For most of the 17^th, 18^th and 19^th Centuries, the practice of home-brewing was common on most farms and homestead, but one beer style was almost exclusively the domain of noblemen and country gentlemen – the “coming-of-age” beer.  These beers, typically extra stout, were brewed and laid down laid down when the son and heir was born, to be tapped and drunk at his coming-of-age party 21 years later. It was a tradition that would last through until the 20th century but which, despite being mentioned by two famous Victorian novelists, has been completely forgotten.

The earliest mention of “coming-of-age beer” seems to be from a newspaper report of the magnificent party given on Monday May 13, 1751, at Wentworth Woodhouse in South Yorkshire for the 21st birthday party of the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (later twice Prime Minister). The Derby Mercury reported that there were “upwards of 10,000 Guests in the whole”, of whom 3,000 were entertained in the house itself. They consumed 110 dishes of roast beef, 70 pies, 55 dishes of mutton, 48 hams, 55 dishes of lamb, 70 dishes of veal, 40 dishes of chicken and 104 dishes of fish, washed down with 13 hogsheads of ale, 20 hogsheads of strong beer, eight hogsheads of punch and four hogsheads of wine. The strong beer, the Mercury said, “was most of it brew’d in the Year 1730,” when the marquis was born.

The fact that the 21-year-old drink was called “beer” is significant, because the 18th century was still a time when “beer” was the name given to a highly hopped malt liquor.  Typical ales, like those sold in taverns and “publick houses” was only drinkable for a few weeks or months after brewing.  These beers were stored in wooden casks or barrels, and over time, oxygen permeated the wood allowing certain “off flavours” to develop, sometimes from simple oxidation but also from bacterial infections that made the beer undrinkable.  Following the introduction of hopped beer into Britain in the 1400s, brewers began to realise they could brew beers that would last years, not just months. In 1577 the Essex clergyman William Harrison wrote about the strong March beer, made at the end of the brewing season that could be drunk when it was 5, 10 or more years old.  By fresh hops every seven years, and topping up the cask with freshly brewed ale, it soon became common make a large brew of beer that could survive and mature (like wine) into something truly special for the celebration of when the heir reaches his majority.  The other key to keeping ale this long is, of course, extremely high alcohol content.

One of the unique elements of extreme-aged cask ale is that it was a style that could not have developed in a commercial environment. Commercial brewers relied on volume and even the biggest casks at Belvoir Castle or Stowe House were dwarfed by the vast vats used by the London porter brewers which could have capacities exceeding 3,300 barrels.  These commercial vats, however, were used to age maturing porter for a year or two as the market price was only 23 shillings a barrel. 

On the other hand, a very superior old ale, aged for over 10 years could be sold for 48s per barrel, and while this seems a superior price, one has to consider the costs to actually produce, store, and maintain such an old ale and you quickly see this is not a money-making enterprise.  Keeping ales made by the gentry in anticipation of their sons’ coming-of-age celebrations was a costly endeavour. No commercial brewer could afford to keep an ale maturing for two decades. It took wealth to pay for the raw materials, the huge cellars in which to store a long-life ale undisturbed, the confidence to undertake a venture that would not pay off for more than two decades. 

There was, of course, a massive element of showing off involved in the production of such super-aged ales.  These theatrics often included massive parties with lavish dinners for the entire community within an estate.  It was part of the idea of noblesse oblige, the rich man in his castle’s obligation to give the poor man at his gate a jolly good party occasionally.  Lord Campden’s 21^st birthday dinner (1797) was set for with 500 guests, the menu including a baron of beef weighing between 30 and 40 stone (560lb) and a whole roasted buck. There were also 21 joints of roast beef, 15 of pressed beef, 17 galantines of veal, 24 game pies, 14 large hams, 28 tongues, 15 turkeys, 8 boar’s heads, 15 rounds of beef, 10 legs and 14 shoulders of mutton, 72 roast fowls, 54 pheasants, 62 partridges, 20 plum puddings and so on, making a total of 1,000 dishes, plus a 120lb birthday cake.  Quite the soiree.

So, what did it taste like?  A report in 1857 on “Tapping the barrel of Lincoln Ale”, which took place at the Duke of Newcastle’s home, for the celebrations for the coming-of-age of his eldest son the Earl of Lincoln, said the ale brewed when the earl and carefully attended to for twenty-three years, resembles wine.  It evidently was intended to be enjoyed with a verge of prudence as it was ‘as strong as brandy’.  Extreme-aged ale was certainly very strong.

The First World War introduced massive rises in taxes on beer in Britain.  These levies all but eliminated the custom or extreme-aged “coming of age” beers.

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