The effect of WW I on British brewing

It would be easy to see WW I as marking the end of the glory days of British brewing. Many aspects of Britain's brewing industry were irrevocably changed by the war. Exports and gravities would never be as high again. Even worse, much of the fight was knocked out of brewers. Rather than the aggressive expansion of the 19th century, simple survival dominated their thinking.

Let's start off with some figures because, if a picture paints a thousand words, numbers are at least good for a few hundred.

The effect of WW I on British brewing
Year	Production (bulk barrels)	Production (standard barrels)	Exports (standard barrels)	Imports (standard barrels)	Average OG
1913	34,805,291	33,286,515	651,768		1052.60
1914	37,558,767	36,056,416		74,205	1052.80
1915	34,765,780	32,964,280	481,183	49,790	1052.15
1916	32,110,608	30,289,061		19,700	1051.88
1917	30,163,988	26,621,091			1048.54
1918	19,085,043	13,814,101		16	1039.81
1919	23,264,533	12,922,391			1030.55
1920	35,047,947	25,113,447	317,167	590	1039.41
1921	34,504,570	26,731,631			1042.61
1922	30,178,731	23,528,436	260,914	4,033	1042.88
1923	23,948,651	18,601,570	257,454	7,017	1042.72
1924	25,425,017	19,896,231	262,668	1,392,576	1043.04
1925	26,734,825	20,960,103	266,933	1,545,953	1043.12
1926	26,765,610	21,037,769	295,488	1,576,381	1043.23
1927	25,100,461	19,751,781	276,758	1,349,515	1043.28
1928	25,435,145	19,964,277	328,029	1,427,174	1043.17
1929	24,608,000	19,283,724	352,942		1043.10
1930	25,061,956	19,548,326	328,524	1,522,906	1042.90
1931	23,900,000	18,468,182	289,516		1042.50
1932	20,790,812	15,513,726	244,525	1,373,450	1041.04
1933	17,950,303	12,898,109	217,981	1,203,063	1039.52
1934	20,182,308	15,041,324	213,813	1,276,270	1040.99
1935	20,864,814	15,576,532	224,087	1,332,277	1041.06
1936	21,969,763	16,385,449	311,663	1,392,457	1041.02
1937	22,724,450	16,981,362	329,498	1,385,833	1041.10
1938	24,205,631	18,053,000	271,114	1,163,046	1041.02
1939	24,674,992	18,362,680	274,272	838,269	1040.93
Sources:
Brewers' Almanack 1928, p. 110, 115
Brewers' Almanack 1955, p. 50, 51, 57
Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser - Friday 17 April 1914, page 12.
Statistical Handbook of the British Beer & Pub Association 2005, p. 7

I've included the standard barrel* figure because that highlight more accurately the decline in beer production as it takes into account the fall in gravity as well as the fall in volume. You can see that in 1932 in terms of standard barrels beer output was only around a third of what it had been in 1914.

The effect on beer gravity is very obvious. Average OG remained 10 points or more lower than it had been in 1914. On the eve of WW II in 1939, average gravity was 22% lower than on the eve of WW I.

The fall in exports was equally dramatic, falling to about a third of the 1913 level before levelling off about 50% down. Though this fall wasn't evenly spread around the UK. Scottish brewers were much more successful in hanging onto their export markets than their English colleagues. As can be seen from this table:

Beer Exported on Drawback and Free of Duty
	England and Wales	Scotland	Ireland	United Kingdom	UK exports
1916	581,947	174,595	46,371	802,913
1917	314,333	73,896	30,095	418,324
1918	174,408	30,379	16,185	220,972
1919	470,794	195,995	33,821	700,610
1920	312,868	146,726	16,698	485,292	390,248
1921	215,719	92,193	12,648	320,560
1922	207,882	117,978	10,239	336,099	260,914
1923	176,913	108,544	2,270	287,727	257,454
1924	158,373	132,889	753	292,015	264,003
1925	180,731	145,603	415	326,749	290,824
1926	178,155	168,609	305	347,069	283,033
1927	156,258	179,242	232	338,732	287,445
1928	170,728	193,255		363,983	328,029
1929	176,381	223,638		400,019	352,942
1930	173,988	204,345		378,333	328,524
1931	159,278	147,527		306,805	289,516
1932	136,231	133,240		269,471	244,525
1933	117,363	126,254		243,617	217,981
Sources:
Brewers' Journal 1919, page 65,
Brewers' Journal 1922, page 71.
Brewers' Journal 1925, page 83.
Brewers' Journal 1928, page 87.
Brewers' Journal 1928, page 87.
Brewers' Journal 1934, page 162.
Brewers' Almanack 1928, p. 115
Brewers' Almanack 1955, p. 57

The net result being that by the 1930's Scottish brewers were exporting more beer than English brewers. Quite an achievement given the relative sizes of the English and Scottish brewing industries.

The war indirectly also affected beer imports. If you consider the move to Irish independence to have been set in motion during the war. Those million plus barrels suddenly being imported to Britain are, of course, virtually all Guinness. It had been the largest brewery in the UK in 1914. Ultimately Irish independence led to Guinness building a brewery in London in the 1930's.



* A standard barrel is 36 gallons of beer with an OG of 1055º.