The Economic Times

In 1814, London witnessed beer flood after wooden vats of fermenting porter burst, triggering one of world's strangest industrial disasters

London Beer Flood: A massive beer vat burst at a London brewery on 17 October 1814, unleashing a huge wave of porter through nearby streets. The disaster, known as the London Beer Flood, claimed eight lives after the flood destroyed buildings in the densely populated St Giles rookery. Although the brewery survived the incident with financial relief from HM Excise, the tragedy prompted the brewing industry to gradually move away from using enormous wooden storage vats.