DDR beer production, imports and exports 1955 - 1989

During the brief life of the DDR, beer production increased considerably. Beer export, too. Which I find somewhat more surprising.

Between 1955 and 1989, the quantity of beer produced more than doubled. Though that growth does seem to have stagnated in the 1980s. The same is true of exports, which grew rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s. Ending up - at the end of the DDR - at half a million hectolitres annually. Quite impressive. And around 2% of the beer produced.

Where was all this beer going? Luckily, I do know. At least for Radeberger. Which, as it was one of the leading export breweries, should give us a good idea of the destinations for DDR beer exports in general.

Egypt (ship supply port Port Said), Bulgaria, West Germany (West Berlin, Edeka, RPL Hamburg), Burma, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Guinea, Italy, South Yemen, Canary Islands, Cuba, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Soviet Union, Spain, Tanzania, USA, North Vietnam.
Die Brau- und Malzindustrie in Deutschland-Ost zwischen 1945 und 1989, VLB, 2016, page 150.

That's quite a mix. Some socialist countries in Europe and beyond, Western Europe, Africa nad even the USA.

You'll note that Czechoslovakia wasn't on the list of export destinations. But I'm sure it would have been on a list of import sources. The only imported beer I can remember seeing waas Czech. Mostly in the form of Pilsner Urquell. 

DDR beer production, imports and exports (1,000 hl)
Year	production	imports	exports	balance
1955	11,772	144.6
1960	13,424	88.8	129.6	40.8
1965	13,633	78.1	158.8	80.7
1970	16,642	80.4	167.7	87.3
1976		207.9	353.7	145.8
1980	23,633	204.4	400.7	196.3
1985	24,288	25.0	562.9	537.9
1987		26.0	522.1	496.1
1988		24.6	528.5	503.9
1989	24,843	34.3	538.9	504.6
Average		91.41	373.7	282.2
Source:
Die Brau- und Malzindustrie in Deutschland-Ost zwischen 1945 und 1989, VLB, 2016, pages 300 and 301.

 

Home production vs imports of wine, beer and spirits in 1899

My arm is still broken and in plaster. Hence some more random statistics. Still have to post every day, no matter what the state of my limbs.

Let's start with wine. Two countries in the table imported all of their wine: the UK and Canada. A situation that I know is no longer true. Especially in the case of Canada. Honestly, I'm shocked that it produced no wine in the 19th century. Especially with all the French speakers.

Canada's lack of wine production is particularly surprising given how high domestic production was in the USA. Higher even than in France. Not such a shock is how few imports there were in Australia. Which has a good climate for viticulture. And is a fuck of a long way from most other wine-producing regions.

Moving on to beer, where imports were fairly insignificant in every one of the countries listed. Just 0.1% in the case of the UK. Only Canada and Australia imported significant quantities. Beer being a pretty bulky commodity, it does make sense that it wouldn't be moved around that much. Though those imports into Australia had come quite a distance. As the vast majority came from the UK.

Finally, spirits. Where Germany, France and the USA imported bugger all. I'm slightly surprised at the low level of imports in the last of those. I thought the USA imported quite a lot of Irish whiskey and Scotch.

Spirit imports were highest in Australia. I'm guessing that most were coming from the UK. What was made in Australia? Rum? Canada, number 2 importer, I assume was bringing in whisky from the UK and whiskey from Ireland and the USA. 

Home production vs imports of wine, beer and spirits in 1899
	Percentage of Wine		Percentage of Beer		Percentage of Spirits
Country	Imported	Home-Made	Imported	Home-Made	Imported	Home-Made
United Kingdom	100	-	0.1	99.9	20	80
France	20	80	1.2	98.8	7.5	92.5
Germany	37.8	62.2	0.8	99.2	2.1	97.9
United States	15	85	0.2	99.8	1.2	98.8
Australian Colonies	6	94	8	92	79	21
Canada	100	-	8	92	38.6	61.4
Source:
The Brewers' Journal vol. 36 1900, February 15th 1900, page 205.

 

 

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.

 

Beer Imports in the 1970s

In the 19th century, UK beer imports were almost 100% Lager. That changed after 1922 with Irish independence. Overnight, the largest import became Irish Stout.

Nothing much had changed by the 1970s.  Over 50% of imports were from the Republic of Ireland and most of the rest Lager from Northern Europe.

There was a decline in imports over the decade of around 500,000 barrels. But this can almost totally be accounted for by the decline in imports from Denmark. I assume this because Carlsberg switched production to the UK.

