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10-01-2015, 08:18
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I had so much fun with that Journal of the Institute of Brewing article about German brewing in the 1960’s that I’m starting on another. This time from a decade or so later.

It has the snappy title “Current Lager Beer Technology in Continental European Breweries and Especially in German Breweries” and was written by H. Kieninger, who worked at Weihenstephan.

You must have noticed by now how much I love numbers. The article starts with a load of good ones. But what makes them particularly illuminating is when they’re compared with their modern equivalents. They illustrate wonderfully the changes that have taken place in the last four decades.

You’ll notice that the EU was rather smaller back in those days.


“First I want to give you some statistical figures concerning European beer production and beer consumption in the different EEC countries.

Table I shows beer production in the nine countries of the EEC in 1973 and 1974. Production was decreasing in Den mark, Italy, Belgium and in France. There was only a small increase in beer production in Ireland, The Netherlands, Luxemburg and West Germany but in Great Britain beer production climbed from 60,565 million hl per year to 63,039 million hl per year. When expressed as a percentage of the total beer production, West Germany is followed by Great Britain and both countries together are producing 68.8% — more than two-thirds of the total beer production in the EEC countries.”
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 83, Issue 1, March-April 1977, page 72.
Here’s the table:



TABLE I. Beer Production in the EEC Countries in 1973 and 1974 (x 1,000 hl).


Country
1973
1974
% of total production (in 1974)


Denmark
8,917
8,465
3.7


Eire
6,040
6,085
2.7


Great Britain
60,565
63,039
27.8


Italy
8,629
8,015
3.5


Netherlands
11,066
11,642
5.1


Luxemburg
670
692
0.3


Belgium
14,691
14,004
6.2


France
21,939
21,712
9.6


West Germany
92,467
92,785
41


Total
224,984
226,409





And here are the production figures for the last few years:



Beer Production 2008 - 2013 (1,000 hl)


Country
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
% in 2013


Denmark
6,474
6,046
6,335
6,590
6,080
6,166
2.76%


Ireland
8,846
8,041
8,249
8,514
8,195
8,008
3.59%


United Kingdom
49,611
45,141
44,997
45,694
42,047
41,956
18.79%


Italy
13,273
12,776
12,814
13,410
13,293
13,256
5.94%


Netherlands*
27,181
25,376
24,218
23,644
24,271
23,636
10.59%


Luxembourg
312
308
310
302
292
281
0.13%


Belgium
17,796
18,009
18,122
18,571
18,751
18,069
8.09%


France
16,267
16,326
16,290
16,167
17,132
15,491
6.94%


Germany
99,910
98,078
95,683
95,545
94,618
94,365
42.27%


total

241,678
232,110
229,028
230,448
226,691
223,241



Source:



"Beer Statistics 2014 edition", Brewers of Europe, 2014, page 7.



* Only production of members Dutch Brewers association




You can see that the combined share of the UK and Germany has fallen to 61%, while the combined share of Belgium and The Netherlands has grown from 11.3% to 18.68%. Not sure what that tells us.

But the figures are much more interesting when you combine them:



Beer Production1973 - 2013 (1,000 hl)


Country
1973
1974
2013
% change 1974 - 2013


Denmark
8,917
8,465
6,166
-27.16%


Ireland
6,040
6,085
8,008
31.60%


United Kingdom
60,565
63,039
41,956
-33.44%


Italy
8,629
8,015
13,256
65.39%


Netherlands
11,066
11,642
23,636
103.02%


Luxembourg
670
692
281
-59.39%


Belgium
14,691
14,004
18,069
29.03%


France
21,939
21,712
15,491
-28.65%


Germany
92,467
92,785
94,365
1.70%


total

224,984
226,409
223,241
-1.40%


Sources:



"Beer Statistics 2014 edition", Brewers of Europe, 2014, page 7.



Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 83, Issue 1, March-April 1977, page 72.




What a coincidence that the total amount brewed in these nine countries was almost the same in 2013 as it had been 40 years earlier.

