Hops in WW II

You guessed it. We're still back in 1943 with Wallenstein Laboratories. I'll be hewing rock in this particular data mine for a while yet.

This time it's hops. One area where WW II differed totally from WW I.

"Hops

In Great Britain most of the beer — one might say almost all — is unpasteurized and therefore dependent on hop antiseptics for its freedom from acid-forming bacteria. The restriction in supplies of hops gave rise to fears that bacterial instability would appear and perhaps increase, and that the flavor of beers would be detrimentally affected. Possibly difficulties have been experienced in connection with filtration of the wort through the hop back in certain breweries. But matters have not proved so bad as have been feared. For instance, no complaints have been heard regarding filtration, while the change in beer flavor has been gradual, and like that arising from the reduction in gravities, has been noticed much less by the public than if it had occurred suddenly. Moreover, such changes are accepted as inevitable.

The reduction in hop supplies has been serious. In June, 1941, a 20 per cent cut was imposed in the gross amount available to the trade. The actual quantity which passed through the Hops Marketing Board (which controls hops and their distribution) was 75 per cent of the total brewers' nominations. These nominations would have been the same in 1941 as the consumption during the datum year, if as many standard barrels had been brewed as in that year. But in 1942 the nominations, themselves, had to be cut by 20 per cent, and then only 80 per cent of the nominations were available, i.e., 64 per cent of the prewar quantities. In the present year hop rates in practice are about 1 to 1.2 lb per standard barrel, i.e., about 0.3 per cent, whereas in normal times this would have been almost double.

Hops are obtainable only under license, and a brewer who runs short may apply to the Brewers' Society for permission to secure a further allowance from his nominated merchants. Brewers usually carry a stock of hops over from one season to the next, new hops rarely being used. By now all reserves of this kind have been used up and brewers are living from hand to mouth; in many cases they have to use the new season's hops as soon as these are delivered. Matters were not helped during the London blitz back in late 1940, when some 50,000 pockets of hops were burnt. It was also on this occasion that the historic building, Brewers'
Hall — the home of the Institute of Brewing — was completely destroyed.

On the whole bacterial contamination, although on the increase, has not become so prevalent as was expected and most beer is being racked into casks comparatively free from both bacterial and wild-yeast infection. Even where instability is on the increase the quick consumption of the beer largely removes the trouble. In the summer of 1942 instability due to bacteria was unusually serious for a time in some beers, as indicated by laboratory tests. But the warm weather conditions which favored the growth of bacteria also increased beer consumption, thereby preventing much beer from being returned to the brewers. Since that time, however, the trouble has largely disappeared. No doubt the main causes were to be sought in low hop rates and lack of labor for adequate cleansing and sterilizing of plant, casks, etc."
"Wallenstein Laboratories Communications, December 1943, Volume VI, number 19" pages 156 - 157.

When the government imposed restrictions on the brewing industry in 1917, the demand for hops dropped dramatically and there was a glut. They government had to buy the whole 1917 crop to prevent the industry being destroyed. 1917 hops were still showing up in brewing records years after the war. In WW II there wasn't the same sudden drop in beer output and the British growers weren't able to meet demand. Britain had, of course, been dependent on imported hops for nearly a century.

Brewers had always liked to mix hops from different seasons to even out any changes in flavour. Running out of stocks from previous years must have been a real headache. I can imagine that there musty have been some pretty dramatic fluctuations in beer flavour as they swapped from one year's crop to the next. I knew that in the early part of the blitz many London warehouses and the goods within them had been destroyed. I hadn't realised hops had been one of the commodities affected.

With beer in short supply and being consumed within a few days of being brewed, the antiseptic qualities of hops would have been less required. In the days of Stock Ales kept for months before sale, this would have been much more of a problem. But by 1939, the vast majority brewed was already running beer.

The hop rates quoted don't quite tally with the numbers I have, based on the quantity of hops used and the amount of beer brewed. Take a look:

Brewing materials (%age)
year	malt	unmalted corn	rice, maize, etc	sugar	total malt & adjuncts	hops per bulk barrel (lbs)	hops per standard barrel (lbs)	Hops per quarter (lbs)	barrels per qtr malt & adjuncts
1938	78.31%	0.12%	5.75%	15.82%	11,975,941	1.28	1.71	7.80	6.10
1939	78.35%	0.08%	5.82%	15.75%	12,615,962	1.25	1.67	7.61	6.11
1940	83.81%	0.07%	3.09%	13.03%	11,762,114	1.19	1.62	7.58	6.36
1941	86.90%	0.09%	1.95%	11.05%	12,644,709	1.00	1.43	6.68	6.68
1942	85.54%	0.41%	2.99%	11.06%	12,764,377	0.84	1.31	5.87	6.95
1943	79.34%	0.31%	9.55%	10.80%	12,966,670	0.87	1.39	6.00	6.90
1944	78.88%	1.06%	9.22%	10.83%	13,464,119	0.87	1.38	6.09	6.99
1945	75.63%	1.78%	9.65%	12.93%	13,797,059	0.86	1.36	5.96	6.96
1946	76.53%	1.06%	8.69%	13.73%	13,037,517	0.82	1.29	5.83	7.15
1947	80.37%	0.79%	5.22%	13.61%	11,762,748	0.81	1.37	6.22	7.68
1948	81.75%	0.60%	5.22%	12.42%	11,620,172	0.90	1.52	6.69	7.44
1949	82.94%	0.55%	4.61%	11.89%	10,956,343	0.98	1.61	7.15	7.32
1950	83.50%	0.52%	4.17%	11.81%	10,890,648	1.03	1.67	7.19	6.98
1951	83.27%	0.52%	4.06%	12.16%	11,147,566	1.03		6.91	6.69
1952	83.02%	0.46%	4.16%	12.35%	11,217,454	1.01		6.84	6.76
1953	82.78%	0.53%	3.89%	12.80%	10,975,250	1.02		6.91	6.78
Source: my calculation from figures in 1955 Brewers'Almanack, page 62 Notes: assumes a quarter = 336 lbs

It shows the hopping rate per standard barrel (36 gallons of beer with a gravity of 1055º) declined from 1.71 lbs in 1938 to 1.39 lbs in 1943, when the article was written. I make that about a 19% decrease, way short of the 50% suggested. Note how soon after the war, in 1950, the rate per standard barrel was back to its 1939 level.