For the most part, brewing records note the details of a specific brew. With, perhaps, details of the weather that day. But, occasionally, the outside world intrudes on the cosy industrial documentation.
I came across this one yesterday. In a Young's brewing record. (PA, it you're interested. Which was 4.5% ABV. I doubt that there was anywhere else in Europe you could have found a beer that strong on that date.)
VE Day was a big deal. Especially in London, which had been under attack for virtually the whole of the war. VE Day represented a return to normality. Even though the war ewith Japan continued. AT least there was no longer a need for the blackout.
Going back a couple of years, on 9th September 1940, a brew of Porter and several Stouts noted:
Air Raid Warnings:_
5:15 p.m. to 6:25 p.m.
AND 8:40 p.m. to 5:45 a.m.
This was the fag end of the Battle of Britain and the start of the Blitz. Look at how long those warnings were. Around ten hours in total. That must have been both disruptive and scary.
A few months later, things were even worse for Boddington in Manchester. Their brewery suffered sever damage
"BIG AIR RAID ON MANCHESTER
ON NIGHTS OF DEC 23RD & 24TH
BREWERY BADLY DAMAGED
BY FIRE & EXPLOSIVES
ALL BEER IN F.V.S & R.S.S
SPOILT
RAN AWAY"
The damage was so bad, that the next brew was around 9 months later, on 25th August 1941.
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