish a large number of breweries in Wales in recent years.
In the 1930s, Felinfoel Brewery was the first brewery in the UK to produce and sell beer in cans.
The largest brewer and packager of beer in Wales by far is the Budweiser Brewing Group Brewery in Magor. The brewery was built in 1979 by the Whitbread brewing group and is now operated by the Budweiser Brewing Group, part of AB-InBev the world's largest brewer. The brewery is one of the largest in the UK producing over 5 Million hectare litres every year.
Welsh local historian Deiniol ap Dafydd claims Arthur Guinness used a Welsh recipe from Llanfairfechan near Bangor for his stout
In 2012 CAMRA correctly predicted that 'The number of microbreweries in Wales is set to carry on rising as the pub industry deals with continued closures'.
Tiny Rebel brewery won CAMRA's 2015 Supreme Champion Beer of Britain for its Cwtch Welsh Red Ale.

List of notable Welsh breweries

BreweryTownCountySince
Axiom Brewing CompanyWrexhamClwyd2014
Big Hand BrewingWrexhamClwyd2013
Bluestone BrewingNewportPembrokeshire2013
Borough BreweryNeathWest Glamorgan2014
Boss BrewingSwanseaWest Glamorgan2015
Bragdy CybiCaergybiAnglesey2020
Bragdy Nant BreweryLlanrwstClwyd2007
Bragdy Twt Lol ~ The Trefforest BreweryTrefforest / Treforest, PontypriddMid Glamorgan2015
Brains BreweryCardiffSouth Glamorgan1882
Breconshire BreweryBreconPowys2002
Brew MonsterCwmbranGwent2017
Bryncelyn BreweryYstalyferaWest Glamorgan1999
Budweiser Brewing Group - MagorMagorMonmouthshire1979
Bullmastiff BreweryCardiffSouth Glamorgan1987
Buzzard BreweryLlandyrnogClwyd2012
Cader Ales
DolgellauGwynedd2013
Caffle BreweryNarberthDyfed2013
Celt ExperienceCaerphillyGwent2007
Coles Family BreweryLlanddarogCarmarthenshire1999
Conwy BreweryLlysfaenClwyd2003
Crafty DevilCardiffSouth Glamorgan2014
Cwrw Iâl Community Brewing CompanyEryrysClwyd2013
Cwrw LlŷnPwllheliGwynedd2011
Cwrw OgwenBethesda, GwyneddGwynedd2017
Deva Craft BeerDeesideFlintshire2015
Dog's Window BreweryBridgendMid Glamorgan2018
Drop Bear Beer Co Ltd.SwanseaSwansea2019
Erddig BreweryWrexhamClwyd2014
Evan EvansLlandeiloDyfed2004
Facer's Flintshire BreweryFlint MountainClwyd2006
Felinfoel BreweryFelinfoelDyfed1878
Geipel BrewingLlangwmDenbighshire2013
Glamorgan BrewingLlantrisantMid Glamorgan1994
Gower BreweryOldwallsSwansea2011
Great Orme BreweryLlandudnoClwyd2009
Grey Trees BreweryAberamanMid Glamorgan2011
Hafod Brewing CompanyMoldClwyd2011
Handmade Beer CompanyCapel DewiDyfed2013
Heart of Wales BreweryLlanwrtyd WellsPowys2007
Heavy Industry BrewingHenllanDenbighshire2012
Hurns Brewing CompanySwanseaGlamorgan2002
Jacobi Brewery of CaioPumsaintCarmarthenshire2007
Kingstone BreweryTinternGwent2006
Llangollen BreweryLlangollenDenbighshire2010
Monty's BreweryMontgomeryPowys2009
Mountain Hare BreweryPencoedMid Glamorgan2013
Mumbles BrewerySwanseaGlamorgan2013
Neath AlesNeathWest Glamorgan2010
Otley Brewing CompanyPontypriddMid Glamorgan2005
Pen-lon Cottage BreweryNew QuayCeredigion2004
PipesCardiffSouth Glamorgan2008
Plassey BreweryBangor-on-DeeClwyd1985
Preseli BreweryTenbyDyfed2010
Purple Moose BreweryPorthmadogGwynedd2005
Radnorshire AlesNew RadnorPowys2012
Rotters BreweryTalgarthPowys2010
Rhymney BreweryBlaenavonGwent2005
Snowdonia Brewery
WaunfawrGwynedd2004
Swansea BrewerySwanseaSwansea1996
Tiny Rebel Brewing Co.RogerstoneNewport2012
Tomos & Lilford BreweryLlantwit MajorSouth Glamorgan2014
Tomos Watkin
SwanseaWest Glamorgan1996
Tudor BreweryLlanhillethBlaenau Gwent2007
Untapped Brewing CompanyRaglanMonmouthshire2009
Vale of Glamorgan BreweryBarrySouth Glamorgan2005
Violet Cottage BreweryCardiffSouth Glamorgan2012
Waen BreweryLlanidloesPowys2009
Warcop AlesWentloogeNewport1999
Wild Horse BrewingLlandudnoClwyd2015
Wrexham LagerWrexhamClwyd2009
ZerodegreesCardiffSouth Glamorgan2008