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23-01-2015, 07:13
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More numbers. Lots of them. It’s happy day for me, if not for you.
I’m really glad to get the numbers below. Why? Because they give the true picture of adjunct use in the USA. And because I’ve similar numbers for the UK. Perfect for a little compare and contrast session.
“The quantities of materials used in 1935 are given in Table II.
Table II
Brewing Materials Used in 1935
cwt.
Per cent. on malt.
Malt
15,408,357
Maize and corn products
3,043,224
19.75
Rice
1,247,580
8.1
Sugar and syrups
1,387,273
9
Hops
283,740
36.85
The average hop rate, expressed in English measures, would thus be 6.18 lb. per quarter of malt; 4.6 lb. per quarter of all materials; or 0.9 lb. per British barrel.”
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 42, Issue 5, September-October 1936, page 416.
A quick reformatting of the table is probably more useful, as if shows the percentage of malt and adjuncts used:
Brewing Materials Used in 1935
cwt.
%
Malt
15,408,357
73.07%
Maize and corn products
3,043,224
14.43%
Rice
1,247,580
5.92%
Sugar and syrups
1,387,273
6.58%
total
21,086,434
100.00%
You may remember that the Wahls reckoned Lagers used about 30% adjuncts. Taken over the industry as a whole, the figure is 27% - not a million miles away from the Wahls’ claim.
How does that compare with the UK? Like this:
Brewing Materials Used in the UK in 1935
cwt.
%
malt
8,444,452
79.10%
unmalted corn
10,956
0.10%
rice, maize, etc
587,841
5.51%
sugar
1,631,926
15.29%
total
10,675,175
100.00%
Source:
Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 62
Adjunct usage in Britain wasn’t just lower, the forms used differed. The use of rice and corn was four times higher in the US, while less than half the proportion of sugar was used. The pattern is clear. Britain loved sugar, the USA maize.
It makes sense on several levels. Sugar was often used for colouring in Britain. But in the USA, where most beer was very pale, sugar wasn’t needed for this purpose. Maize was widely grown and cheap in the USA, but had to be imported into Britain. Sugar, on the other hand, was produced in the UK from sugar beet.
Now for hopping. Time for another table:
Brewing materials in the UK (cwt)
year
malt
unmalted corn
rice, maize, etc
sugar
hops
bulk barrels
lbs hops/ qtr
lbs hops/ brl.
1930
10,080,120
25,765
762,633
1,835,238
307,289
24,488,629
7.58
1.41
1931
9,119,236
22,725
688,850
1,698,163
277,406
22,561,497
7.53
1.38
1932
7,115,230
12,586
533,405
1,377,126
219,587
18,864,711
7.59
1.30
1933
7,239,776
12,294
521,151
1,379,965
222,868
18,931,185
7.61
1.32
1934
7,995,574
11,816
547,865
1,543,228
233,419
20,378,879
7.22
1.28
1935
8,444,452
10,956
587,841
1,631,926
248,744
21,598,179
7.27
1.29
1936
8,646,322
10,734
592,734
1,705,418
258,300
22,207,859
7.35
1.30
Source:
Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 62
As you probably guessed, hopping rates were considerably higher in the UK, around 1.3 lbs per barrel compared to 0.9 lbs in the USA. But remember that American beer was on average stronger. The hopping rate per quarter is a fairer way to compare the hopping of beers of different strengths: 7.5 lbs per quarter of all materials compared to 4.6 lbs in the USA.
Here’s a nice table of that information:
Hopping rates in 1935
USA
UK
% difference
lbs / brl
0.9
1.29
43.33%
lbs / qtr
4.6
7.27
58.04%
Sources:
Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 62
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 42, Issue 5, September-October 1936, page 416.
Next time we’ll be looking at taxes and other costs.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2015/01/american-brewing-in-1930s-materials.html)
More numbers. Lots of them. It’s happy day for me, if not for you.
I’m really glad to get the numbers below. Why? Because they give the true picture of adjunct use in the USA. And because I’ve similar numbers for the UK. Perfect for a little compare and contrast session.
“The quantities of materials used in 1935 are given in Table II.
Table II
Brewing Materials Used in 1935
cwt.
Per cent. on malt.
Malt
15,408,357
Maize and corn products
3,043,224
19.75
Rice
1,247,580
8.1
Sugar and syrups
1,387,273
9
Hops
283,740
36.85
The average hop rate, expressed in English measures, would thus be 6.18 lb. per quarter of malt; 4.6 lb. per quarter of all materials; or 0.9 lb. per British barrel.”
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 42, Issue 5, September-October 1936, page 416.
A quick reformatting of the table is probably more useful, as if shows the percentage of malt and adjuncts used:
Brewing Materials Used in 1935
cwt.
%
Malt
15,408,357
73.07%
Maize and corn products
3,043,224
14.43%
Rice
1,247,580
5.92%
Sugar and syrups
1,387,273
6.58%
total
21,086,434
100.00%
You may remember that the Wahls reckoned Lagers used about 30% adjuncts. Taken over the industry as a whole, the figure is 27% - not a million miles away from the Wahls’ claim.
How does that compare with the UK? Like this:
Brewing Materials Used in the UK in 1935
cwt.
%
malt
8,444,452
79.10%
unmalted corn
10,956
0.10%
rice, maize, etc
587,841
5.51%
sugar
1,631,926
15.29%
total
10,675,175
100.00%
Source:
Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 62
Adjunct usage in Britain wasn’t just lower, the forms used differed. The use of rice and corn was four times higher in the US, while less than half the proportion of sugar was used. The pattern is clear. Britain loved sugar, the USA maize.
It makes sense on several levels. Sugar was often used for colouring in Britain. But in the USA, where most beer was very pale, sugar wasn’t needed for this purpose. Maize was widely grown and cheap in the USA, but had to be imported into Britain. Sugar, on the other hand, was produced in the UK from sugar beet.
Now for hopping. Time for another table:
Brewing materials in the UK (cwt)
year
malt
unmalted corn
rice, maize, etc
sugar
hops
bulk barrels
lbs hops/ qtr
lbs hops/ brl.
1930
10,080,120
25,765
762,633
1,835,238
307,289
24,488,629
7.58
1.41
1931
9,119,236
22,725
688,850
1,698,163
277,406
22,561,497
7.53
1.38
1932
7,115,230
12,586
533,405
1,377,126
219,587
18,864,711
7.59
1.30
1933
7,239,776
12,294
521,151
1,379,965
222,868
18,931,185
7.61
1.32
1934
7,995,574
11,816
547,865
1,543,228
233,419
20,378,879
7.22
1.28
1935
8,444,452
10,956
587,841
1,631,926
248,744
21,598,179
7.27
1.29
1936
8,646,322
10,734
592,734
1,705,418
258,300
22,207,859
7.35
1.30
Source:
Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 62
As you probably guessed, hopping rates were considerably higher in the UK, around 1.3 lbs per barrel compared to 0.9 lbs in the USA. But remember that American beer was on average stronger. The hopping rate per quarter is a fairer way to compare the hopping of beers of different strengths: 7.5 lbs per quarter of all materials compared to 4.6 lbs in the USA.
Here’s a nice table of that information:
Hopping rates in 1935
USA
UK
% difference
lbs / brl
0.9
1.29
43.33%
lbs / qtr
4.6
7.27
58.04%
Sources:
Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 62
Journal of the Institute of Brewing, Volume 42, Issue 5, September-October 1936, page 416.
Next time we’ll be looking at taxes and other costs.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2015/01/american-brewing-in-1930s-materials.html)