On this subject, David Craine wrote:

It is interesting to note the attitude of a Church Court before which a Kirk Arbory man appeared in 1720 for drunkenness. He was punished not only because he was intoxicated, but also because he had wantonly spilt good ale on the road as he carried it homeward. [party foul?]

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Ballaugh had its two parish ale-tasters who kept a watchful eye on the quality of the drink and saw that it was sold in sealed measures at the price fixed by law.

The Stanley regime encouraged home brewing by letting out brewing pans at a yearly rent, and as late as 1715 there were twelve of these circulating in Ballaugh alone.

The eighteenth century witnessed a change for the worse in the drinking habits of the people, due to the growing contraband traffic and the cheap spirits which flooded the country. Prior to the Revestment the duty on these was only 1d. a gallon, and as late as 1830 Bishop Ward declared that cheap liquor was the curse of the Island, and that a man could make a beast of himself for sixpence.