English beer has a long history, and has quite distinct traditions from most other beer brewing countries. Unusually, England is one of the very few countries (along with Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) where ales, beers brewed by warm fermentation rather than lagers, have remained dominant among domestic beers. In addition cask conditioned beer rather than bottled beer is still normal, with the beer finishing its maturing in casks in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery.

Belgian beer varies from the popular pale lager to the esoteric appeal of lambic beer and Flemish red. Belgian beer-brewing's origins go back to the Middle-Ages, when monasteries began producing beers. Belgian beer production was assisted by the 1919 Belgian "Vandervelde Act", that prohibited the sale of spirits in pubs, inducing the market to produce beers with a higher level of alcohol. The Vandervelde Act was lifted in 1983.

Czech beer, beer brewed in the Czech Republic, has a long and important history. A brewery is known to have existed in 1118 , the city Brno had a right to brew beer from the 12th century, and the two cities most associated with Czech beer, Plzeň and České Budějovice (Pilsen and Budweis in German), certainly had breweries in the 13th century. Hops have been grown in the region for a long time, and were used in beer making and exported from here since the twelfth century. The Czech Republic has the highest beer consumption per capita in the world.



German beer is highly diverse and an important part of Germany's culture. There are around 1,300 breweries in Germany, more than in any other country except the United States, which has 1,500. The German beer market is somewhat sheltered from the rest of the world beer market by the German brewers' adherence to the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot dating from 1516 (and most recently updated in the Vorläufiges Biergesetz of 1993), according to which the only allowed ingredients of beer are water, hops and barley-malt. This law also requires that beers not using only barley-malt (such as wheat and rye) must be top-fermented. Many breweries worldwide adopted the Reinheitsgebot for their own beers. After its discovery, yeast became the fourth legal ingredient, though for top-fermenting beers the use of sugar is also permitted. In part because of this law (which since 1988 has not applied to imported beer, but is still compulsory for German brewers), beers from Germany have a reputation for high quality. The Germans are behind only the Czechs and the Irish in their per capita consumption of beer.

Irish beer is dominated by stout, particularly Guinness.

Brewing in Ireland has a long history, and by the beginning of the nineteenth century there were over two hundred breweries in the country, fifty-five of them in Dublin. During the nineteenth century the number of breweries fell to about fifty, and to day only about 12.

Historically Ireland produced ale, without the use of hops as these are not native to Ireland. Even in the late 18th century hops were not used, when almost all other countries had adopted the use of them as an ingredient to preserve and flavour their beer.

Most beer was imported from England and Scotland in the eighteenth century. However in 1756 Arthur Guinness set up a small brewery, moving to Dublin in 1759. Having initially brewed bitter, he switched to producing porter, which was a style from London. Unlike the London beers he used some unmalted roasted barley, as this avoided tax (which was on malted barley only), making it more bitter and dry. In the early twentieth century Guinness became the largest brewer in the world, exporting the Irish style to many countries.

Italian beer, though considered a growing phenomenon, is not as widespread as in its European neighbours, mainly because of a historical preference for wine in the country.

One of the oldest and most popular breweries in Italy is Peroni, today owned by the SABMiller group, which is also owner of the worldwide brand Nastro Azzurro.



Polish beer has always been important for Poles. It is said that one Polish ruler, Prince Leszek I the White, was encouraged by the Pope to take part in a crusade. He ultimately refused because, as he wrote to the Pope, "the holy land has no beer."
Traditional Polish beer (Polish: Piwo) is usually pilsener, lager or porter. The most popular Polish brands are Żywiec, Okocim, EB, Lech, Leżajsk, Tyskie, Królewskie, and Warka.

Indian beer brewing began for India in the early days of the British Empire — the mid-1700s. The demand for beer in the hot climate of many parts of India by the British administrators and the troops was so great that it led to the creation of a completely new style of beer by George Hodgson in his London brewery — India Pale Ale also known as IPA. IPA is a strong, highly hopped ale designed to survive the five months ocean voyage to India without spoiling. India Pale Ale was shipped with every voyage for over a century and became very popular in Britain and North America.

Japanese beer had its start during the Edo Period when the Dutch opened beer halls for the sailors who worked on the trade route between Japan and the Dutch Empire. Japanese-style commercial brewing has been exported to much of southeast Asia and factories are spread throughout the world.

Kenyan produces a wide range of beers of different styles, including traditional beers and the common, western-style lagers and Pilsners. Tusker, brewed by the East African Breweries, carries the day in Kenya and is known for its wonderfully populist slogan: "Makes us equal. Has no equal". Popularly known as 'Keroro' beer is a source of Kenyan pride highlighted by the recent trade war between the Kenya and South African breweries with their competing Castle and Tusker Brands.

Scottish beer has been produced in Scotland for approximately 5,000 years. The Celtic tradition of using bittering herbs remained in Scotland for longer than the rest of Europe. The two main cities of Scotland, Glasgow and Edinburgh, are where historically the main breweries developed; and Edinburgh in particular became a noted centre for the export of beer around the world. Though, by the end of the 20th century small breweries had sprung up all over Scotland.

Despite a widespread belief that beers in Scotland used fewer hops than in England, all the available evidence shows that the Scots imported hops from around the world and used them extensively.