War and austerity (part two)

Just a few more tables and I’m done. All posted out in advance for the whole of my US trip, plus a day to recover when I get back.

This time there are some numbers to demonstrate how hard the years immediately after WW II were.  Because what works better than numbers? Especially when you’ve used up all the day’s supply of words. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have an infinite quantity of them. I often stop mid-sentence in the evening when they’re all used up.

The numbers show the remarkable success of British brewing during WW II.  Output rose. Surprisingly both in terms of bulk and standard barrels. That the latter rose, means it was a genuine rise, because the standard barrel takes gravity out of the equation. But note the sharp drop in 1947 – 3.3 million standard barrels. The result, as we’ve already heard, of shortages in raw materials, which prompted the government to lower production quotas.

Keeping average gravity at a little under 1035º for the final years of the war was quite an achievement. Only possible because of a massive increase in British-grown barley during the war. But in 1947 average OG fell more than two points. It must have been depressing for both brewers and drinkers.

Home-made Beer :  Quantities charged with duty, Average Gravities and Net Receipts
Year (ended 81st March)	Quantities charged with duty			Net quantities duty-paid
	Bulk Barrels	Standard Barrels	Average Gravity	Bulk Barrels	Standard Barrels	Net Receipts £
1939	24,674,992	18,364,156	1,040.93	24,187,883	17,935,568	62,370,034
1940	25,366,782	18,738,619	1,040.62	25,092,090	18,495,567	75,157,022
1941	26,203,803	18,351,113	1,038.51	25,773,766	18,121,618	133,450,205
1942	29,860,796	19,294,605	1,035.53	29,351,341	19,018,940	157,254,430
1943	29,296,672	18,293,919	1,034.34	28,971,014	18,044,678	209,584,343
1944	30,478,289	19,193,773	1,034.63	30,129,031	18,945,565	263,170,703
1945	31,332,852	19,678,449	1,034.54	31,031,814	19,475,061	278,876,870
1946	32,650,200	20,612,225	1,034.72	32,698,011	20,580,907	295,305,369
1947	29,261,398	17,343,690	1,032.59	29,226,070	17,427,961	250,350,829
1948	30,408,634	18,061,390	1,032.66	30,007,139	17,744,616	264,112,043
1949	26,990,144	16,409,937	1,033.43	27,048,281	16,319,126	294,678,035
Source:
Brewing Trade Review, 1950, page 51.

Home-made Beer : Quantities of Materials used and of Beer produced
Year (ended with Sept.)	Malt	Unmalted Corn	Rice, Rice Grits, Flaked Rice, Maize Grits, Flaked Maize and other similar Preparations	Sugar including its Equivalent of Syrups, Glucose and Saccharum	Hops	Preparations of Hops	Hop Substitutes	Beer Produced
	Cwt.	Cwt.	Cwt.	Cwt.	Cwt.	Cwt.	Cwt.	Bulk Barrels
1939	9,884,803	9,910	734,771	1,986,478	285,715	113	13	25,691,217
1940	9,857,838	7,912	363,588	1,532,776	265,512	132	108	24,925,704
1941	10,988,413	11,897	246,757	1,397,642	251,354	186	166	28,170,582
1942	10,918,102	52,646	382,207	1,411,422	223,007	246	71	29,584,656
1943	10,287,322	40,592	1,238,181	1,400,573	231,589	250	96	29,811,321
1944	10,621,168	143,183	1,241,121	1,458,647	243,900	277	137	31,180,684
1945	10,435,212	245,751	1,332,032	1,784,064	244,822	714	139	31,990,344
1946	9,976,998	137,750	1,132,748	1,790,021	226,197	1,414	168	31,066,950
1947	9,454,253	92,974	614,335	1,601,186	217,759	1,423	191	30,103,180
1948	9,499,294	69,939	606,881	1,443,558	231,470	630	547	28,813,725
Source:
Brewing Trade Review, 1950, page 51.

Looking at the second table, we can see that malt usage peaked in 1941, after which considerable amounts of unmalted grain and maize products were used. Only to fall back again after 1946. Sugar shows a complicated trajectory, its use falling in the early war years, increasing at the end, then dropping again post-war.

All those changes would have had an impact on brewers’ grists. One over which they had no control. Given reliable supplies, the raw materials used wouldn’t have changed anything like as much. Each of those sudden changes in materials would have presented considerable challenges for brewers. How depressing must it have been for that still to be going on several years after the end of hostilities?

I’m sure that I’ll have plenty more austerity tales to come.