UK beer imports in 1902

Well, for the first half of 1902. Long enough to give some idea of the source and quantity of beer imports.

The quantity of beer being imported compared to the quantities of beer being brewed and consumed in the UK. Imports accounted for only about 1.5% of UK beer consumption. And, when we look at the sources of imports, that imported beer seems to have been almost exclusively Lager. Which makes sense. The UK waas perfectly capable of brewing its own Pale Ale and Stout.

I was quite surprised at the biggest source of imports: The Netherlands. It was the origin of more than 50% of the beer coming into the UK. That's not what I would have expected. Which would have been Germany and Austria. Germany does come second, but Austria is nowhere to be seen. Which implies that no Pilsner Urquell was being imported into the UK. The first Lager imported into the UK in the 1860s mostly came from Austria. Which makes it even odder none was coming from there in 1902.

Though beer was coming from some weird places. Such as the USA and Japan. It seems really weird to ship beer all the way from Japan to Europe. No wonder that was some of the most expensive at 60 shillings per barrel. Sweden, Denmark and Norway make more sense, as all were locations for early Lager brewing.

To put the prices into context, standard Mild Ale cost 36 shillings per barrel. There's a large variation in average price, from 38 shillings to 133 shillings. Only the beer from the Channel Islands is around the same price as UK domestically-brewed beer.

UK beer imports in 1902
Country	Quantity				Value
	Jan. to June		July		Jan. to June.	July
	Barrels	average price	Barrels	average price	£	£
Sweden	96	57.08	15	69.33	274	52
Norway	198	88.38	45	91.11	875	205
Denmark	1,976	69.17	510	71.18	6,834	1,815
Germany	8,566	55.78	2,406	57.56	23,892	6,924
Holland	13,456	53.21	4,666	47.28	35,798	11,030
Belgium	865	43.21	462	47.10	1,869	1,088
Channel Islands	54	38.52	2	40.00	104	4
United States	31	133.55	4	50.00	207	10
Canada	-		10	96.00	-	48
Japan	4	60.00	-		12	-
France	-		2	20.00	-	2
Total	25,256	55.36	8,112	52.10	69,913	21,130
			33,368			91,043
Source:
The Brewers' Journal vol. 38 1902, August 15th 1902, page 496.

 

UK beer imports 1903 - 1914
year	barrels	year	barrels
1903	55,560	1909	54,374
1904	52,059	1910	50,927
1905	51,944	1911	53,541
1906	54,664	1912	64,706
1907	57,574	1913	64,346
1908	53,395	1914	74,205
Sources:
Brewers' Almanack 1912, page 154.
Brewers' Almanack 1928, p. 115.
Brewers' Almanack 1955, p. 51.