The London hop market in May 1898

Another little interlude. This time looking at the prices for various types of hops.

The table below is dead handy as it gives any idea of how much the various types of hops were valued by British brewers. Though much of what it tells me I alreadt knew. For example, that East Kent Goldings were the most prized. And that Belgian hops were cheap. Interesting to see that Alsace hops were some of the better liked continental hops.

You may be wondering why there are three columns for each year. They're the price of the differeng grades of hops, obviously working up from lowest to highest.

"Hops.—There is scarcely any feature of interest to observe in this market, which, since our monthly report of the 14th ultimo, has been very quiet, and business has been on a much contracted scale. Speculation, it is almost needless to say, has been entirely dormant, and as most of the brewers are fairly well stocked with hops, the demand from the trade has been confined to the making up of odd parcels and the completion of unfulfilled orders. English descriptions, wherever and whenever they can be procured, have been much preferred to other kinds, but owing to the absence of a proper assortment, few purchases of importance have taken place, and no fresh advance having been established, present rates remain the same as those of a month ago. All the best "yearlings ” have either disappeared or been worked off, as practically none are left to bear a quotation, and nothing is now to be had above £3 10s. per cwt. An inquiry has existed for Continental hops, and good qualities have realised firm prices ; but California growths have been less generally sought after, and their outturn and condition not being thoroughly satisfactory, this, with their comparative abundance, has induced holders to submit to rather lower terms, say £2 5s. to £5, for common to the finer grades. American hops, however, exhibit no alteration, and this day’s general currency in the Borough, as approved by the merchants there, rules as follows :-—

Hop prices in London May 1898
	1898			1897			1996
	£ s.	£ s.	£ s.	£ s.	£ s.	£ s.	£ s.	£ s.	£ s.
East Kent Goldings 1897’s	4 15	5 10	7 0	2 0	3 0	4 10	1 15	2 16	4 10
Mid-Kents ,,	4 16	6 0	5 15	2 0	2 16	3 15	1 10	2 5	3 15
W. of Kent ,,	4 10	5 0	5 12	1 10	2 5	3 0	1 0	1 10	2 16
Sussex ,,	4 10	4 15	5 0	1 15	2 5	2 10	1 0	1 10	2 10
Worcesters ,,	4 5	4 10	5 0	1 10	2 10	3 0	1 0	2 0	3 10
Farnhams ,,	4 10	4 15	5 12	2 0	2 10	6 15	1 0	2 0	3 10
Country Do. ,,	4 10	4 15	5 10	2 0	2 10	3 10	1 0	2 0	3 10
Yearlings 1896's	2 5	3 10	-	0 10	2 0	—	-	0 10	1 0
Old Olds	1 0	1 10	—	0 5	0 10	—	0 5	0 10	—
Bavarians 1897's	4 0	4 10	5 10	1 18	2 5	3 10	1 10	2 0	2 10
Belgians ,,	2 2	2 10	3 3	1 5	2 0	-	1 10	2 0	—
Alsace ,,	—	4 4	4 15	1 12	2 0	3 10	1 0	2 5	—
Bohemia ,,	none.			none.			none.
Burgundy ,,	4 4	4 10	4 15	1 15	2 0	2 16	1 10	2 5	2 10
American ,,	3 0	4 0	5 10	-	2 14	3 15	—	2 0	2 16
Californian ,,	2 5	3 10	5 0	—	3 0	3 15	1 0	1 10	2 10
Foreign Old Olds	0 10	0 15	-	0 5	0 10	-	0 5	0 10	-
Source:
"The Brewers' Journal, 1898", page 391.

Messrs. Tuchmann and Low, 11, Southwark Street, London, S.E., report as follows on the English and Foreign Hop market :— “Since Easter we have a better inquiry and more business doing. Good useful copper hops have been in request, and as the stock of those remaining unsold is small holders continue firm in their demand as to price. Continental hops are without much alteration in value. Pacific Coast hops the last few weeks have been receiving more attention, and some business has been done in these, the cheap prices at which the lower qualities were, being offered having stimulated business.”

