Now this is interesting. Just found a
website for the 'Mother Huff Cap' that suggests I am incorrect [that it referes to the headgear]. However when in my early 20's I was a regular visitor to the Mother Huff Cap - including the strange persiod when it had an Aussie connection. Jean Morton with 'Tinga and Tucka' were at its re-launch and we enjoyed free drinks. The attached suggest the name comes from the head or froth on the top of a freshly drawn pint - not heard this explanation before and would like the views of Frothy please.
Now found this explanation:
There is one pub restaurant The Huff Cap,[4] formerly the Mother Huff Cap Inn, the name deriving from the days when most pubs brewed their own beer, Huff Cap being a 16th century term for a strong ale which would "huf ones cap" or make the head swell, not for the froth on the top of the beer as is sometimes stated.[SUP][7][/SUP] The 'mother' is likely to be the dame who brewed the beer and managed the public house. In 1746 the pub is thought to have been 'The Huff Cap' and to have acquired 'mother' later. This hostelry was once on the main coach road from Stratford to Bridgnorth.
And yet again this one: My new word of the day is nippitate. Any of you heard it before? (Bear with me there is a link)
The OED says it is a form of nippitatum, a mock Latin word meaning “ale or other alcoholic drink, of the highest quality and strength”, and dates its use to the sixteenth century. The word’s origin is unknown, but it may be related to the later word nipperkin or perhaps nappy. A nipperkin is also of obscure origin, but appears to come from Dutch and means a little drink and a small measure (less than half a pint) for the little drink. It is a grand way of saying a nip, in other words. We are in the land of obscure origins well and truly, and nappy is also one of its citizens. It refers to the head or nap of the beer or ale – a nappy beer being a strong beer. So, nippitate is as another old dictionary says, a whimsical word. An alternative whimsical word for the same thing is huff-cap (because it goes to your head, and figuratively speaking it huffs or raises your cap.)