Editing Small beer (section)

==History==
At mealtimes in the [[Middle Ages]], persons of all ages drank small beer, particularly while eating a meal at the table. It is hard to establish the associated alcoholic content, since systematic records of brewing practice do not exist much before the [[Georgian era]].

It was common for workers who engaged in laborious tasks to drink more than ten [[Imperial units|imperial]] [[pint]]s (5.7 litres) of small beer a day to quench their thirst. Small beer was also consumed for its nutrition content. It might contain traces of wheat or bread suspended within it. 

In 17th century England, it was an [[excise]] class which was determined by its wholesale price. Between the years 1782 and 1802, table beer was said to define that which cost between six and eleven [[shilling]]s per barrel and the tax on this class was around three shillings. Cheaper beer was considered ''small beer'' while the more expensive brands were classed as strong (big) beer. The differences between small beer and table beer were removed in 1802 because there was much fraudulent mixing of the types. 

Small beer was socially acceptable in 18th-century England because of its lower alcohol content, allowing people to drink several glasses without becoming [[Alcohol intoxication|drunk]]. [[William Hogarth]]'s portrait ''[[Beer Street and Gin Lane|Beer Street]]'' (1751) shows a group of happy workers going about their business after drinking table beer.<ref name=tdb>{{cite news|url=https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2017/11/ex-sipsmith-gin-duo-launch-first-brewery-dedicated-to-small-beer/|title=Ex-Sipsmith Gin Duo Launch "First" Brewery Dedicated to "Small Beer"|work=The Drinks Business|date=27 November 2017|access-date=25 March 2018}}</ref> It became increasingly popular during the 19th century, displacing [[malt liquor]] as the drink of choice for families and servants.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Brewing Industry in England 1700–1830|url=https://archive.org/details/brewingindustryi0000math|url-access=registration|author=Peter Mathias|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1959|page=xxv}}</ref>

In his ''A Plan for the Conduct of Female Education, in Boarding Schools'' published 1797, writer [[Erasmus Darwin]] agreed that "For the drink of the more robust children water is preferable, and for the weaker ones, small beer ...".<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rLVLAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA110| title = Page 110| last1 = Darwin| first1 = Erasmus| year = 1797| isbn = 9781535808552}}</ref> [[Ruthin School|Ruthin School's]] charter, signed by [[Elizabeth I]], stipulates that small beer should be provided to all scholars, and larger educational establishments like [[Eton College|Eton]], [[Winchester College|Winchester]], and [[Oxford University]] even ran their own breweries.<ref>{{cite book| last = Rogers| first = James E. Thorold| title = A History of Agriculture and Prices in England: From the Year After the Oxford Parliament (1259) to the Commencement of the Continental War (1793)| publisher = Cambridge University Press| volume = 5. 1583–1702| date = 2011| pages = 704–708| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tqlp9Z-URnUC| isbn = 9781108036559}}</ref> 

To a large extent, the role of small beer as an everyday drink was gradually overtaken in the British Isles by tea, as that became cheaper from the later 18th century.{{cn|date=April 2022}}