British brewing on the eve of WW I

They didn't realise it at the name, but everything would be going downhill for British brewing after 1913.

Take a look at these numbers first. They're for the year ending September 1913. The last full year before the outbreak of war. None of the figures would ever be as large again until after WW II. Except for the amount of beer duty. That kept going up, but only because the rate per barrel kept increasing. It would be 1974 before beer production exceeded the 1913 figure.

"THE YEAR'S OUTPUT OF BEER.
A White Paper published yesterday states that the number barrels of beer produced the United Kingdom by brewers licensed for sale during the year ended September last was 37,078,760, and the amount beer duty charged was £13,771,802. The firms persons licensed numbered 3,846, the licence duty paid being £400,034, and the quantities of materials used were: Malt, 52,287,637 bushels ; unmalted corn, 91,068 bushels; rice, maize, etc., 1,611,366 cwt.; sugar, etc., 3,279,314 cwt. hops, 62,911,376 lbs.; hop substitutes. 18,885 lbs.

In addition there were 4,829 persons licensed as brewers, not for sale, 821 of these private brewers being liable to beer duty. There were 85,936 victuallers licensed, 26,939 persons licensed to sell beer on the premises and 22,217 off licenses. During the year 651,768 barrels of declared value of £2,118.379 were exported, our principal customers being the British East Indies, £453,968; Australia, £310,492; Belgium £289,691; and the United States, £269,986. Germany took £46,927 worth of beer, and France £31,659. Gibraltar accounted for £53,730, and Malta for £38,402, while British beer found its way also to Arabia, Siam, Papua, and Paraguay.
Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser - Friday 17 April 1914, page 12.

Here's a table to show what happened after WW I (I've converted the figures from the newspaper report into hundredweights so all the figures match):

Brewing materials (cwt) 1914 - 1939
year	malt	unmalted corn	rice, maize, etc	sugar	total malt & adjuncts	hops	preparations of hops	hop substitutes	bulk barrels
1913	19,607,864	34,151	1,611,366	3,279,314	24,532,694	561,709		169	37,078,760
1914	19,697,112	34,644	1,566,506	3,279,710	24,577,972	559,423		174	36,162,273
1920	15,759,389	36,129	1,022,748	2,135,591	18,953,857	503,140	132	116	34,776,258
1922	12,420,502	24,180	810,213	1,622,068	14,876,963	398,506	160	34	27,815,249
1924	11,274,964	23,223	846,210	1,699,769	13,844,166	350,428	54	44	25,927,783
1926	10,948,168	23,113	827,393	1,832,914	13,631,588	355,375	79	28	25,987,830
1928	10,525,902	21,794	824,783	1,838,269	13,210,748	330,662	119	38	24,981,731
1930	10,080,120	25,765	762,633	1,835,238	12,703,756	307,289	101	91	24,488,629
1931	9,119,236	22,725	688,850	1,698,163	11,528,974	277,406	91	59	22,561,497
1932	7,115,230	12,586	533,405	1,377,126	9,038,347	219,587	72	38	18,864,711
1933	7,239,776	12,294	521,151	1,379,965	9,153,186	222,868	70	40	18,931,185
1934	7,995,574	11,816	547,865	1,543,228	10,098,483	233,419	107	91	20,378,879
1935	8,444,452	10,956	587,841	1,631,926	10,675,175	248,744	144	170	21,598,179
1936	8,646,322	10,734	592,734	1,705,418	10,955,208	258,300	108	203	22,207,859
1937	9,066,875	10,701	648,679	1,835,886	11,562,141	270,592	146	228	23,608,658
1938	9,378,888	14,194	688,086	1,894,773	11,975,941	277,846	145	29	24,339,360
1939	9,884,803	9,910	734,771	1,986,478	12,615,962	285,715	113	13	25,691,217
Sources:
1913: Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser - Friday 17 April 1914, page 12.
1914-1939: 1955 Brewers'Almanack, page 62
Notes:
The figures for hops may exclude some hops used for dry-hopping

The effect of the fall in malt usage must have been pretty dramatic on British maltsters. Although much of the grain was imported, all of it was malted in Britain. 37% less malt was used in 1922 than in 1914. And the decline didn't stop there. By 1932 malt usage was down by 57% compared to 1914.

Working out the effect on the hop industry is trickier because a large percentage of the hops used in Britain were imported. But such a big fall in demand for hops must have had an impact on domestic production.

You can see that beer output continued to fall throughout the 1920's before hitting a nadir in 1932. The decline in beer production is even more striking in terms of standard barrels because not only was the amount of beer brewed falling, but also its gravity. In terms of the amount of alcohol produced by brewing, the decrease was much larger. Which is exactly why we'll be looking at that - and some other exciting numbers - next time.