You may have noticed that I've been collecting hop statistics. Mostly from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But I thought it was time to have a gander at the last couple of decades. I must admit that I was shocked.
I'd heard about the decline in UK hop growing, but until I saw the firgures for the last 30 years, I hadn't realised just how catastrophic that decline had been.
Between 1955 and 1970, UK hop production averaged just under 250,000 cwt. per year. Which was a little more than required for British brewing - an average of just under 210,000 cwt. 1955 - 1969. Britain was more than self-sufficient in hops and was able to export the surplus. Though the amount exported declined from just under 50,000 cwt. to just under 10,000 cwt between 1955 and 1969.
| Average UK hop production | |
| years | cwt |
| 1955-1970 | 238,718 |
| 1971-1980 | 180,729 |
| 1981-1990 | 132,810 |
| 1991-2000 | 78,254 |
| 2000-2009 | 33,702 |
| Sources: | |
| Statistical Handbook of the British Beer and Pub Association 2011, page 20. | |
| 1971 Brewers'Almanack, page 54 | |
There was a slight decline in production in the period 1971 to 1980, when it averaged 180,000 cwt. That's when things started going badly wrong. Between 1981 and 1990 the average was down to 132,000 cwt. 1991 to 2000 the average was just 78,000 cwt. And for 2001 to 2009 a meagre 33,000 cwt. That's way less than the amount needed by British brewers. The UK hads gone from being a net exporter to a big net importer in a couple of decades.
| UK hop production, imports and exports 1955 - 1969 | ||||
| UK production | Imports: Less Re-Exports | Exports: British Hops | Consumption Years ended 30th Sept. following | |
| Year | Cwts. | Cwts. | Cwts. | Cwts. |
| 1955 | 256,821 | 5,836 | 49,049 | 218,820 |
| 1956 | 184,170 | 6,416 | 40,746 | 215,114 |
| 1957 | 267,677 | 8,848 | 38,635 | 208,870 |
| 1958 | 302,640 | 5,441 | 42,352 | 226,371 |
| 1959 | 222,768 | 6,007 | 34,291 | 234,611 |
| 1960 | 248,195 | 8,172 | 12,220 | 234,611 |
| 1961 | 204,306 | 19,235 | 24,914 | 226,437 |
| 1962 | 266,812 | 16,489 | 16,070 | 234,611 |
| 1963 | 276,384 | 10,063 | 21,790 | 226,437 |
| 1964 | 252,398 | 12,624 | 24,181 | 226,565 |
| 1965 | 258,727 | 12,961 | 19,474 | 237,356 |
| 1966 | 228,923 | 10,767 | 18,673 | 236,424 |
| 1967 | 215,025 | 10,165 | 2,709 | 207,249 |
| 1968 | 199,205 | 12,040 | 2,286 | 198,029 |
| 1969 | 209,543 | 11,401 | 8,543 | 186,103 |
| Source: | ||||
| 1971 Brewers'Almanack, page 54 | ||||
Britain is no longer a serious hop producer, at least in world terms. How very sad. Now I just need to understand why so few hops are currently grown in Britain.
Here are the full figures:
| UK hop production 1955 - 2009 | |||||
| Year | Cwts. | Year | Cwts. | Year | Cwts. |
| 1955 | 256,821 | 1975 | 156,954 | 1995 | 101,979 |
| 1956 | 184,170 | 1976 | 142,180 | 1996 | 88,108 |
| 1957 | 267,677 | 1977 | 184,414 | 1997 | 64,386 |
| 1958 | 302,640 | 1978 | 203,247 | 1998 | 59,194 |
| 1959 | 222,768 | 1979 | 191,909 | 1999 | 53,138 |
| 1960 | 248,195 | 1980 | 183,838 | 2000 | 50,377 |
| 1961 | 204,306 | 1981 | 291,109 | 2001 | 50,089 |
| 1962 | 266,812 | 1982 | 167,473 | 2002 | 37,858 |
| 1963 | 276,384 | 1983 | 155,497 | 2003 | 40,772 |
| 1964 | 252,398 | 1984 | 127,883 | 2004 | 31,147 |
| 1965 | 258,727 | 1985 | 99,814 | 2005 | 26,633 |
| 1966 | 228,923 | 1986 | 102,161 | 2006 | 28,995 |
| 1967 | 215,025 | 1987 | 96,755 | 2007 | 27,737 |
| 1968 | 199,025 | 1988 | 92,897 | 2008 | 28,431 |
| 1969 | 209,543 | 1989 | 90,182 | 2009 | 31,657 |
| 1970 | 226,076 | 1990 | 104,326 | ||
| 1971 | 175,404 | 1991 | 93,365 | ||
| 1972 | 205,649 | 1992 | 104,326 | ||
| 1973 | 200,841 | 1993 | 87,392 | ||
| 1974 | 162,853 | 1994 | 80,272 | ||
| Sources: | |||||
| "Statistical Handbook of the British Beer and Pub Association 2011", page 20. | |||||
| 1971 Brewers'Almanack, page 54 | |||||
Perhaps the management from British Leyland found new employment in the hop industry?
ReplyDeleteRon,
ReplyDeleteWouldn't brewers use a lot less hops in weight terms with the advent of new, high alpha varieties?
