1664
Could well have been a bad year for many things, but Contrary to the adverts, a VERY bad year for beer. The legend goes that in this tragic year someone took a slash in a bottle, and a poor peasant with no taste buds found it and proclaimed it to be beer, from then on the bloke who'd pissed in it in the first place decided he was on to a nice little earner...
Example:
Moronic advert narrator: '1664, a bad year for composing, a good year for beer'
Me: 'LIAR!'
Moronic advert narrator: '1664, a bad year for composing, a good year for beer'
Me: 'LIAR!'