Hop imports 1926 - 1954

In my last post about hop imports, Martyn Cornell commented about the import duty placed on hops after WW I. I just stumbled upon a few more details about the duty and thought I'd share them with you.

The background to this is that the changes in brewing caused by WW I - in particular the reduction in beer gravity - greatly depressed the demand for hops. Meaning that for the first time in 60 or 70 years Britain could grow almost enough hops for its own needs.

Another drop in gravity caused by WW II left Britain effectively self-sufficient in hops. Quite a turnaround from the situation before WW I.

"A duty of £4 per cwt. on imported Hops, with a preference of one-third to Dominion hops, was imposed as from 16th August, 1925, for four years, in order to tide the hop industry over a difficult period at the end of Hop Control, and in 1929, 1933, 1937, 1941, 1945, 1949 and 1953 the duty was reimposed for further like periods. In 1929, the duty on hop oil, which was previously charged on the quantity of hops used in its manufacture, was altered to a fixed rate of £ per oz.

In order not to handicap the home brewer, a countervailing duty was placed on imported beer. Since 1933 this has been at the rate of 10d. per bulk barrel, and is included in the rate of duty on imported beer. There is also a Customs drawback at the rate of 10d. per bulk barrel on beer exported.

During the war of 1939-45 the production of hops was restricted to the 1939 acreage until in 1943 a permissive increase was made to 20,000 acres and in 1945 to 22,500 acres. It will be seen that in fact this total was reached in 1948. Consumption of hops by brewers was cut in June, 1941, under instructions of the Ministry of Food, by 20%. of the rate used per standard barrel. This cut ceased to operate in 1947, and given a good crop the English production is sufficient to cover 12 months' requirements without imported hops, under present circumstances. The quantity of foreign hops entered for home consumption and the total net receipts from this duty, as shown by the Customs and Excise Report, have been as follows, for years ending 31st March :"
1955 Brewers' Almanack, page 64.

"Home brewer" doesn't mean someone brewing in his kitchen in this context. It refers to commercial breweries in Britain, as opposed to foreign ones.

Here's the table that followed the text:

Hop and hop product imports 1926 - 1954
Year ended 31st March	Hops	Hop Oil	Hop Extracts. Essences, and similar Preparations	Net Receipts from Duty
	Cwt.	Oz.	Oz.	£
1926	29,599	t	1,951	117,507
1927	44,547	t	175	173,558
1928	82,307	t	56	317,135
1929	74,023	t	1,391	290,039
1930	52,310	14	4,364	206,010
1931	40,228	8	668	159,432
1932	53,184	32	379	210,827
1933	11,004	10	5,762	42,848
1934	44,281	72	—	169,325
1935	42,411	212	—	163,499
1936	35,554	88	—	138,349
1937	29,839	105	600	115,437
1938	45,336	125	487	177,660
1939	44,056	101	—	170,930
1940	2,024	72	—	7,860
1941	11,055	32	—	42,009
1942	171	161	24,392	883
1943	3,254	684	7,712	13,669
1944	134	100	209,152	1,479
1945	30	—	967,061	4,413
1946	563	—	3,558,892	18,118
1947	26,928	—	1,424,748	113,937
1948	7,766	—	—	30,710
1949	§174	—	—	—738
1950	198	—	—	798
1951	§295		—	-1,172
1952	439	—	—	1,749
1953	418	656	—	1,675
1954	1,560	—	—	6,230
t Included under Hop Extracts in these years
§ Excess of Drawbacks.
Source:
1955 Brewers' Almanack, page 64.

It's revealing to have hop extract included, as there was a sudden surge in imports of it around the end of WW II. Not sure why that was. But I guess hop oil extract took up far less room on ships.