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01-06-2014, 07:09
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I'm back with that Truman costings document from between the wars. And one of the other items it has detailed information on: hop usage.
Gain, a few seemingly dull numbers tell us a stack. First Truman's hopping rates. There wasn't a huge change in average gravity over this period, so we can take the figures at face value. Between 1924 and 1940 the average hopping rate almost halved, save for a little blip in 1931 and 1932. but I think I can explain that. The blip, I mean.
1932 was a funny year for British brewing. A shit one, really. Beer production plummeted after the big tax rise in Snowden's 1931 emergency Budget. Which probably partially explains why hops were so cheap in 1932. In 1934, after the tax increase had been reversed and beer production started to rise again, the hop price goes up again.
Here are some details on UK hop production. Usually you would expect the poor harvests in 1931 and 1932 to have forced up prices. But because beer production fell - and hence hop usage, too - prices didn't go crazy.
Hops: home production and imports
Year ended 31st Dec.
Acreage
Estimated Produce
Imports: Less Re-Exports
Consumption Years ended 30th Sept. following
Cwts.
Cwts.
Cwts.
1929
23,986
359,100
62,208
307,289
1930
19,997
253,000
44,199
277,406
1931
19,628
169,000
50,303
219,587
1932
16,531
188,000
14,952
222,868
1933
16,895
210,000
44,829
233,419
1934
18,037
259,000
30,046
248,744
1935
18,251
248,300
35,186
258,300
1936
18,317
252,000
31,953
270,692
1937
18,093
235,000
40,406
277,846
1938
18,460
257,000
45,287
286,716
1939
18,812
288,000
7,840
265,512
1940
18,592
270,500
14,675
251,354
Source:
Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 63.
Usage of foreign hops also tells a story. Though the figures are confused by the inclusion of other European hops in the British numbers for most years. What we're really seeing is European vs American hops.
Pre-WW I massive amounts of hops were imported from the US. And in the immediate post-war years, with the hop industry in Europe still suffering from the war, large quantities were again imported from the US. Through the 1920's, these hops were around a third of those used at Truman. But once the UK industry became just about self-sufficient, Truman dropped foreign hops.
Truman Brick Lane hop usage 1924 - 1940
UK hops
Foreign hops
total hops
year
cwt
%
cwt
%
cwt
Average price (cwt)
oz per barrel brewed
1924
1818
61.85%
1121.25
38.15%
2939.25
£13.43
19.8
1925
2131.5
67.33%
1034.25
32.67%
3165.75
£13.76
18.6
1926
2222.5
72.41%
846.75
27.59%
3069.25
£11.05
17.77
1927
2078
67.94%
980.75
32.06%
3058.75
£11.68
17.7
1928
1939.25
68.06%
910.25
31.94%
2849.5
£11.55
16.08
1929
1951.25
69.60%
852.25
30.40%
2803.5
£13.06
16.44
1930
2155
74.99%
718.75
25.01%
2873.75
£11.03
15.35
1931
2547
90.58%
265
9.42%
2812
£6.02
15.62
1932
2886.25
100.00%
0.00%
2886.25
£5.76
15.68
1933
2246.5
100.00%
0.00%
2246.5
£7.50
14.17
1934
2582
98.62%
36.25
1.38%
2618.25
£10.35
14.34
1935
2164.25
90.10%
237.75
9.90%
2402
£15.14
13.07
1936
2271.75
81.85%
503.75
18.15%
2775.5
£11.49
13.69
1937
2718.75
100.00%
0.00%
2718.75
£10.98
13.32
1938
2713.25
99.97%
0.75
0.03%
2714
£10.79
12.77
1939
2652.5
100.00%
0.00%
2652.5
£10.52
12.52
1940
2455.25
99.41%
14.5
0.59%
2469.75
£10.40
11.71
Source:
Document B/THB/C/256c held at the London Metropolitan Archives
I'm saving the best stuff from this document for later. Stay tuned.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2014/06/truman-brick-lane-hop-usage-1924-1940.html)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aCFLAZgzAMs/U4HfBBsYbII/AAAAAAAATqc/PxXzpmPy9DY/s1600/Truman_Trubrown_2.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aCFLAZgzAMs/U4HfBBsYbII/AAAAAAAATqc/PxXzpmPy9DY/s1600/Truman_Trubrown_2.jpg)
I'm back with that Truman costings document from between the wars. And one of the other items it has detailed information on: hop usage.