Biggest winner over the period was Germany, volumes rising from 55,000 barrels in 1971 to over 400,000 barrels in 1979. I wonder what that was. Holsten Pils? Was that really brewed in Germany?

Not sure why Belgian imports shot up in 1973 to 1976. Could that be a Lager like Stella first being imported and then brewed locally? This is too early for it to be a top-fermenting

I’m also intrigued by the increase in imports from the USA. What could that be? Probably dome shitty Lager.

Despite imports falling by half a million barrels between 1971 and 1980, the UK still had a deficit of around a million barrels a year. With imports easily outstripping exports every year.Lager.

UK beer imports 1971 - 1975
Country of Origin	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975
Belgium	22,246	31,481	89,739	102,681	99,073
Denmark	501,062	614,045	721,845	250,140	268,892
France	3,682	10,462	4,265	5,056	3,713
Republic of Ireland	1,350,138	1,269,805	1,379,896	1,221,315	1,181,862
Italy	—	3	138	107	362
Netherlands	59,288	30,633	21,471	73,669	30,014
W. Germany	55,159	72,600	100,860	127,285	176,279
Czechoslovakia	2,248	2,241	3,337	3,593	3,632
Norway	6,735	5,821	6,515	5,767	4,915
Switzerland	3,927	5,275	6,913	7,760	6,422
Australia	5,469	10,571	18,778	24,103	27,744
U.S.A	311	427	916	1,133	1,135
Other Countries	1,715	2,752	2,955	11,416	3,082
Total	2,011,980	2,056,116	2,357,628	1,834,025	1,807,125
Source:
The Brewers' Society UK Statistical Handbook 1980, page 16.

 

UK beer imports 1976 - 1980
Country of Origin	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980
Belgium	65,483	22,018	14,818	46,577	27,031
Denmark	291,437	83,918	28,699	33,934	8,265
France	967	1,177	1,236	1,204	862
Republic of Ireland	1,200,537	1,082,030	1,107,174	1,095,500	1,053,401
Italy	409	349	931	1,258	787
Netherlands	48,521	43,677	33,619	47,945	41,810
W. Germany	228,045	307,589	346,766	416,064	388,872
Czechoslovakia	3,933	2,565	3,333	3,182	3,377
Norway	2,635	1,648	1,772	1,359	1,179
Switzerland	1,596	294	248	548	287
Australia	24,899	13,512	17,211	22,282	25,843
U.S.A	1,573	3,157	4,903	4,492	7,341
Other Countries	8,818	2,799	2,283	4,061	16,851
Total	1,878,853	1,564,733	1,562,993	1,678,406	1,575,906
Source:
The Brewers' Society UK Statistical Handbook 1980, page 16.

 

 

UK Beer production in the 1970s

Between 1970 and 1979, consumption of beer rose by just shy of 20%. Not just that, it rose every single year. Even in the really bad years of the middle of the decade, when you had things like the three-day week. Which reduced earnings, obviously. But doesn’t seem to have dried up drinkers’ thirst for beer.

Things were looking very rosy for UK brewing. In the period covered by the table, production rose by 18%, consumption by 16% and exports by almost 3%. The only area that was in decline were exports.

One thing that didn’t change really at all was average OG. It increased by just 0.07% between 1971 and 1980. It had been around 1037º since the early 1950s.

Before WW I, UK beer exports were amazingly consistent.at around half a million barrels per year. The war interrupted that trade and between the wars exports pootled along at around 250,000 barrels. After WW II, exports remained at a similar level until the 1960s, when they began to rise, the peak being in 1975.  Only in the period 1906 to 1913 had exports been greater.  

UK production, imports, exports and average OG 1971 - 1980 (barrels)
Year	production	average OG	imports	exports	consumption
1971	34,360,000	1036.90	2,011,980	445,669	35,926,311
1972	34,969,310	1036.90	2,056,116	430,873	36,594,553
1973	35,338,345	1037.00	2,357,628	450,789	37,245,184
1974	37,893,753	1037.10	1,834,025	444,019	39,283,759
1975	38,238,657	1037.30	1,807,125	537,892	39,507,890
1976	39,200,556	1037.50	1,878,853	523,926	40,555,483
1977	40,404,025	1037.50	1,564,733	528,634	41,440,124
1978	40,279,059	1037.60	1,562,993	490,379	41,351,673
1979	40,595,574	1037.60	1,678,406	478,677	41,795,303
1980	40,595,574	1037.60	1,575,906	458,550	41,712,930
% change	18.15%	0.07%	-21.67%	2.89%	16.11%
Sources:
“The Brewers' Society Statistical Handbook 1988” page 7.
Statistical Handbook of the British Beer & Pub Association 2005, p. 7

UK Beer Imports in the late 19th century

I don’t have exact details on the source of imports. Just some hints, in the form of the port of destination.