Messrs. Bloch Brothers, of Nuremberg. write us on the 10th inst. as follows :—"Our market continues unchanged. Stocks are exceedingly reduced, and the volume of business is necessarily quite small; prices remain firm on the same basis as last month. The new hop plant is doing well so far, but, of course, it is too early to attach any importance to this fact.”
"The Brewers' Journal, 1898", page 391.

Of the foreign hops, only Bavarian and Burgundy commanded close to the same price as English hops. It's just a shame that there were no Bohemian hops. I suspect they would have been rivalling English hops in terms of price.

The difference between the price of American and Californian hops is fascinating. I'm pretty sure the former are hops grown on the East Coast, mainly in New York state.

Old olds, if you're wondering, are hops more than two years old.

The 1952 hop crop (part two)

If the 1952 hop crop was disappointing in the UK, it was disastrous in much of continental Europe.

Almost no-one had produced enough Hops:

“Continental Districts
The position of continental brewers has been aptly summarised by a spokesman who commented : "It seems that England and the United States of America will have to make up the  deficit in European hop production this season."

In the countries West of the iron curtain 1952 production of brewing-type hops is substantially down on the previous year, and quality has suffered as well as quantity apart from England and Yugoslavia. The latter country's crop is calculated to be something like 20 per cent lower than 1951, but on the other hand, the quality is exceptionally high.”
"Brewer's Guardian 1953", 1953, February pages 11 - 12.

Interesting that the author placed Yugoslavia West of the iron curtain. Not sure what Stalin would have thought of that. Though lacking a border with Yugoslavia, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

Let’s go through all of Europe’s hop regions.

“In Belgium growers in the middle of the season were highly confident but in the result found quantity down and quality of the major portion below that of the previous year. French hops from the Alsace region are much on a par with the Belgian produce.”
"Brewer's Guardian 1953", 1953, February page 12.

Belgian hops were considered to be some of the lowest quality foreign hops by British brewers. Who only ever used them for one reason: they were cheap.  If the quality was below even the normal level, they must have pretty crap.

The poor harvest in Germany was compounded by another factor:

“Though of good quality, the crop in West Germany failed to produce more than 90 per cent of the lowest estimated yield—a position which, for the home brewer, was aggravated by freely allowing all export orders in the early stages before the actual extent of the harvest had been realised.”
"Brewer's Guardian 1953", 1953, February page 12.

Not too bright, that, exporting hops before you know whether you’ve enough to fill domestic needs.

It all added up to a shortage of hops on the continent. One which couldn’t be remedied by UK supplies. There was one obvious source – the USA. But that presented another problem:

“Continental brewers therefore looked westwards for the supplies necessary to supplement local products to fulfil their demands. A reduced crop in England forced attention even across the Atlantic for hops which most of these brewers could not enthuse over— and for which invaluable dollars would have to be expended. !”
"Brewer's Guardian 1953", 1953, February page 12.

It’s hard nowadays to remember the problem that foreign currencies used to present. You needed US dollars to buy goods from the US. Unlike today, most European currencies weren’t freely convertible.

“Attention at first turned to Czechoslovakia—where Switzerland returned for the first time since pre-war days as a customer but there also the growers had suffered the same diminution in crops as the neighbouring German areas, being at least 10 per cent down in quantity on 1951. The trend of that country's selling policy may be seen in its offer to Belgium to exchange on the basis of one ton Hallertau type hops for 2 tons Belgian hops. In other words, in order to obtain a footing again in the international market Czechoslovakia was prepared to let other countries have her best produce, her own consumers having to  accept a drink prepared from materials  below the standard of her own produce — perhaps a very enlightening reflection upon that country's regime!”
"Brewer's Guardian 1953", 1953, February page 12.

According to my figures, the Czech harvest was closer to 20% down on 1951. Those naughty communists swapping good hops for crap ones. Like lots of other European countries (including the UK) they were pretty broke and desperate.

