| Description | The National Brewing Library consists primarily of books relating to the brewing industry.
The Library also includes a collection of archive material accumulated by the donor institutions. The archive material, described in this catalogue, includes papers relating to breweries, public houses, institutions, coopers, and various other aspects of beer production. |
| Administrative History | The Institute of Brewing & Distilling (IBD) is a company and educational charity offers a range of qualifications and training for brewers and distillers and those in related industries. |
| Custodial History | In January 2001 The Institute of Brewing (founded in 1886) and The International Brewers' Guild (founded in 1906) merged to form The Institute and Guild of Brewing (now the Institute of Brewing & Distilling). At about the same time The Brewers and Licensed Retailers Association (formerly The Brewers' Society, founded in 1822) reviewed its objectives and, as The British Beer and Pub Association, moved to new premises where they could no longer house their library. Under the auspices of The Institute and Guild of Brewing, the libraries of the Institute of Brewing, The International Brewers' Guild and the technical reference library of The Brewers and Licensed Retailers Association were combined. These were supplemented further by the book collection held within the extensive Whitbread Brewing Archive, following the decision of Whitbread to sell its brewing business. These combined libraries have been brought together to form The National Brewing Library at Oxford Brookes University. |