The London Beer Flood of 1814

On October 17, 1814, a 22-foot vat of fermenting porter ale exploded inside London’s Horse Shoe Brewery, unleashing a tidal wave of beer that surged through the impoverished St. Giles neighborhood. Within minutes, eight people—mostly women and children—were dead. While newspapers called it an “act of God,” the truth reveals a haunting tale of industrial arrogance, ignored warnings, and a community shattered by one of history’s strangest disasters.

Vault opens the forgotten record on a tragedy that sounds too bizarre to be true—until you see the evidence.