Irish brewing in WW II

In WW II, the Republic of Ireland was in a similar position to The Netherlands or Denmark in WW I: not directly involved in the conflict but still greatly affected by it.

Disruption of international trade was the main problem faced by Irish brewing. Which made the shipping in of ingredients and shipping out of beer (Ireland being a big exporter) much trickier. For hops they had always depended on imports, but during the war it was also necessary to import barley. We’ll get to why later.

Luckily, the biggest export market was close at hand: the UK. Before the war, good for around 1 million barrels a year. Almost all of it was in the form of Guinness. Despite owning a brewery in London, Guinness still shipped large quantities of beer from Dublin to the UK.

Irish beer production held up very well during the war. It remained steady in terms of standard barrels and increased considerably in terms of bulk barrels, due to the fall in gravity. I’m slightly surprised by the increase in consumption

The border between the two parts of Ireland is notoriously difficult to control. Its course is fairly random, never having been intended to be an international border, and is crossed by dozens of tiny roads. Was that beer really being drunk in the South, or was some being smuggled into Northern Ireland?

Before the war, a very high percentage of Irish beer was exported, over 50%. Despite the relative ease of exporting to the UK, the war did impact exports. They fell considerably in the middle years of the war. This was partly due to a dispute between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Changes in UK and Republic of Ireland brewing 1938 - 1949
	Output; Standard barrels	Bulk barrels	Consumption bulk barrels	Average Gravity	Exports: Standard barrels
Ireland	-2.68%	20.73%	79.49%	-19.35%	-28.75%
UK	-9.11%	11.50%	10.06%	-18.50%	-9.68%
Sources:
Brewers' Almanack 1955, pages 50 and 57.
“1955 Brewers' Almanack”, pages 107 - 110.

Once the war was over, exports picked up again. The 1949 figure of 760,000 barrels may look considerably smaller than the million barrels of 1938, but they’re standard barrels. In 1938, when Guinness Extra Stout had an OG of 1055º, the standard and bulk barrel figures were about the same. But 760,000 standard barrels is around a million bulk barrels at 1042º.

As in the UK, beer gravity fell during the war, from 1052º to 1042º. In percentage terms, the fall was just shy of 20%, which is even slightly more than the fall in the UK. Though it did kick off the war 10º higher. Unsurprisingly, average Irish OG is eerily close to the OG of Guinness Extra Stout at the time.

In most aspects, Irish brewing fared better than that in the UK. Output, in terms of standard barrels, was only slightly down, while in the UK the decline was almost 10%. 

Irish brewing 1938 - 1949
Year	Output; Standard barrels	Bulk barrels	Consumption bulk barrels	Average Gravity	Exports: Standard barrels	% exported
1938	1,652,844	1,755,774	623,238	1051.78	1,066,094	64.50%
1939	1,368,661	1,472,678	643,495	1051.12	770,562	56.30%
1940	1,401,188	1,494,036	651,858	1051.58	789,864	56.37%
1941	1,335,171	1,465,569	623,387	1050.11	767,209	57.46%
1942	1,451,782	1,750,140	659,008	1045.62	905,165	62.35%
1943	1,293,862	1,631,009	759,621	1043.63	691,275	53.43%
1944	1,242,754	1,534,040	937,509	1044.57	483,031	38.87%
1945	1,458,419	1,798,450	982,533	1044.60	661,674	45.37%
1946	1,665,815	2,063,093	1,069,649	1044.41	802,122	48.15%
1947	1,480,769	1,952,583	1,060,552	1041.71	676,485	45.68%
1948	1,490,218	1,988,580	1,046,639	1041.51	700,291	46.99%
1949	1,608,606	2,119,583	1,117,859	1041.76	759,846	47.24%
change 1938 - 1949	-2.68%	20.73%	79.49%	-19.35%	-28.75%	-26.77%
Source:
“1955 Brewers' Almanack”, pages 107 - 110.