Youngs X Ale hops 1939 - 1945

Hops next. The most obvious feature is that all the hops were English, even at the start of the war.

Unlike some brewers, Youngs did record the region their hopes came from. Which, in the majority of cases, was either Kent or Mid-Kent. That makes sense, Kent being the closest hop region to the brewery. The rest came from either Worcester or Sussex. The former the second-largest hop region and the latter also close to London.

Once the war started, it’s no surprise that there were no foreign hops as imports had come to a halt. The only foreign hops knocking were old ones, imported before the start of the war. Though, to be fair, Youngs had used exclusively English hops before the war.

The hops are generally pretty fresh. All are from either the most recent harvest of the one before. With some of the older hops having been cold-stored. (That’s what the “CS” stands for.)

Most surprising is the occasional use of spent hops. A practice Youngs definitely hadn’t indulged in pre-war.  Though its use was restricted to the Mild Ales. The Pale Ales always received all fresh hops. 

Youngs X Ale hops 1939 - 1945
Date	Year	hop 1	hop 2	hop 3
18th Oct	1939	Kent 1937 CS	Kent 1938
17th May	1940	Worcs 1939	Kent 1938
2nd Dec	1940	Kent 1939	Kent 1938 CS
30th Apr	1941	Sussex 1940	spent
6th May	1941	Sussex 1940	spent
24th Oct	1941	Mid-Kent 1939 CS	Mid-Kent 1941
4th May	1942	Worcs 1941	Mid-Kent 1941	spent
8th Jul	1942	Worcs 1941
19th Oct	1942	Kent 1941	spent
5th May	1943	Kent 1942	Kent 1941
28th Apr	1944	Mid-Kent 1942	Kent 1943
5th May	1944	Kent 1942	Kent 1943
20th Oct	1944	Kent 1943
2nd Jul	1945	Kent 1944	Kent 1944
4th Jul	1945	Kent 1944
Sources:
Young's brewing records held at Battersea Library, document numbers YO/RE/1/8 YO/RE/1/9 YO/RE/1/10, YO/RE/1/11, YO/RE/1/12, YO/RE/1/13 and YO/RE/1/14.