In addition to looking at beer in Germany, it also has short sections on brewing elsewhere in the world. Including the UK. Which is the part I'm going to reproduce here.
Great Britain: It tastes best in the “pubs”.
Britain's lovers of good beer are getting restless. The reason: the quality of the barley juice is declining - a result of the monopolisation of beer production, which is no longer controlled and determined by brewing experts but by financiers. The small, traditional breweries are disappearing more and more and with them the variety of beers.
In 1977 UK production was over 65 million hectolitres. Every citizen in the UK drank around 117 liters a year. Statistics show a decline in production. While there were 64.8 million in 1980, the number fell to 59.8 million hectoliters in 1982. Beer consumption also fell to 107 liters (1982).
Almost three quarters of beer production have been taken over by seven trusts or corporations, showing a further growing trend towards concentration of production. In addition, they own around 50 percent of the beer sales outlets, so-called “pubs”. The majority of sales are realized in these beer bars. The attractiveness of these establishments, which also serve food, ensures the increase in beer consumption. Advertising slogans praise “pubs” as places where beer tastes the best.
"Rund ums Bier" by Emil Ulischberger, Leipzig, 1986, page 60.
That's a very Marxist view of UK brewing in the 1980s. But not totally wide of the mark. Seven large companies were doing their best to monopolise the beer market. I'm not sure there's much I would argue with in their analysis. Except they fail to mention the emergence of dozens of new breweries. Something which was having an impact.
What does get mentioned is home brewing. Though that was more about the price of commercial beer than its quality.
In the meantime, however, the dissatisfaction of beer drinkers has been expressed in the increased purchase of home-brewing equipment and also beer ingredients. The English are now starting to brew their own beer again, just like in the old days. They have no confidence in attempts to get beer out of a test tube, so to speak. Chemists are even experimenting with fruits, such as bananas, to bring flavored beer to the market.
A society for the protection of English beer has been formed, whose members visit pubs to find out where good beer is served. These “pubs” are included in lists that guide beer lovers to a good drink. What is telling is that a small London brewery was constantly awarded the title “Pub of the Year”. The traditional local breweries are also defending themselves against the corporate influence. What use is it? Small companies do not have the economic power to stop the concentration process of corporations, which is dictated by the pursuit of maximum profits and which local breweries stand in the way of. At best - for advertising reasons - the name remains.
"Rund ums Bier" by Emil Ulischberger, Leipzig, 1986, page 61.
Fascinating to see CAMRA get a mention. Though not by name. And without mentioning the considerable success the organisation had in getting the big brewers top produce cask beer and in encouraging new brewers.
The description of UK beer styles is, er, a bit weird.
But now to the
peculiarities of barley juice on the British Isles: The classic English
beer is top-fermented. However, the “ale” tastes flat to our tongue. It
is light, low in carbonic acid and lightly hopped. (Heavily hopped ale
is a long-lasting stock ale for export.) "Porter" and "Stout", which
actually only differ in their name and whose origins have already been
discussed, have an original gravity of over 16 percent. “Burton” is a
particularly strong stout; like our bock beer, it is drunk in the winter
months around Christmas time.
"Rund ums Bier" by Emil Ulischberger, Leipzig, 1986, page 61.
7 comments:
Was home brewing legal or practised much in East Germany? I'm guessing that getting hold of the equipment and raw materials for it might have been the main problem.
Did Horst write this?
Not sure there is anything especially Marxist about the analysis, it seems to have been a very widely shared view of what was happening, although many might vaguely blame "accountants" rather than "concentration of capital".
One commodity the DDR wasn’t short of was rice due to the relationships with Vietnam and China. East Germans not being big rice eaters, I wonder if they ever brewed with it.
I agree with you that the critique is pretty valid. It's the unfortunate side of Communism that they couldn't apply the same insights to how so much state-sponsored consolidation made their own industries so much worse. Of course lots of capitalists are bad at diagnosing their own problems too.
What was the brewery that kept winning 'pub' of the year?
Young’s I believe.
Oscar
Wonder what they had to say about Irish brewing at the time. Interesting to see they did not mention the former Carlisle state brewery.
I think they may have lumped dark mild in with stout/porter like they did with Burton ale.
Oscar
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