I'm going to start off with some data because, well, I have it. And I wasn't sitting in a corner noting what everyone ordered. My memory isn't that great, either.
A word of caution regarding these number. They are for the UK as a whole. A point worth making, as there were very large regional variations. By the mid-1970s, Mild was pretty much dead in some areas. For example, Scotland, the Northeast, the Southwest and London. While in parts of the North and the Midlands, Mild didn't trail that far behind Bitter. Lager was far more popular in Scotland than elsewhere and was already rivalling Bitter.
| UK Beer Sales by type (%) | |||||||||
| beer type | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 |
| Ale & stout | 90.1 | 88.3 | 85.1 | 83.6 | 80.3 | 76.5 | 75.5 | 73.1 | 70.9 |
| Bitter & Stout | 72.4 | 72.4 | 70.9 | 69.8 | 67.0 | 63.9 | 62.8 | 61.1 | 59.4 |
| Light Mild | 3.4 | 3 | 2.8 | ||||||
| Dark Mild | 9.3 | 9 | 8.7 | ||||||
| Mild | 17.7 | 15.9 | 14.2 | 13.8 | 13.3 | 12.6 | 12.7 | 12 | 11.5 |
| Lager | 9.9 | 11.7 | 14.9 | 16.4 | 19.7 | 23.5 | 24.5 | 26.9 | 29.1 |
| Draught Lager | 7.1 | 8.6 | 11.3 | 12.6 | 15.6 | 18.5 | 19 | 20.6 | 22.1 |
| Sources: | |||||||||
| “The Brewers' Society Statistical Handbook 1988” page 15 | |||||||||
| “The Brewers' Society Statistical Handbook 1990” page 17 | |||||||||
| "Statistical Handbook of the British Beer & Pub Association 2003", p. 21 | |||||||||
| "Statistical Handbook of the British Beer & Pub Association 2005", p. 17 | |||||||||
As I know some of you like a visual representation, here's that data as a graph:
There's a steady rise in Lager sales, and a corresponding decline in those of Bitter and Mild.
Almost 90% of beer was sold in pubs, the vast majority of that in draught form. Only around 10% of the beer sold in pubs was bottled. And most of that was either consumed by older drinkers or drunk mixed with draught beer. For example, Light and Bitter or Brown Ale and Mild.
Personal recollections again next time. Or maybe some more numbers. Anyone interested in prices?
> While in parts of the North and the Midlands, Mild didn't trail that far behind Bitter.
ReplyDeleteMy recollection: In the West Midlands mild was still outselling bitter in the late seventies. And in Bank's/Hanson's pubs this continued to at least the early eighties (when I sadly moved away).
Started drinking about 1968, brown and mild, then light and bitter. Then bitter. Some if the local ciders then were amazing. Bitter still my preferred beer but love a stout, and an,IPA, well most cask beers really...
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