It’s quite a complicated picture. The Netherlands is easily the winner, producing twice as much beer in 2013 as in 1974. Italy, Ireland and Belgium also saw substantial increases in beer output. In the cases of The Netherlands, Ireland and Belgium it’s undoubtedly exports that have fuelled the growth. While in Italy it’s domestic consumption, as we’ll see when we look at consumption per capita.

The apparent modest growth in German production isn’t what it seems. The 1970’s figures are just for West Germany. You really need to add the approximately 17 million hl brewed in the DDR. I don’t have the DDR output figures for 1973 and 1974, but in 1970 16,642,000 hl were brewed there and in 1976 19,300,000 hl*. Assuming the total for all Germany is around 110 million hl., there’s really been a fall of around 14%.

In the countries with the biggest decrease – Denmark the UK and France – falling domestic demand was the main driving factor. Which our next lot of figures will demonstrate.


“Table II shows beer consumption per capita in the different EEC countries for the years 1960 and 1974 and the increases calculated as percentages. If you look at the absolute values for 1974, you will find West Germany with 147 litres at the top, followed, in order, by Belgium/Luxemburg, Ireland, Denmark and Great Britain. People in the Netherlands, France and Italy seem to drink much more of beverages other than beer and if you imagine that the consumption of liquid by the human body ranges between 600 and 700 litres per year, then beer must have the best chances for the future in these latter countries.”
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 83, Issue 1, March-April 1977, page 72.
Here’s the accompanying table:



TABLE II. Beer Consumption per capita in the EEC Countries (Litres).


Country
1960
1974
Increase (%)


Denmark
71.5
123.4
92.5


Eire
50.4
130
157.9


Great Britain
85.1
114.7
34.8


Italy
5.1
14.5
184.3


Netherlands
23.8
75.7
218


Belgium/Luxemburg
113.1
135
19.4


France
35.4
44.1
24.6


West Germany
94.7
147
55.2










And here are the modern numbers:



Beer consumption per capita 2008 - 2013


Country
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013


Denmark
78
72
69
68
64
64


Ireland
99
91
90
86
86
79


United Kingdom
84
76
74
74
67
66


Italy
29
28
29
30
29
29


Netherlands
79
73
72
72
72
70


Luxembourg
94
86
85
85
83
83


Belgium
82
81
78
78
74
72


France
31
31
31
31
31
30


Germany
111
110
107
107
108
107


Source:



"Beer Statistics 2014 edition", Brewers of Europe, 2014, page 11.





The Germans still lead the pack, unsurprisingly. Though everywhere except France and Italy, where things are very stable, consumption is declining. I’m shocked at the UK figures. For the first time I can remember it’s now behind The Netherlands.

Kieninger got it really wrong in the case of France. Consumption of beer has fallen there over the last four decades.

Now let’s nail those two sets of figures together:



Beer consumption per capita 2008 - 2013


Country
1960
1974
2013
% change 1960 - 2013
% change 1974 - 2013


Denmark
71.5
123.4
64
-10.49%
-48.14%


Ireland
50.4
130
79
56.75%
-39.23%


United Kingdom
85.1
114.7
66
-22.44%
-42.46%


Italy
5.1
14.5
29
468.63%
100.00%


Netherlands
23.8
75.7
70
194.12%
-7.53%


Luxembourg


83




Belgium
113.1
135
72
-36.34%
-46.67%


France
35.4
44.1
30
-15.25%
-31.97%


Germany
94.7
147
107
12.99%
-27.21%


Average
59.9
98.1
66.7




Sources:



"Beer Statistics 2014 edition", Brewers of Europe, 2014, page 11.



Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 83, Issue 1, March-April 1977, page 72.





In every single country except Italy consumption was lower in 2013 than in 1974. And in the countries with the largest drop – Denmark, the UK, Belgium and France - consumption also fell between 1960 and 2013.

The figures also demonstrate how The Netherlands wasn’t really much of a beer drinking country in 1960. I wish I had the numbers for jenever consumption for comparison purposes. I would guess that has declined considerably.

It’s interesting to see how the differences between countries are flattening out. Denmark, the UK, The Netherlands, and Belgium are all pretty close and also close to the overall average.

I haven’t even got past the first page of the article yet. Prepare yourselves for a long slog.




* Brauwelt 50/2002

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