AK hops during WW II

I doubt it will come as much of a shock that the hops used in AK during the war were almost exclusively English.

Hop imports almost totally dried up during the war. Falling from 44,056 cwt. in 1939 to just 2,024 cwt. in 1940. During the last four years of the war a total of a mere 3,589 cwt. were imported. The vast majority - 3,254 cwt. - in 1943.* That must have been the year when Shepherd Neame's Oregon hops were imported.

I am slightly surprised that Shepherd Neame were still using hops from the 1940 and 1941 seasons as late as 1944. By the later war years brewers had mostly used up their old stocks and were limited to hops from the most recent harvest and possibly the one before that.

It's a shame Shepherd Neame didn't bother recording the growing region. We can, however, safely assume that the majority were from Kent. What with the brewery being located in that county and having its own hop gardens.

AK hops during WW II
Date	Year	Brewer	Beer	hop 1	hop 2	hop 3	hop 4
23rd Jan	1940	Greene King	AK	EK (1936)	EK (1938)
8th May	1940	Fullers	AK	English (1938)	English (1939)
20th May	1940	Shepherd Neame	AK	English (1937)	English (1938)	English (1939)
25th May	1941	Fullers	AK	English (1939)	English (1940)
4th Feb	1943	Shepherd Neame	AK	English (1939)	English (1941)	English (1942)
18th Dec	1943	Shepherd Neame	AK	English (1940)	English (1941)	English (1942)	English (1943)
21st Feb	1944	Shepherd Neame	AK	English (1940)	English (1941)	English (1942)	English (1943)
27th Nov	1944	Shepherd Neame	AK	English (1941)	English (1943)	English (1944)	Oregon (1942)
22nd Feb	1945	Shepherd Neame	AK	English (1941)	English (1943)	English (1944)	Oregon (1942)
7th May	1945	Shepherd Neame	AK	English (1941)	English (1943)	English (1944)	Oregon (1942)
Sources:
Fullers brewing records held at the brewery.
Greene King brewing record held at the brewery, document number AC93/1/14 .
Shepherd Neame brewing record held at the brewery.

* 1955 Brewers' Almanack, page 64.