Once again, I've picked numbers from before and after WW I. In fact this is a perfect set of numbers for analysing the enormous impact of the war on the brewing industry.
I used to think that British beer took a hammering in WW I. Now I've looked into it more, I realise that Britain got off lightly compared to most of the rest of Europe. Even those countries which weren't directly involved, such as Switzerland and Denmark, saw beer production shrink. The only exception was the Southern European countries (Spain, Portugal and Italy).
It's a bit tricky making direct comparisons for the two major powers on the losing side, Germany and Austria-Hungary because of border changes. Especially in the case of Austria-Hungary, which was split among several new countries. Germany also lost a considerable amount of territory to Poland in the East and France in the West. But still nowhere like enough to account for a fall in production of 39 million hectolitres.
| World hop consumption and beer production 1912 - 1922 | ||||||
| 1912/13 | 1921/22 | |||||
| Counrtry | Probable beer production (hl) | hops (pfund) per hl beer | hop consumption (1,000 Zentner) | Probable beer production (hl) | hops (pfund) per hl beer | hop consumption (1,000 Zentner) |
| Germany | 69,000,000 | 0.38 | 262 | 30,000,000 | 0.38 | 114 |
| Austria | 26,000,000 | 0.55 | 143 | |||
| German Austria and Hungary | 2,000,000 | 0.55 | 11 | |||
| Czechoslovakia and eastern states | 6,000,000 | 0.55 | 33 | |||
| Yugoslavia and the Balkans | 1,300,000 | 0.6 | 7.8 | |||
| France | 17,000,000 | 0.5 | 85 | 8,000,000 | 0.5 | 40 |
| Belgium and the Netherlands | 19,000,000 | 0.5 | 95 | 8,000,000 | 0.5 | 40 |
| Russia | 11,000,000 | 0.8 | 88 | |||
| Scandinavia and Denmark | 5,700,000 | 0.5 | 28 | 5,500,000 | 0.4 | 22 |
| Switzerland | 3,000,000 | 0.5 | 15 | 1,500,000 | 0.5 | 7.5 |
| Spain, Portugal and Italy | 800,000 | 0.5 | 4 | 1,600,000 | 0.5 | 8 |
| Continental Europe | 151,500,000 | 0.48 | 720 | 63,900,000 | 0.44 | 283.3 |
| UK | 58,000,000 | 1.0 | 580 | 42,000,000 | 1.2 | 504 |
| Europe | 209,500,000 | 0.62 | 1300 | 105,900,000 | 0.74 | 787.3 |
| USA | 74,000,000 | 0.5 | 370 | Prohibition | - | 110 |
| Canada | 1,900,000 | 0.6 | 11 | 1,200,000 | 0.6 | 7.2 |
| Central America | 600,000 | 0.6 | 3.5 | 600,000 | 0.6 | 3.6 |
| South America | 2,800,000 | 0.6 | 16 | 3,100,000 | 0.6 | 18.6 |
| Americas | 79,300,000 | 0.51 | 400.5 | 4,900,000 | 0.60 | 29.4 |
| East Asia | 400,000 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 1,400,000 | 0.6 | 8.4 |
| Australia and New Zealand | 2,800,000 | 0.75-1.0 | 23 | 3,200,000 | 0.9 | 28.8 |
| Africa and India | 300,000 | 0.6 | 2 | 800,000 | 0.7 | 5.6 |
| Asia and Africa | 3,500,000 | 0.79 | 27.5 | 5,400,000 | 0.79 | 42.8 |
| World | 293,200,000 | 0.59 | 1734 | 116,200,000 | 0.83 | 969.5 |
| Source: | ||||||
| Barth Hop Report 1911-1912 | ||||||
| Barth Hop Report 1914-1915 to 1920-1921 | ||||||
One other handy feature of this table is the quantity of hops used. In 1912/13 the UK used almost a third of total world consumption. By 1921/22 that was up to more than 50%. That can be partly accounted for by the much heavier hopping of British beer, around treble the rate in Germany. The British really did love their hops in the past.
Just to emphasise how big the drop in beer production was, here is the fall in percentage terms:
| World beer production | |
| Country | % change |
| Germany | -56.52% |
| France | -52.94% |
| Belgium and the Netherlands | -57.89% |
| Scandinavia and Denmark | -3.51% |
| Switzerland | -50.00% |
| Spain, Portugal and Italy | 100.00% |
| Continental Europe | -57.82% |
| UK | -27.59% |
| Europe | -49.45% |
| Canada | -36.84% |
| Central America | 0.00% |
| South America | 10.71% |
| Americas | -93.82% |
| East Asia | 250.00% |
| Australia and New Zealand | 14.29% |
| Africa and India | 166.67% |
| Asia and Africa | 54.29% |
| World | -60.37% |
| Source (derived from): | |
| Barth Hop Report 1911-1912 | |
| Barth Hop Report 1914-1915 to 1920-1921 | |
The only region of the world to see an increase in beer production was Asia, which was mostly untouched by the war.
Note also that the fall in beer production was greater in victorious France than defeated Germany. The explanation is pretty simple: a high percentage of French breweries were in the area occupied by the Germans. All lost their copper, many had their buildings damaged or destroyed as well.
I'd argue that Prohibition, which was responsible for the massive decline in beer output in the Americas, was also a result of the war. It was pushed through during the war, partly based on fear of the Germans who dominated American brewing.
Put in a nutshell, WW I more than halved world beer production. An unprecedented disaster.
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