Origins of the Beergarden

During the 19th century, prior to the advent of refrigeration, German brewers would dig cellars and fill them with ice from nearby rivers and lakes. This would allow the beer to cool during the summer months. To further protect the cellars from intense summer heat, prospective landlords would plant chestnut trees over the cellars. These particular trees offered a wide spreading with dense canopies, but shallow roots which would not intrude upon the cellar. It was this practice, and serving beer at these sites, that evolved into the modern beer garden. It would take a couple of hundred years before they started serving crisps, however.

James Bond’s preferred (and most expensive) drink

The cinematic representation of Ian Flemming’s cult literary character, James Bond, may be famed for downing the odd Vodka Martini on a whim, but Daniel Craig’s incarnation (2006-2020) prefered Heineken. Starting with 2012’s Skyfall, 007 could be found swilling away on lager - and an expensive drink, at that. The trade deal between EON Productions’ 007 franchise and Heineken cost a reputed $45 million. Check this out.  This rather expensive deal secures 007 for the brand until 2027.

Atomic Bombs

It’s not just cockroaches that can survive a hefty dose of radiation. In 1957, the United States Government conducted an experiment to see which beverages would still be consumable in the event of nuclear war - and lager came up top trumps. Military types exploded two bombs in close proximity to several container batches, which consisted mainly of lager and soft drinks. Incredibly, the bottles of lager placed as little as 400 meters from the blast were only mildly radioactive. However, the taste was apparently ‘off’.

The Top 5 Lager products (based on sales value):

• Carling
• Stella Artois (Price Marked 4 for £5.79)
• Fosters Price (Marked 4 for £5.50)
• Stella Artois (Price Marked 4 for £6.49)
• BudweiserThese 5 products account for 22.19% of the total sales value of all lager sales.

Top 3 Brands (based on sales value)

Stella Artois (– most popular in the South East) Fosters (– most popular in the North East) Carling (– most popular in the West Midlands)

Top 3 Lager Manufacturers (based on sales value)

Anheuser-Busch InBev Heineken UK Limited Molson Coors Brewing Company For more information on UK sales data, get in touch with our data team.