In most cases the port of destination was in Northern Europe. The beer coming from Copenhagen and Christiania must have been Danish. With the others, it’s a bit more guesswork. That coming from Hamburg and Bremen was probably German.

Where the port was in Belgium or Holland, things are much less certain. I’m sure some being shipped from Amsterdam and Rotterdam was Dutch. But I’m sure some was also German. As Belgium had no great reputation for beer, the chances are that most, or all, of the beer coming through Antwerp and Ostend was German.

It’s interesting how much was being imported through the Clyde, which was presumably intended for the Scottish market. Perhaps a sign of the early popularity of Lager in Scotland. And the links between Carlsberg and William Younger, given that more than 50% of the beer coming from Denmark was landed on the Clyde.

UK beer imports in 1897
From	London, pkgs.	Liverpool, pkge.	Hull pkgs.	Harwich, pkgs.	O. E. Ports, pkgs.	Dublin. pkgs.	Clyde. &c. pkgs.	Total, pkgs.	%
Hamburg	7,885	3,977	2,215	700	1,604	457	908	17,746	12.42%
Bremen	20,827	1,075	1,351	-	-	-	3,825	27,078	18.95%
Rotterdam	18,593	171	4,129	11,183	725	9,098	1,831	45,730	32.01%
Antwerp	4,574	732	18	4,576	672	-	3	10,575	7.40%
Amsterdam	14,718	282	5,655	-	2,754	-	3,064	26,473	18.53%
Copenhagen	1,882	106	2,033	-	-	-	5,275	9,296	6.51%
Christiania	154	-	618	-	14	-	66	852	0.60%
New York	100	45	-	-	-	-	50	195	0.14%
Ostend	4,934	-	-	-	-	-	-	4,934	3.45%
Totals, 1897	73,667	6,388	16,019	16,459	5,769	9,555	15,022	142,879
Do. 1896	63,267	10,779	13,468	14,026	4,997	8,250	14,655	129,442
Do. 1895	55,429	11,868	11,775	17,082	4,079	8,282	14,130	122,645
Source:
Brewers' Journal 1898, page 64.

 

Dutch beer imports by source 1946 - 1954

Yet more boring old numbers for you. Perhaps there's one person out there, other than me, who's interested in this stuff.

Little beer was imported in the immediate post-war years and, initially, from different sources. It wasn’t until the 1950s that Germany regained its position of major supplier of imports. Though not back to the same volume as pre-war.

Belgium was establishing itself at the same time as a strong number two, increasing volumes to ten times of what they’d been before the war. While Czech imports dried up after the communist takeover in 1949. UK imports didn’t dry up, they just hadn’t restarted.

The percentage of imports in bottled form greatly increased after the war, rising from 14.5% in to 58.5% in 1952.  Though a majority imports from Germany remained draught beer. 

Dutch beer imports by source 1946 - 1954 (hl)
	1946	1947	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954
Total	280	3,360	520	1,030	970	5,215	9,138	11,957	25,045
Germany			-	620	830	3,529	5,096	8,017	15,811
Belgium & Luxemb.			300		-	1,637	3,863	3,455	8,249
Czechoslovakia	280	1,000	210	290
Denmark							-	30	501
USA		2,360
Source:
De Nederlandse Brouwindustrie in Cijfers, by Dr. H. Hoelen, Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor, 1955, held at the Amsterdam City Archives, pages 32 - 33.

Dutch beer imports by source 1946 - 1954 (%)
	1946	1947	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954
Germany				60.19%	85.57%	67.67%	55.77%	67.05%	63.13%
Belgium & Luxemb.			57.69%			31.39%	42.27%	28.90%	32.94%
Czechoslovakia	100.00%	29.76%	40.38%	28.16%
Denmark								0.25%	2.00%
USA		70.24%
Source:
De Nederlandse Brouwindustrie in Cijfers, by Dr. H. Hoelen, Centraal Brouwerij Kantoor, 1955, held at the Amsterdam City Archives, pages 32 - 33.