the song was collected by john howson in the 1980s in suffolk, i lived there at the time and remember it being sung by a tradtional singer, i was with john on diffeent occasions when i heard it sung in fact john howson used to sing it himself.
Fred 'Pip' Whiting of Kenton, Suffolk, sang Poison Beer in 1984 to John Howson and Mike Yates. This recording was published in the same year as title track of the album Who Owns the Game? , which was reissued on CD in 2001 on John Howson's Veteran label.
personally due to family circumstances three of my close relatives ending up as alcoholics, i do not care much for the song , and then the leader of the british national party or national front who also used to live in suffolk used to sing it, all of which put me off the song somewhat,.