You can see how yields were down everywhere in 1952:

World Production of hops 1951 - 1957
Country	1951	1952	1953	1955	1956	1957
	cwts.	cwts.	cwts.	cwts.	cwts.	cwts.
USA	564,634	546,991	372,786	329,233	342,705	358,349
United Kingdom	321,821	282,348	266,000	256,821	184,170	267,670
Czechoslovakia	98,420§	80,705§	98,420§	120,428	96,304	73,813
Germany	252,795	206,187	280,500	253,358	277,027	283,473
France	41,330	34,446	48,223	41,214	33,071	33,696
Belgium	19,366	17,062	19,179	26,571	16,027	23,821
Yugoslavia	24,652	23,652	25,589	36,616	45,866	52,848
total Europe	659,964	563,695	639,491	735,008	652,465	735,321
Total Europe + USA	1,224,598	1,110,686	1,012,277	1,064,241	995,170	1,093,670
§ estimate
Sources:
1951, 1952, 1953: 1955 Brewers' Almanack, page 65.
average 1950-54, 1955, 1956, 1957: 1962 Brewers' Almanack, page 63.

You can see that European hop production recovered in 1953, while in the USA it plummeted. Though 1956 was another poor year in most of Europe.

The Czechs provided only temporary relief. Once all their hops had been sold, there was only one option on this side of the Atlantic:

“However, even this source proved short-lived,  and  by   the middle of January it was stated that practically all hops on the continent had been sold. Economic considerations — the eternal dollar   problem — may influence the European market in the direction of seeking English hops, but even here there is only a limited quantity available. On the economic side, it would appear preferable to trade within the E.P.U. confines and so lessen the strain on dollar reserves implicit in obtaining supplies from the other side of the Atlantic; but the rapidly improving position of this country, at least in trading within the Union, is making its effect felt in an unexpected direction — sterling is becoming short in E.P.U. countries which wish to buy from us!”
"Brewer's Guardian 1953", 1953, February page 12.

The EPU was the European Payments Union. It existed between 1950 and 1958 and was basically a way of getting around Europe’s lack of hard currency after WW II. It seems to have been very successful in boosting inter-European trade.

Finally, something about hop prices in Germany. If you could find any, that is:

“The ban on exports by the West German Federal Government is not a general ban. Countries having a clearing arrangement with Germany can still take supplies, in certain circumstances; but it is understood that all available supplies have been disposed of. Local prices have ceased their upward spiral, but remain firm: Hallertau. 790 marks per zentner (.984 cwt.); Hersbrucker Gebirge 720; Spalt, 820; and Tettnang, 835.”
"Brewer's Guardian 1953", 1953, February page 12.

It’s amazing how close a metric Zentner is to an Imperial hundredweight. In 1953 I happen to know there were 11.7 DM to the pound. Which allows me to compile this table:

Hop prices per cwt. In 1953
Hop	DM	£
Hallertau	790	68.62
Hersbrucker Gebirge	720	62.54
Spalt	820	71.23
Tettnang	835	72.53
Goldings	386.1	33
Goldings Varieties	359.8	30.75
Fuggles	348.1	29.75
Brewer's Gold C9A	351.0	30
Bullion Q43	353.9	30.25
Early Promise X35	310.1	26.5
Key worth's Midseason OR55	339.3	29
Sources:
Brewer's Guardian 1953, 1953, February pages 11 - 12.

The English hops are all grade 1, the top quality. Yet they were still less than half the price of the German hops.

Brewing in the 1950’s - Continental Hops

I almost forgot about this. Too busy getting distracted by other shiny articles about hops in the 1950’s.

So here’s Jeffery’s overview of foreign hops. Imported hops had become much less important after the two world wars. For the very simple reason that Britain had become self-sufficient in hops for the first time since the early 1800’s.