Gain, a few seemingly dull numbers tell us a stack. First Truman's hopping rates. There wasn't a huge change in average gravity over this period, so we can take the figures at face value. Between 1924 and 1940 the average hopping rate almost halved, save for a little blip in 1931 and 1932. but I think I can explain that. The blip, I mean.
1932 was a funny year for British brewing. A shit one, really. Beer production plummeted after the big tax rise in Snowden's 1931 emergency Budget. Which probably partially explains why hops were so cheap in 1932. In 1934, after the tax increase had been reversed and beer production started to rise again, the hop price goes up again.
Here are some details on UK hop production. Usually you would expect the poor harvests in 1931 and 1932 to have forced up prices. But because beer production fell - and hence hop usage, too - prices didn't go crazy.
Hops: home production and imports
Year ended 31st Dec.
Acreage
Estimated Produce
Imports: Less Re-Exports
Consumption Years ended 30th Sept. following
Cwts.
Cwts.
Cwts.
1929
23,986
359,100
62,208
307,289
1930
19,997
253,000
44,199
277,406
1931
19,628
169,000
50,303
219,587
1932
16,531
188,000
14,952
222,868
1933
16,895
210,000
44,829
233,419
1934
18,037
259,000
30,046
248,744
1935
18,251
248,300
35,186
258,300
1936
18,317
252,000
31,953
270,692
1937
18,093
235,000
40,406
277,846
1938
18,460
257,000
45,287
286,716
1939
18,812
288,000
7,840
265,512
1940
18,592
270,500
14,675
251,354
Source:
Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 63.
Usage of foreign hops also tells a story. Though the figures are confused by the inclusion of other European hops in the British numbers for most years. What we're really seeing is European vs American hops.
Pre-WW I massive amounts of hops were imported from the US. And in the immediate post-war years, with the hop industry in Europe still suffering from the war, large quantities were again imported from the US. Through the 1920's, these hops were around a third of those used at Truman. But once the UK industry became just about self-sufficient, Truman dropped foreign hops.
Truman Brick Lane hop usage 1924 - 1940
UK hops
Foreign hops
total hops
year
cwt
%
cwt
%
cwt
Average price (cwt)
oz per barrel brewed
1924
1818
61.85%
1121.25
38.15%
2939.25
£13.43
19.8
1925
2131.5
67.33%
1034.25
32.67%
3165.75
£13.76
18.6
1926
2222.5
72.41%
846.75
27.59%
3069.25
£11.05
17.77
1927
2078
67.94%
980.75
32.06%
3058.75
£11.68
17.7
1928
1939.25
68.06%
910.25
31.94%
2849.5
£11.55
16.08
1929
1951.25
69.60%
852.25
30.40%
2803.5
£13.06
16.44
1930
2155
74.99%
718.75
25.01%
2873.75
£11.03
15.35
1931
2547
90.58%
265
9.42%
2812
£6.02
15.62
1932
2886.25
100.00%
0.00%
2886.25
£5.76
15.68
1933
2246.5
100.00%
0.00%
2246.5
£7.50
14.17
1934
2582
98.62%
36.25
1.38%
2618.25
£10.35
14.34
1935
2164.25
90.10%
237.75
9.90%
2402
£15.14
13.07
1936
2271.75
81.85%
503.75
18.15%
2775.5
£11.49
13.69
1937
2718.75
100.00%
0.00%
2718.75
£10.98
13.32
1938
2713.25
99.97%
0.75
0.03%
2714
£10.79
12.77
1939
2652.5
100.00%
0.00%
2652.5
£10.52
12.52
1940
2455.25
99.41%
14.5
0.59%
2469.75
£10.40
11.71
Source:
Document B/THB/C/256c held at the London Metropolitan Archives
I'm saving the best stuff from this document for later. Stay tuned.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2014/06/truman-brick-lane-hop-usage-1924-1940.html)