Sunday 2 June 2013

British beer exports by destination 1890 - 1910

One comment on my post about brewing export Pale Ale asked where the beer might have been heading. A very good question. Which is why I looked for the answer.

A numbers collector like me always has some relevant statistics lying around somewhere. Sure, enough, I've ones for British exports by destination for the years around 1903.

Unfortuantely, the "other countries" row cover s a big percentage of the totals. Which conceals a lot of detail. The principal named export destinations were the USA, India and Australasia. Were Pale Ales sent to all three of those? Australia and India are a definite yes. The USA? Probably. Bass Pale Ale was definitely exported there.

Malta is almost certainly another destination for Pale Ale. I know Simonds sold so much that they started brewing their Hop Leaf Pale Ale there. In fact thye beer still exists. Egypt I really don't know about. It's a possibility, though I think by 1900 it might well have been mostly Lager that got shipped there.

What I know about beer exports to the West Indies has me doubting whether Pale Ale was sent there. It was mostly Stout or strong Scotch Ale that was sent to the Caribbean.

I've honestly not the faintest idea of what type of beer might have been sent to South Africa.

Here's the table with the numbers:


British beer exports by destination (standard barrels)

1890 1900 1910
USA 48,991 47,700 69,688
Egypt 6,591 18,597 20,600
Malta & Gozo 20,390 22,932
British S. Africa 25,582 31,446 5,937
British India 97,196 94,918 96,914
Australasia 147,014 96,785 90,416
Brit. West India Islands 26,882 18,794 21,726
Other Countries 150,565 202,605 285,065
Total 502,921 510,845 590,346
Source:
Brewers' Almanack 1928, page 115.


2 comments:

Rob said...

Thanks.

Im not sure what I expected to see from that, but Im not seeing it.

Nothing pops out at me except the fall off in Australasia exports. Is that due to Australia getting there own brewing up and running?

Ron Pattinson said...

Rob,

it is due to a growth in brewing in Australia. I think (someone jump in if I'm wrong) import tarifs were imposed on British beer at some point.