Sunday 1 June 2014

Truman Brick Lane hop usage 1924 - 1940

I'm back with that Truman costings document from between the wars. And one of the other items it has detailed information on: hop usage.

Again, a few seemingly dull numbers tell us a stack. First Truman's hopping rates. There wasn't a huge change in average gravity over this period, so we can take the figures at face value. Between 1924 and 1940 the average hopping rate almost halved, save for a little blip in 1931 and 1932. but I think I can explain that. The blip, I mean.

1932 was a funny year for British brewing. A shit one, really. Beer production plummeted after the big tax rise in Snowden's 1931 emergency Budget. Which probably partially explains why hops were so cheap in 1932. In 1934, after the tax increase had been reversed and beer production started to rise again, the hop price goes up again.

Here are some details on UK hop production. Usually you would expect the poor harvests in 1931 and 1932 to have forced up prices. But because beer production fell - and hence hop usage, too - prices didn't go crazy.


Hops: home production and imports
Year ended 31st Dec. Acreage Estimated Produce Imports: Less Re-Exports Consumption Years ended 30th Sept. following
Cwts. Cwts. Cwts.
1929 23,986 359,100 62,208 307,289
1930 19,997 253,000 44,199 277,406
1931 19,628 169,000 50,303 219,587
1932 16,531 188,000 14,952 222,868
1933 16,895 210,000 44,829 233,419
1934 18,037 259,000 30,046 248,744
1935 18,251 248,300 35,186 258,300
1936 18,317 252,000 31,953 270,692
1937 18,093 235,000 40,406 277,846
1938 18,460 257,000 45,287 286,716
1939 18,812 288,000 7,840 265,512
1940 18,592 270,500 14,675 251,354
Source:
Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 63.


Usage of foreign hops also tells a story. Though the figures are confused by the inclusion of other European hops in the British numbers for most years. What we're really seeing is European vs American hops.

Pre-WW I massive amounts of hops were imported from the US. And in the immediate post-war years, with the hop industry in Europe still suffering from the war, large quantities were again imported from the US. Through the 1920's, these hops were around a third of those used at Truman. But once the UK industry became just about self-sufficient, Truman dropped foreign hops.

Truman Brick Lane hop usage 1924 - 1940
UK hops Foreign hops total hops
year cwt % cwt % cwt Average price (cwt) oz per barrel brewed
1924 1818 61.85% 1121.25 38.15% 2939.25 £13.43 19.8
1925 2131.5 67.33% 1034.25 32.67% 3165.75 £13.76 18.6
1926 2222.5 72.41% 846.75 27.59% 3069.25 £11.05 17.77
1927 2078 67.94% 980.75 32.06% 3058.75 £11.68 17.7
1928 1939.25 68.06% 910.25 31.94% 2849.5 £11.55 16.08
1929 1951.25 69.60% 852.25 30.40% 2803.5 £13.06 16.44
1930 2155 74.99% 718.75 25.01% 2873.75 £11.03 15.35
1931 2547 90.58% 265 9.42% 2812 £6.02 15.62
1932 2886.25 100.00% 0.00% 2886.25 £5.76 15.68
1933 2246.5 100.00% 0.00% 2246.5 £7.50 14.17
1934 2582 98.62% 36.25 1.38% 2618.25 £10.35 14.34
1935 2164.25 90.10% 237.75 9.90% 2402 £15.14 13.07
1936 2271.75 81.85% 503.75 18.15% 2775.5 £11.49 13.69
1937 2718.75 100.00% 0.00% 2718.75 £10.98 13.32
1938 2713.25 99.97% 0.75 0.03% 2714 £10.79 12.77
1939 2652.5 100.00% 0.00% 2652.5 £10.52 12.52
1940 2455.25 99.41% 14.5 0.59% 2469.75 £10.40 11.71
Source:
Document B/THB/C/256c held at the London Metropolitan Archives

I'm saving the best stuff from this document for later. Stay tuned.

1 comment:

Ed said...

I really must pull my finger out on getting some stuff from Hubert Parker's Hop book posted as it's relevant to this.