Between roughly 1720 and 1751, London experience what is now referred to as the Gin Craze. Between those years the British government enacted a total of 8 Gin Acts, all in an attempt to stop or at least slow down the rate people had begun drinking gin.

At its height, even with the sale of gin officially outlawed, Gin Craze consumption was equivalent to every man, women and child drinking two pints every week.

How to stop a craze

It wasn’t until 1757, after Britain went through a few seasons of bad harvest and outlawed the distilling of any grains, that consumption slowed back down to a more reasonable level. When grain distilling was re-legalized in 1760, beer was once again cheaper than distilled spirits, and so many people returned to drinking ale. The Gin Craze came to an end.