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19-05-2013, 08:05
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It's one of those special treat days. Where, as a reward for being good, I give you a bug, fat, juicy table. Several tables, in fact

The tables in question have details of the hops grown, imported, exported and used in the UK from 1857 to 1954. So almost 100 years' worth of hoppy fun.

One of the drums I particularly like to bang is about Britain's dependence on foreign hops in the second half of the 19th century. You can see it clearly in the table. Between 1870 and 1900 Britain imported 100,00-200,000 cwts. of hops each year and accounting for probably about a third of the hops used.

I'd expected that. What I hadn't foreseen was how steeply imports fell off after WW I. By 1924 they were at about half the level of 1900. By the 1930's, hop imports had halved again, averaging about 37,000 cwts. a year 1930 to 1938. That's quite a turnaround.

WW II basically brought imports to a halt, and though there was a small boom in 1946, after 1949 the quantities imported were minimal.

This table shows how the use of foreign hops declined:




Percentage of imported hops used


year
% of hops used in UK
year
% of hops used in UK
year
% of hops used in UK
year
% of hops used in UK


1920
100.34%
1930
15.93%
1940
5.84%
1950
0.12%


1921
54.35%
1931
22.91%
1941
0.01%
1951
0.27%


1922
38.80%
1932
6.71%
1942
1.28%
1952
0.22%


1923
3.46%
1933
19.21%
1943
0.08%
1953
0.47%


1924
24.72%
1934
12.08%
1944
0.00%
1954
1.41%


1925
25.41%
1935
13.62%
1945
0.25%




1926
10.38%
1936
11.80%
1946
13.43%




1927
29.31%
1937
14.54%
1947
3.33%




1928
20.66%
1938
15.80%
1948
1.96%




1929
20.24%
1939
2.95%
1949
0.39%




Sources:


Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 63.


1971 Brewers'Almanack, page 54


1928 Brewers' Almanack, page 119




The reason for the fall in imports can be explained very simply: the gravity drop caused by WW I. The weaker beer produced after the war required fewer hops. As the level of UK production had remained relatively unchanged, for the first time in many decades Britain was almost self-sufficent in hops.

It's interesting that, despite all the upheavals of two world wars, British hop production was relatively stable between 1890 and 1850. As this table demonstrates:




Average annual UK hop production


years
cwt.


1890
283,629


1900
347,894


1910
302,675


1920 - 1929
302,241


1930 - 1939
235,930


1946 - 1947
284,797


Sources:


1928 Brewers' Almanack, page 119


Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 63.



The main table also shows the volatility of the price of hops. The price could change by 100% or more from one season to the next. For example, 1928 to 1929, 1932 to 1934 and 1933 to 1934.

Hop exports increased significantly after WW I, but nmuch of this is explained by Irish independence. After 1923 hops shipped to the Republic of Ireland were counetd as exports. In the years 1923 to 1925 this acoounts for most of the hops exported.



Hops: home production and imports 1857 - 1954


Year ended 31st Dec.
Acreage
Estimated Produce
Yield per acre
Average Price of English Hops per Season, Sept. to Dec.
Imports: Less Re-Exports
Exports: British Hops
Consumption Years ended 30th Sept. following




Cwts.
Cwts.
£ s. d.
Cwts.
Cwts.
Cwts.


1857
50,974
426,049
8.35
4 2 8
18,711




1860
46,271
99,667
2.15
17 5 0
68,918




1870
60,594
700,000
11.55
3 7 8
127,853
3,365



1880
66,698
440,000
6.60
4 6 0
195,987
7,218



1890
53,961
283,629
5.26
10 9 4
181,698
6,164



1900
51,308
347,894
6.78
5 18 8
198,494
14,999



1910
32,886
302,675
9.20
5 6 6
172,032
8,927



1914
33,661
507,258
13.84
4 3 9
83,690
9972
450,231


1915
34,744
254,101
7.31
6 7 0
199,347
8,288



1916
31,352
307,856
9.82
6 14 0
146,150
10,765
263,386


1917
16,946
225,763
13.32
8 15 0
8,530
12,796



1918
15,666
130,491
8.3
18 15 0
259
6,923
503,140


1919
16,745
187,795
11.21
20 5 0
154,091
2,606



1920
21,002
281,042
13.4
19 10 0
455,799
3,672
454,258


1921
25,133
224,172
8.9
19 10 0
216,571
2,200
398,506


1922
26,452
301,000
11.4
12 0 0
127,539
2,818
328,688


1923
24,893
229,000
9.2
14 10 0
12,111
22,051
350,428


1924
25,897
444,000
17.1
10 5 0
89,632
44,316
362,554


1925
26,256
355,000
13.5
10 15 0
90,305
44,541
355,376


1926
25,599
332,000
13
11 5 0
35,040
78,574
337,721


1927
23,004
255,000
11.1
12 10 0
96,917
54,630
330,662


1928
23,805
242,100
10.2
11 16 0
66,183
17,651
320,315


1929
23,986
359,100
15
5 0 0
62,208
13,192
307,289


1930
19,997
253,000
12.6
4 15 0
44,199
22,302
277,406


1931
19,628
169,000
8.7
7 5 0
50,303
22,388
219,587


1932
16,531
188,000
11.4
9 15 0
14,952
19,264
222,868


1933
16,895
210,000
12.8
16 10 0
44,829
20,298
233,419


1934
18,037
259,000
14.4
9 0 0
30,046
13,382
248,744


1935
18,251
248,300
13.6
9 0 0
35,186
16,223
258,300


1936
18,317
252,000
13.7
9 0 0
31,953
19,987
270,692


1937
18,093
235,000
13
9 0 0
40,406
16,130
277,846


1938
18,460
257,000
13.9
9 0 0
45,287
12,580
286,716


1939
18,812
288,000
15.3
9 10 0
7,840
16,050
265,512


1940
18,592
270,500
14.5
12 0 0
14,675
26,830
251,354


1941
18,158
262,800
14.5
15 0 0
31
17,209
223,007


1942
18,420
261,900
14.2
17 10 0
2,963
30,673
231,689


1943
19,131
285,200
14.9
18 0 0
198
24,941
243,900


1944
19,603
253,900
13
20 0 0
--
26,525
244,822


1945
19,957
282,900
14.1
21 0 0
574
32,337
226,197


1946
21,163
257,451
13.4
22 10 0
29,243
35,056
217,759


1947
22,142
289,908
13.2
23 10 0
7,716
31,661
231,470


1948
22,787
273,584
12
25 15 0
4,561
29,135
233,168


1949
22,196
250,406
11.3
26 10 0
900
42,301
232,979


1950
22,198
368,313
16.6
21 0 0
269
84,027
229,106


1951
22,460
321,824
14.3
26 0 0
626
107,738
228,512


1952
22,279
282,349
12.7
28 3 0
502
76,620
225,569


1953
21,932
272,593
12.3
27 10 0
1,015
64,762
216,841


1954
20,760
246,748
11.9
29 0 0
3,075
51,323
217,716


Sources:









Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 63.


1928 Brewers' Almanack, page 119, 1971 Brewers'Almanack, page 54







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