Mike,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that's true and that has helped drive down hop numbers worldwide. But nowhere to the same extent as in Britain.
Wow--that's amazing. In the US, it seems like the poundage has been hopping around, too. In 2012, we grew 61 million pounds. That's down from 2000 (67 million), but up from 1990 (57 million).
ReplyDeleteDuring that span, total US beer production remained constant at about 200 million barrels, so the variation probably has a lot to do with alpha percentages and exports. But it's nothing like the fall-off in England.
Peter Darby (now Wye Hops) nicely recapped this in a paper in 2004: "Hop Growing in England in the Twenty-First Century." He pointed out the quantity of hops grown dropped for many reasons: more efficient growing, more efficient use within the brewery (high alpha hops, processed hop products), less bitter beers.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, Germany and the US won the arms race for higher alpha hops (and the Germans continue to develop varieties with even more alpha acids).
He also wrote, "Deregulation of the English hop industry with the abolition of the Hops Marketing Board in 1984 opened the domestic industry to fierce international competition."
Stan,
ReplyDeleteso basically Thatcher's fault.
I don't know the specific role of the Hops Marketing Board and its demise, but IMO English hop growers and brewers could have expanded production if English hops had been marketed in England and especially outside as the classic product they were (the past tense almost seems apposite now). No one in the world can produce hops with the particular flowery scents of the finest finest English hops. They had to get on this horse and ride it but they didn't. The Americans did with their (not-as-good IMO) citric- forward hops to the point that there have been shortages of some hop varieties in recent years such as Amarillo. At a minimum, numerous "craft" hop varieties are fashionable and sought after, yet Fuggles and Goldings and other fine English varieties seem to be vanishing from the beer scene. These are hops with a multi-century history and reputation for making the finest top-fermented ales. The Germans never would have let this happen to their produce and agriculture, only British insouciance to its own best products could have done that.
ReplyDeleteTo be sure the brewers needed to push growers for these varieties, starting in Britain, and drinkers needed to push them to make more beers with these tastes, but this apparently hasn't occurred with any force and now American hops of all things are fashionable in English beer circles (I don't mean as a useful thing to formulate a blend but as a keynote taste).
It's not too late though, this product can come back if people recognize the great tastes these hops produce and will pay a premium price for the end product just as they do for the best brandy, wine, cheese or anything else. I hope the industry can be restructured but it will need foremost a recognition of the greatness of English-tasting beer. This has been only slowly coming and hobbled by the adoption of lager and other brewery-conditioned beer as the pub standard, a trend CAMRA was only partly able to reverse. When hops became fashionable again people starting talking about American and then Antipodean hops. Whaa?
Maybe it's not too late.
Gary
4MMP ! the levels of 4mmp are greatly reduced when plants are grown in Europe. Couple that with the bland straw tastes of UK hops. The Target,Sovereign and Challenger are some of the few varieties I have tried and liked but compare that to an Amarillo or Sorachi Ace; which I love and no amount of marketing or patriotism would change my taste buds. Weather this is the limiting nature of hop reproduction in the UK or the way we have poisoned our lands with bordeaux mixture I cannot say, but unless something less tried is produced in England I can strongly see a future decline
ReplyDelete@Gary: Speaking as an American hophead, I would dispute the characterization of American C-hops as inferior, but they certainly are different, and I would be happy to see fewer APAs where I live if it meant I could get more Goldings-dominated beers (not as big a fan of fuggles, though they're alright).
ReplyDeleteI think, however, that you're missing a broader emphasis on newness as a factor in hop preferences: Cluster is *the*classic American hop variety (and, used right, is delicious), and yet it's barely even grown any more, and plenty of micro- and homebrewers hold it in open contempt. Even Cascade isn't as sexy now as newer varieties like Simcoe and Citra.
I realize I'm postings month and a half after the fact, but still thought I'd toss in my two cents.
It is May 2024 now and I am in my 70's. I worked at the Hops Marketing from 1979 to 1984 in a clerical position. There are many reasons for the demise of the English Hop industry. Hops were mainly grown in Kent, Sussex, some in Surrey, and in Hereford and Worcester. At that time we were dealing with 20 different varieties including the "seedless" varieties - which I have heard from farmers today are "not worth the bother" (had to get rid of the male hops from around the farm to grow "Target" or other seedless hops). In the early eighties, a system to pelletise hops came in - this meant that whereas English hops had been fresh every year, any surplus could now be made into pellets - thus a reduced crop would be needed the following year. The UK joined the EEC under which marketing boards were considered "anti-free-market" and therefore illegal. Goodbye HMB!! Under the HMB, an assessment was made each year of the expenditure by farmers (covering the range from large growers, medium sized growers and small growers (some still hand picking). The product was an average cost of a pocket of hops and this was the rough basis for the prices paid to the farmers. The benefit here was that growers got a fair price for their hops, the hop factors knew what prices would be and thus so did the brewers. This probably sounds a bit "cosy" to us now, but it worked!!! I walk a great deal around the countryside these days and am sad to see the empty hop fields. The start of importing foreign hops (I remember Czekoslovakia being mentioned) seemed to be the beginning of the end for English hops as an industry.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeletethank you very much for your comment. It adds some useful background.