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06-09-2013, 13:30
Visit the Shut up about Barclay Perkins site (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2013/09/number-of-uk-breweries-1870-1914.html)
I've been inspired to write this by a post of Craig's over at DrunkDrank about the number of breweries in different parts of New York state in the 19th century (http://www.drinkdrank1.com/2013/09/albany-ale-bubble-bubble-toil-and.html).
What would a graph of UK breweries look like, I thought. No need to wonder, when you can bash up a graph in a few minutes. Thinking more deeply, I need more than one graph.
First, the total number of breweries.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rQ6P1bUFYGg/UinDyI6SIKI/AAAAAAAAR5c/C7AoWW0lX1g/s640/UK_Breweries_1870_1914_total.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rQ6P1bUFYGg/UinDyI6SIKI/AAAAAAAAR5c/C7AoWW0lX1g/s1600/UK_Breweries_1870_1914_total.jpg)
Looks like a pretty catstrophic decline, doesn't it? But it's distorted by the large number of pub breweries. Splitting out the pub breweries, which made up all but a handful of the breweries producing less than 1,000 barrels annually, we get this:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q-6aaRcgSck/UinDxTBPqQI/AAAAAAAAR5U/nojtOu9ZAvo/s640/UK_Breweries_1870_1914_gt_1000_lt_1000.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q-6aaRcgSck/UinDxTBPqQI/AAAAAAAAR5U/nojtOu9ZAvo/s1600/UK_Breweries_1870_1914_gt_1000_lt_1000.jpg)
You can see that the vast majority of the decrease was among pub breweries.
Looking just at breweries producing more than 1,000 barrels a year we see something very different:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jKW-x9-55Ik/UinDxSfbKCI/AAAAAAAAR5Q/qSM-KXq2_Qo/s640/UK_Breweries_1870_1914_gt_1000.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jKW-x9-55Ik/UinDxSfbKCI/AAAAAAAAR5Q/qSM-KXq2_Qo/s1600/UK_Breweries_1870_1914_gt_1000.jpg)
You can see that the number of larger breweries was still increasing in the 1870's. This is the graph that should really compared with Craig's.
And finally, here's the raw data:
Number of UK breweries
1000
total
1870
26,506
2,173
28,679
1875
22,138
2,347
24,485
1879
17,542
2,411
19,953
1880
16,770
2,270
19,040
1881
14,948
2,162
17,110
1885
12,608
2,025
14,633
1890
9,986
2,014
12,000
1895
7,213
1,724
8,937
1900
4,759
1,531
6,290
1905
3,787
1,393
5,180
1912
2,868
1,194
4,062
1913
2,700
1,146
3,846
1914
2,536
1,111
3,647
Source:
1928 Brewers' Almanack, page 118.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2013/09/number-of-uk-breweries-1870-1914.html)
I've been inspired to write this by a post of Craig's over at DrunkDrank about the number of breweries in different parts of New York state in the 19th century (http://www.drinkdrank1.com/2013/09/albany-ale-bubble-bubble-toil-and.html).
What would a graph of UK breweries look like, I thought. No need to wonder, when you can bash up a graph in a few minutes. Thinking more deeply, I need more than one graph.
First, the total number of breweries.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rQ6P1bUFYGg/UinDyI6SIKI/AAAAAAAAR5c/C7AoWW0lX1g/s640/UK_Breweries_1870_1914_total.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rQ6P1bUFYGg/UinDyI6SIKI/AAAAAAAAR5c/C7AoWW0lX1g/s1600/UK_Breweries_1870_1914_total.jpg)
Looks like a pretty catstrophic decline, doesn't it? But it's distorted by the large number of pub breweries. Splitting out the pub breweries, which made up all but a handful of the breweries producing less than 1,000 barrels annually, we get this:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q-6aaRcgSck/UinDxTBPqQI/AAAAAAAAR5U/nojtOu9ZAvo/s640/UK_Breweries_1870_1914_gt_1000_lt_1000.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q-6aaRcgSck/UinDxTBPqQI/AAAAAAAAR5U/nojtOu9ZAvo/s1600/UK_Breweries_1870_1914_gt_1000_lt_1000.jpg)
You can see that the vast majority of the decrease was among pub breweries.
Looking just at breweries producing more than 1,000 barrels a year we see something very different:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jKW-x9-55Ik/UinDxSfbKCI/AAAAAAAAR5Q/qSM-KXq2_Qo/s640/UK_Breweries_1870_1914_gt_1000.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jKW-x9-55Ik/UinDxSfbKCI/AAAAAAAAR5Q/qSM-KXq2_Qo/s1600/UK_Breweries_1870_1914_gt_1000.jpg)
You can see that the number of larger breweries was still increasing in the 1870's. This is the graph that should really compared with Craig's.
And finally, here's the raw data:
Number of UK breweries
1000
total
1870
26,506
2,173
28,679
1875
22,138
2,347
24,485
1879
17,542
2,411
19,953
1880
16,770
2,270
19,040
1881
14,948
2,162
17,110
1885
12,608
2,025
14,633
1890
9,986
2,014
12,000
1895
7,213
1,724
8,937
1900
4,759
1,531
6,290
1905
3,787
1,393
5,180
1912
2,868
1,194
4,062
1913
2,700
1,146
3,846
1914
2,536
1,111
3,647
Source:
1928 Brewers' Almanack, page 118.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2013/09/number-of-uk-breweries-1870-1914.html)