“Continental Hops. A general characteristic of all Continental hops is the small size of the cone. Indeed, they look only a quarter grown compared with English hops, but even so they are fully grown out. Another noticeable feature is the absence of seeds due to the intentional elimination of the male plant. The strigs are very short, and the bracts are tightly attached to them at very short intervals. Even when ripe it is difficult to pull them apart. On that account Continental hops are favoured for dry hopping, as they do not break up and create floaters. It has been found that this is a very wasteful way of using them, as the failure to break retains the resins which would otherwise be imparted with benefit to the beer.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 175.

Now isn’t that interesting? No, not the thing about Continental hops being seedless. I knew about that. I meant about them being used often as dry hops. By “floaters” he means small pieces of hop that would finish up in someone’s pint. Not what you wanted as a brewer, obviously. Though Jeffery seems to think that not breaking apart was also a disadvantage to their use as dry hops.

He seems quite enthusiastic about the best Continental hops:

“The pockets are of strong texture and large, holding 3 cwt. or more. When samples are drawn, the side shows the hops as very compact, with the resins in definite yellow clusters. There is an absence of leaves, since careful picking is insisted upon. This care also applies to curing, which is very regular. Picking only takes place when the crop is really ripe and ready, and the hops are sun-dried until the whole produce of the Garden is ready for the final curing. The delicacy of flavour of the best growths is indisputable, and it is not to be wondered at that they are hops which find much favour for pale ales. Their preservative properties, too, are high.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, pages 175 - 176.

Saying they were good enough for Pale Ale is high praise indeed. If you remember, most English hops weren’t considered worthy.

Which Continental hops were considered best isn’t hard to guess:

“In order of brewing value we place first and foremost Certificated Saaz. They are usually of extreme delicacy of flavour, well managed, nicely cured and full of resins. As such, they are highly favoured for the best beers. Next comes the choicest Spalts, which nearly reach the excellence of the Saaz mentioned above. They are not quite so delicate in flavour, however. Then may be bracketed together in about equal value the Saaz Country and Spalt Country, a little greener in colour than the choicer samples, and not quite so regular in size and development. Hallertaus may be placed next, but they require careful examination and selection because, at times, they are decidedly on the green side and not fully grown out. Following these, we place Wurtembergs, hops of some variation in colour and quality. We have seen some quite rich in resins, while others have a distinct deficiency. Lastly, we mention Poperinghes, about which we hardly dare hazard a guess why they are grown at all. They are practically devoid of resin. Their value is for freshening up old hops at the beginning of the season, because they are the first harvested. They have neither character nor flavour. We sometimes hear of Alosts, which can only be classified with Poperinghes.”
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E. J. Jeffery, 1956, page 176.

There seem to be two types of Saaz hops: Saaz and Saaz Country. I’d noticed the latter – called “Saazer Land” – in Ny Carlsberg’s brewing records. Saaz pop up fairly regularly in British brewing records from the second half of the 19th century onwards. William Younger in Edinburgh were particularly keen on them. In 1868 they were using them in all sorts of beer: IPA, No. 3, 120/-, 140/- and 160/-. Funnily enough, this was exactly the period when Carl Jacobsen was at Younger. I wonder if he picked up the use of Saaz from them.

Hallertau and Wurtemberg hops both appear in Whitbread records from the 1890’s. Hallertau only seem to have been used in Mild Ale, which implies they weren’t considered the very best hops. They pop up again in the 1930’s, this time in Porter and Stout as well as Mild.

Spalt hops were also widely used in Britain at various times. Though they are rarely named, they are usually what was referred to simply as “Bavarians” in brewing records.

Poperinghes and Alost (Aalst) are both Belgian types of hops. They were never rated very highly by British breweries, but they were cheap. I’ve seen both in brewing records, with Poperinghes being far the more common of the two.

The first mention I’ve spotted of Belgian hops in Whitbread’s records in 1849. They used large quantities in the 1850’s in both their Mild and Stock Ales. Occasionally they’re called Poperinghe by name, but mostly it’s just the generic term Belgian.

Next time we’ll be finishing off with North American hops.