Qualla: The London Beer Flood: When a Tidal Wave of Porter Drowned a Slum https://qualla.com/london-beer-flood en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:05 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/london-beer-flood-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: The London Beer Flood: When a Tidal Wave of Porter Drowned a Slum https://qualla.com/london-beer-flood The London Beer Flood: When a Tidal Wave of Porter Drowned a Slum: Introduction https://qualla.com/london-beer-flood/ Photo credit Pierdon, Public domain. George Crick noticed the iron band slip from the giant wooden vat at 4:30 in the afternoon, but he was not concerned. The hoops came loose two or three times a year at the Horse Shoe Brewery. An hour later, while still holding an undelivered note about the problem, Crick watched the entire vessel explode. A wall of dark porter beer, over 100,000 gallons of it, erupted through the brewery's back wall and poured into the narrow streets of the St Giles rookery, one of London's most notorious slums. Within minutes, houses collapsed, cellars flooded, and eight people lay dead in what would become known as the London Beer Flood.

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]]> Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/london-beer-flood-wp/gcpv-the-london-beer-flood-when-a-tidal-wave-of-porter--intro.mp3 0:06 1 full The London Beer Flood: When a Tidal Wave of Porter Drowned a Slum: The Brewery and the Rookery https://qualla.com/london-beer-flood/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. The Meux Brewery sat at the junction of Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street, one of the two largest brewing operations in early nineteenth-century London. Sir Henry Meux had constructed a massive wooden vessel capable of holding 18,000 barrels, strengthened with 80 long tons o...

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]]> Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/london-beer-flood-wp/gcpv-the-london-beer-flood-when-a-tidal-wave-of-porter--the-brewery-and-the-rookery.mp3 0:06 2 full The London Beer Flood: When a Tidal Wave of Porter Drowned a Slum: The Burst https://qualla.com/london-beer-flood/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. When the vat gave way on October 17, 1814, it contained 3,555 barrels of ten-month-old porter. The force knocked the stopcock from a neighboring vat, which also began emptying. Between 128,000 and 323,000 imperial gallons of beer surged outward, destroying the brewery's rear wall...

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]]> Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/london-beer-flood-wp/gcpv-the-london-beer-flood-when-a-tidal-wave-of-porter--the-burst.mp3 0:06 3 full The London Beer Flood: When a Tidal Wave of Porter Drowned a Slum: The Victims https://qualla.com/london-beer-flood/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Eight people perished in the flood. Eleanor Cooper, a fourteen-year-old servant, was buried under the collapsed brewery wall while washing pots in the yard of the Tavistock Arms pub. Three-year-old Sarah Bates was found dead in another house on New Street. The beer flowed into ce...

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]]> Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/london-beer-flood-wp/gcpv-the-london-beer-flood-when-a-tidal-wave-of-porter--the-victims.mp3 0:06 4 full The London Beer Flood: When a Tidal Wave of Porter Drowned a Slum: The Aftermath https://qualla.com/london-beer-flood/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. The coroner's jury returned a verdict that the eight had died 'casually, accidentally and by misfortune,' ruling the disaster an act of God. This meant Meux & Co faced no legal obligation to compensate the victims' families. Stories later emerged of crowds collecting the free-flo...

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]]> Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/london-beer-flood-wp/gcpv-the-london-beer-flood-when-a-tidal-wave-of-porter--the-aftermath.mp3 0:06 5 full The London Beer Flood: When a Tidal Wave of Porter Drowned a Slum: Legacy of the Flood https://qualla.com/london-beer-flood/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. The disaster cost Meux & Co approximately 23,000 pounds, nearly bankrupting the company. A petition to Parliament resulted in a rebate of about 7,250 pounds from HM Excise on the lost beer, saving the business. The Horse Shoe Brewery continued operating until 1921, when Meux relo...

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]]> Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/london-beer-flood-wp/gcpv-the-london-beer-flood-when-a-tidal-wave-of-porter--legacy-of-the-flood.mp3 0:06 6 full