Tuesday 16 July 2013

World beer production 1912 - 1922

I've still not finished kicking the hop ball around. No sign of me getting bored just yet.

Once again, I've picked numbers from before and after WW I. In fact this is a perfect set of numbers for analysing the enormous impact of the war on the brewing industry.

I used to think that British beer took a hammering in WW I. Now I've looked into it more, I realise that Britain got off lightly compared to most of the rest of Europe. Even those countries which weren't directly involved, such as Switzerland and Denmark, saw beer production shrink. The only exception was the Southern European countries (Spain, Portugal and Italy).

It's a bit tricky making direct comparisons for the two major powers on the losing side, Germany and Austria-Hungary because of border changes. Especially in the case of Austria-Hungary, which was split among several new countries. Germany also lost a considerable amount of territory to Poland in the East and France in the West. But still nowhere like enough to account for a fall in production of 39 million hectolitres.


World hop consumption and beer production 1912 - 1922
1912/13 1921/22
Counrtry Probable beer production (hl) hops (pfund) per hl beer hop consumption (1,000 Zentner) Probable beer production (hl) hops (pfund) per hl beer hop consumption (1,000 Zentner)
Germany 69,000,000 0.38 262 30,000,000 0.38 114
Austria 26,000,000 0.55 143
German Austria and Hungary 2,000,000 0.55 11
Czechoslovakia and eastern states 6,000,000 0.55 33
Yugoslavia and the Balkans 1,300,000 0.6 7.8
France 17,000,000 0.5 85 8,000,000 0.5 40
Belgium and the Netherlands 19,000,000 0.5 95 8,000,000 0.5 40
Russia 11,000,000 0.8 88
Scandinavia and Denmark 5,700,000 0.5 28 5,500,000 0.4 22
Switzerland 3,000,000 0.5 15 1,500,000 0.5 7.5
Spain, Portugal and Italy 800,000 0.5 4 1,600,000 0.5 8
Continental Europe 151,500,000 0.48 720 63,900,000 0.44 283.3
UK 58,000,000 1.0 580 42,000,000 1.2 504
Europe 209,500,000 0.62 1300 105,900,000 0.74 787.3
USA 74,000,000 0.5 370 Prohibition - 110
Canada 1,900,000 0.6 11 1,200,000 0.6 7.2
Central America 600,000 0.6 3.5 600,000 0.6 3.6
South America 2,800,000 0.6 16 3,100,000 0.6 18.6
Americas 79,300,000 0.51 400.5 4,900,000 0.60 29.4
East Asia 400,000 0.6 2.5 1,400,000 0.6 8.4
Australia and New Zealand 2,800,000 0.75-1.0 23 3,200,000 0.9 28.8
Africa and India 300,000 0.6 2 800,000 0.7 5.6
Asia and Africa 3,500,000 0.79 27.5 5,400,000 0.79 42.8
World 293,200,000 0.59 1734 116,200,000 0.83 969.5
Source:
Barth Hop Report 1911-1912 
Barth Hop Report 1914-1915 to 1920-1921

One other handy feature of this table is the quantity of hops used. In 1912/13 the UK used almost a third of total world consumption. By 1921/22 that was up to more than 50%. That can be partly accounted for by the much heavier hopping of British beer, around treble the rate in Germany. The British really did love their hops in the past.

Just to emphasise how big the drop in beer production was, here is the fall in percentage terms:


World beer production
Country % change
Germany -56.52%
France -52.94%
Belgium and the Netherlands -57.89%
Scandinavia and Denmark -3.51%
Switzerland -50.00%
Spain, Portugal and Italy 100.00%
Continental Europe -57.82%
UK -27.59%
Europe -49.45%
Canada -36.84%
Central America 0.00%
South America 10.71%
Americas -93.82%
East Asia 250.00%
Australia and New Zealand 14.29%
Africa and India 166.67%
Asia and Africa 54.29%
World -60.37%
Source (derived from):
Barth Hop Report 1911-1912 
Barth Hop Report 1914-1915 to 1920-1921

The only region of the world to see an increase in beer production was Asia, which was mostly untouched by the war.

Note also that the fall in beer production was greater in victorious France than defeated Germany. The explanation is pretty simple: a high percentage of French breweries were in the area occupied by the Germans. All lost their copper, many had their buildings damaged or destroyed as well.

I'd argue that Prohibition, which was responsible for the massive decline in beer output in the Americas, was also a result of the war. It was pushed through during the war, partly based on fear of the Germans who dominated American brewing.

Put in a nutshell, WW I more than halved world beer production. An unprecedented disaster. 

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