IN 1450 the most common drink was ale, brewed primarily by women, many of whom were known as common or public brewers. These women brewed in much larger quantities than earlier brewsters, but were still brewing primarily within their homes. Although a few not-married women (usually widows) did support themselves by their brewing, the majority of common brewers were married women. Customers took the brew away in their own jugs or consumed it on the spot, often in a cellar or basement that became an alehouse, where men could also buy food and talk with their fellows. Over the next century brewing became more commercialized, carried out in a separate brew-house by servants rather than by household members. Then in the 1450s and 1460s the introduction of hopped beer began to revolutionize the industry. Its fairly rapid spread in south-east England distinguished that region from other parts of the country. None the less, beer did not immediately replace ale, which continued to be produced by female brewsters.

The highly commercialized brew-houses were usually owned by men, who might not manage them directly but appoint a professional brewer (again usually male). Young women might work there as servants, assisting in the brewing or selling the ale, but most of the ale that was produced was retailed elsewhere by female tapsters. At Canterbury in 1381, according to the poll-tax, there were 14 brewers — 11 males and 3 females (probably widows) — and between them they had hired 30 female servants, some brewers with one and others with two or more.