Object: Kings Chapel Jug
Date: Unknown
Category: Breweriana
Price of Adoption: £50.00/month
This bottle is decorated with a striking image of Kings College Chapel. It emulates Cambridge’s long history of making and enjoying great beer!
By the mid-19th century, there were around 40 breweries operating in Cambridge. Additionally, many colleges also ran brewhouses and made their own beer. Beer making was extremely popular in Cambridge as the town had two advantages: it was at the centre of England’s grain growing area, with a plentiful supply of barley, and the most important resource of all, good quality water. This made for great-tasting beer.
Recent archaeological findings have shown that beer making in Cambridge goes further back than previously thought. During the upgrade of the A14, archaeologists uncovered evidence of the first beer believed to have been brewed in the UK, dating back more than 2,000 years! Signs that early Cambs residents were brewing can be dated to around 400 BC in fragments of charred residues from the beer-making process.