Ale taster

Beer in England has been brewed for hundreds of years. As a beer brewing country, England is known for its top fermented cask beer (also called real ale) which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with only natural carbonation.

English beer styles include bitter, mild, brown ale and old ale. Stout, porter and India Pale Ale were also originally brewed in London. Lager style beer has increased considerably in popularity since the mid 20th century. Other modern developments include consolidation of large brewers into multinational corporations; growth of beer consumerism; expansion of microbreweries and increased interest in bottle conditioned beers.

Brewing in Britain was probably well established when the Romans arrived in 54 BC, and certainly continued under them.

"In the 1980s archaeologists found the evidence that Rome's soldiers in Britain sustained themselves on Celtic ale. A series of domestic and military accounts written on wooden tablets were dug up at the Roman fort of Vindolanda, at Chesterholm in modern Northumbria, dating to between AD90 and AD130. They reveal the garrison at Vindolanda buying ceruese, or beer, as the legions doubtless did throughout the rest of Roman Britain, almost certainly from brewers in the local area."

...
Wikipedia