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What I've always thought was odd about this gin versus beer distinction in England is that it treats gin as if it was the first high alcohol beverage available.

What I've always thought was odd about this gin versus beer distinction in England is that it treats gin as if it was the first high alcohol beverage available. But brandy was available centuries earlier. Why didn't it create its own panic?

baggy_trough 3y ago
I’ve read that gin was much more affordable.
- nradov 3y ago
  Yes, that's true. Brandy had to be distilled from wine. And foreign brandy was subject to high import taxes. Thus it was only affordable to the upper classes. Gin can be distilled from much cheaper grain. "Drunk for a penny, Dead drunk for twopence, Clean straw for nothing." https://wtlh.wordpress.com/2016/11/30/drunk-for-a-pennydead-drunk-for-twopenceclean-straw-for-nothing/ https://wtlh.wordpress.com/2016/11/30/drunk-for-a-pennydead-...
  - n4r9 3y ago
    In fact the government was explicitly trying to encourage gin over brandy: > Between 1689 and 1697, the Government passed a range of legislation aimed at restricting brandy imports and encouraging gin production. Most importantly, the monopoly of the London Guild of Distillers was broken in 1690, thereby opening up the market in gin distillation. The production and consumption of English gin, which was then popular amongst politicians and even Queen Anne, was encouraged by the government. This encouragement was shown in the reduced taxes on the distillation of spirits. Additionally, no licenses were needed to make spirits, so distillers of spirits could have smaller, simpler workshops than brewers, who were required to serve food and provide shelter for patrons. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gin_Craze https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gin_Craze
walthamstow 3y ago
I don't know for sure, but brandy has links to the French, which would not exactly help make it popular in England. Gin on the other hand is from our Protestant Germanic cousins, the Dutch.
- yakubin 3y ago
  English higher classes at various times liked to parrot the French. That’s how they started e.g. adding milk to tea, which was started by a French lady to fight off the bitter taste of low quality tea imported from China at the time. That was before the French moved to coffee due to English dominance in China which blocked them from getting tea at reasonable prices. So I don’t think that brandy being linked to the French would be problematic, given long enough time scale.
mr_toad 3y ago
And the British had been making Rum in the Caribbean since the 1600’s.

baggy_trough 3y ago

I’ve read that gin was much more affordable.

nradov 3y ago
Yes, that's true. Brandy had to be distilled from wine. And foreign brandy was subject to high import taxes. Thus it was only affordable to the upper classes. Gin can be distilled from much cheaper grain. "Drunk for a penny, Dead drunk for twopence, Clean straw for nothing." https://wtlh.wordpress.com/2016/11/30/drunk-for-a-pennydead-drunk-for-twopenceclean-straw-for-nothing/ https://wtlh.wordpress.com/2016/11/30/drunk-for-a-pennydead-...
- n4r9 3y ago
  In fact the government was explicitly trying to encourage gin over brandy: > Between 1689 and 1697, the Government passed a range of legislation aimed at restricting brandy imports and encouraging gin production. Most importantly, the monopoly of the London Guild of Distillers was broken in 1690, thereby opening up the market in gin distillation. The production and consumption of English gin, which was then popular amongst politicians and even Queen Anne, was encouraged by the government. This encouragement was shown in the reduced taxes on the distillation of spirits. Additionally, no licenses were needed to make spirits, so distillers of spirits could have smaller, simpler workshops than brewers, who were required to serve food and provide shelter for patrons. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gin_Craze https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gin_Craze

walthamstow 3y ago

I don't know for sure, but brandy has links to the French, which would not exactly help make it popular in England. Gin on the other hand is from our Protestant Germanic cousins, the Dutch.

yakubin 3y ago
English higher classes at various times liked to parrot the French. That’s how they started e.g. adding milk to tea, which was started by a French lady to fight off the bitter taste of low quality tea imported from China at the time. That was before the French moved to coffee due to English dominance in China which blocked them from getting tea at reasonable prices. So I don’t think that brandy being linked to the French would be problematic, given long enough time scale.

mr_toad 3y ago

And the British had been making Rum in the Caribbean since the 1600’s.