Almost half the exports went to New South Wales. Which makes sense as that was the most populous part of Australia. But, all totalled together, Australia was the largest market for UK exports. Accounting for around 22% of the total.
That may seem odd, given how far away Australia was and how long - months - it would take beer to get there. But British was tough and capable of long journeys without refrigeration. Unlike poncey Lager which couldn't cross the road without being chilled. It's weord to think that the most important market for UK beer was as far away as possible. I guess that's what happens in an empire where the sun never sets.
The average value of the beer - over 79 shillings a barrel - implies that it was mostly pretty strong beer. The price list from 1910 lists mostly Pale Ales, Scotch Ale and Stout. A surprising amount of it already bottled.
| UK Beer exports to Australasia in 1898 | ||||||
| Destination | From England. | From Scotland. | From the U.K. | |||
| Quantity. | Declared Value. | Quantity. | Declared Value. | Quantity. | Declared Value. | |
| Barrels | £ | Barrels | £ | Barrels | £ | |
| Australasia: | ||||||
| West Australia | 13,043 | 51,686 | 4,156 | 15,118 | 17,799 | 66,804 |
| South Australia | 3,645 | 16,030 | 1,390 | 7,008 | 5,035 | 23,038 |
| Victoria | 12,299 | 49,975 | 5,837 | 26,731 | 18,136 | 76,709 |
| New South Wales | 31,950 | 114,055 | 12,436 | 44,817 | 44,385 | 158,872 |
| Queensland | 8,441 | 41,917 | 1,945 | 7,295 | 10,386 | 49,212 |
| Tasmania | 897 | 4,714 | - | - | 897 | 4,714 |
| total Australia | 70,275 | 278,377 | 25,764 | 100,969 | 96,638 | 379,349 |
| New Zealand | 4,781 | 25,742 | 47 | 275 | 4,828 | 26,017 |
| Fiji Islands | 39 | 152 | 30 | 45 | 69 | 197 |
| Islands in the Pacific | 101 | 459 | - | - | 104 | 459 |
| Total | 75,196 | 304,730 | 25,841 | 101,289 | 101,639 | 406,022 |
| Source: | ||||||
| The Brewers' Journal vol. 35 1899, June 15th 1899, page 344. | ||||||
| Note: | ||||||
| Year ending 30th September 1898. | ||||||
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2 comments:
It would be interesting to know more about the logisitics of shipping beer so far back then, although I have no idea if the records exist to support the research anymore.
For instance, were brewers and shippers able to respond flexibly to changes in demand? Or did they basically just estimate how much would be bought, add in a surplus to account for unexpected problems, and then lock in shipments on a set schedule and only reevaluate every couple of years?
Quite interesting that lager has never really had the export grade versions culture of ale and stout. Probably explains why lager became more of a local brew on average then ale or stout.
Oscar
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