Uncle Beer, We Need Your Help

Factual Questions
1

We’ve got a pub in town called the “Free House.” At my beloved’s workplace, a discussion got started about the origin of the term. Some said it was a German term, some said it was a British term.

I’ve always understood it to be a British term, meaning an independently-owned pub, able to sell whatever beer the owner wishes, as opposed to a brewery-owned pub, required to sell the big brewery’s beers.

One the other hand, some in the office say it’s a translation of a German term, “Freihause.”

Can anyone point me to a reference source that identifies the origin of the term? I’ve found a few cites that give the explanation I outlined above, but they don’t specifically say the term originated in Britain.

(And, I need a fairly definitive source, since beers at the Free House are riding on it.)

2

Until UncleBeer shows up, here’s my take.

“Freihause” literally means “free-live” which doesn’t sound to me like anything to do with a bar. (Unless, maybe there were inns that didn’t charge for their rooms.)

Also, I think it would be pronounced “fry-haus” not “free-haus”.

So, I suspect a British origin.

Probably not enough to win you any beers, but perhaps some ammunition for the arguments.

3

If you do a search on “Freihaus” (not Freihause or freihausen, which would be the verb Mr. K.I.A. notes) you will find a number of wineries and pubs, especially in lower Austria, referred to as “Freihaus” (it apparently also means “open house” in all its variations). But who knows, it could come from either language. Maybe even from Dutch Vrijhuis, which would be pronounced like “fray-house” (more or less), although I don’t know whether that’s a word.

4

I always assumed “Freihaus” was just German for “Public House” or “Pub”. A “Free House”
in Britain or Ireland is one that is not owned by a brewry and is free to sell whatever brew they wish.

Sorry. No cites.

Elmer J. Fudd,
Millionaire.
I own a mansion and a yacht.

5

According to my Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition, “pub” is short for “public house” which in turn is defined as a licensed saloon or bar.

6

I never heard the term “free house” but a British pub that was owned by a brewery was called a “tied house” so I think the term is English in origin.

“Hope is not a method”

7

Good call, Doctordec. The OED (in sense 31 of “free”) says exempt from restrictions of trade and cites Simmonds in Dictionary of Trade, 1858:

Tom~

8

jti,

Concise Oxford Dictionary*, 9th edition, 1995:

free house - noun, british:
an inn or public house not controlled by a brewery, and therefore not restricted to selling particular brands of beer or liquor

(Also I’ve heard it regularly used, here in the UK)

(*On the cover it says ‘The foremost authority on current English’ - but of course they would, wouldn’t they!)

9

thanks, guys - I’ll let you know how it turns out. Who needs Yahoo when you have Straight Dope?