Brewing in Hertfordshire

In 1636 the poet and traveller John Taylor wrote: "Hertfordshire is a County that surpasseth all other Countries and Counties for making the best malt." Much of that malt went by cart or barge to London, but Hertfordshire also has a long tradition of brewing, as well as malting, and the county eventually developed several substantial breweries. These included Benskin's of Watford, which at one point owned some 640 pubs from Brighton to Cambridge, and even supplied the House of Commons.

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