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13-02-2015, 08:33
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You may have spotted that I’ve silently started a new series. All based around one wonderful table of statistics. Another chance for virtually word-free posts. No point wasting words when I don’t need to.

We’ve leap-frogged over the Prohibition years and are in the second half of the 1930’s. Rather than faff around, let’s dive straight into the number pool. First with absolute numbers:



Materials used in brewing in the USA 1934 - 1940 (lbs)


YEAR
PRODUCTION (BARRELS)
MALT
C0RN AND CORN PRODUCTS
RICE
WHEAT
BARLEY
SUGAR AND SYRUPS


1934
37,678,313
1,433,359,057
256,875,821
102,962,470


142,445,469


1935
45,228,605
1,725,736,002
340,841,047
139,728,970


155,374,560


1936
51,812,062
1,952,210,101
450,230,018
116,310,725


167,354,485


1937
58,748,087
2,176,928,721
423,066,228
230,745,621


188,028,513


1938
56,340,163
2,059,842,865
375,029,816
260,224,294


175,811,690


1939
53,870,563
1,938,177,252
415,689,330
198,317,295
2,839,922
9,000
150,765,190


1940
54,891,737
1,958,419,675
441,101,545
188,943,875
3,535,908
3,987
144,877,697


Source:


Various editions of the "The Brewers Almanac"



Interesting that beer production peaked in 1937, then fell back. I wonder why that might have been?

But those numbers are easier to interpret when changed to percentages:



Materials used in brewing in the USA 1934 - 1940 (%)


YEAR
MALT
C0RN AND CORN PRODUCTS
RICE
WHEAT
BARLEY
SUGAR AND SYRUPS


1934
74.05%
13.27%
5.32%


7.36%


1935
73.07%
14.43%
5.92%


6.58%


1936
72.68%
16.76%
4.33%


6.23%


1937
72.11%
14.01%
7.64%


6.23%


1938
71.75%
13.06%
9.06%


6.12%


1939
71.63%
15.36%
7.33%
0.10%
0.00%
5.57%


1940
71.56%
16.12%
6.90%
0.13%
0.00%
5.29%


Source:


Various editions of the "The Brewers Almanac"



That’s much clearer, isn’t it? The malt percentage is falling at the expense of maize and rice. Intriguing that the sugar percentage was falling, too.

This next table demonstrates that gravities were falling, too:



Materials used in brewing in the USA 1934 - 1940 (lbs per barrel)


YEAR
MALT LBS./ BBL.
C0RN AND CORN PRODUCTS LBS./ BBL.
RICE LBS./ BBL.
WHEAT LBS./ BBL.
BARLEY LBS./ BBL.
SUGAR AND SYRUPS LBS./ BBL.
TOTAL


1934
38.1
6.8
2.7


3.8
51.4


1935
38.2
7.5
3.1


3.4
52.2


1936
37.7
8.7
2.2


3.2
51.8


1937
37.1
7.2
3.9


3.2
51.4


1938
36.6
6.7
4.6


3.2
51.1


1939
36
7.7
3.7
0.05
0.000167067
2.8
50.3


1940
35.7
8
3.4
0.06
7.26339E-05
2.6
49.8


Source:


Various editions of the "The Brewers Almanac"



Why? Because the amount of materials used per barrel was falling. Based on a yield of 89 brewers pound to an imperial quarter, this is my estimate of the average OG in the US:



YEAR
estimated average OG


1934
1052.79


1935
1053.61


1936
1053.20


1937
1052.79


1938
1052.48


1939
1051.61


1940
1051.10



Now compare and contrast time. Or an excuse for loads more tables. First absolute numbers:



Materials used in brewing in the UK 1934 - 1940 (lbs)


year
malt
unmalted corn
rice, maize, etc
sugar
total malt & adjuncts
bulk barrels


1934
895,504,288
1,323,392
61,360,880
172,841,536
1,131,030,096
20,378,879


1935
945,778,624
1,227,072
65,838,192
182,775,712
1,195,619,600
21,598,179


1936
968,388,064
1,202,208
66,386,208
191,006,816
1,226,983,296
22,207,859


1937
1,015,490,000
1,198,512
72,652,048
205,619,232
1,294,959,792
23,608,658


1938
1,050,435,456
1,589,728
77,065,632
212,214,576
1,341,305,392
24,339,360


1939
1,107,097,936
1,109,920
82,294,352
222,485,536
1,412,987,744
25,691,217


1940
1,104,077,856
886,144
40,721,856
171,670,912
1,317,356,768
24,925,704


Source:


1953 Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 62.



Now the more interpretable percentages:



Materials used in brewing in the UK 1934 - 1940 (%)


YEAR
malt
unmalted corn
rice, maize, etc
sugar
lbs per Imp. barrel
lbs per US barrel


1934
79.18%
0.12%
5.43%
15.28%
55.5
39.8


1935
79.10%
0.10%
5.51%
15.29%
55.4
39.7


1936
78.92%
0.10%
5.41%
15.57%
55.2
39.6


1937
78.42%
0.09%
5.61%
15.88%
54.9
39.3


1938
78.31%
0.12%
5.75%
15.82%
55.1
39.5


1939
78.35%
0.08%
5.82%
15.75%
55.0
39.4


1940
83.81%
0.07%
3.09%
13.03%
52.9
37.9


Source:


1953 Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 62.



You can see here the impact of WW II. That’s why the percentage of malt in the grist increases and that of maize and rice declines. The latter two both needed to be imported. The percentage of sugar in the grist was much higher in the UK, 15% compared to 6% in the USA.

Now for hops. First the US figures:



Hop usage in the USA 1934 - 1940


YEAR
HOPS
LBS./ BBL.


1934
26,235,235
0.70


1935
31,772,887
0.70


1936
34,516,246
0.67


1937
37,004,749
0.63


1938
34,874,575
0.62


1939
32,462,163
0.60


1940
31,926,866
0.58


Source:


Various editions of the "The Brewers Almanac"



You can see that there was a steady fall in the hopping rate. Compare that with the UK:



Hop usage in the UK 1914 - 1920


year
bulk barrels
hops( lbs)
hops lbs/ Imperial barrel
hops lbs/ US barrel


1934
20,378,879
26,142,928
1.28
0.92


1935
21,598,179
27,859,328
1.29
0.92


1936
22,207,859
28,929,600
1.30
0.93


1937
23,608,658
30,306,304
1.28
0.92


1938
24,339,360
31,118,752
1.28
0.92


1939
25,691,217
32,000,080
1.25
0.89


1940
24,925,704
29,737,344
1.19
0.86


Source:


1953 Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 62.



The UK hopping rate was very steady until the onset of WW II. Note how in some years – 1934 and 1939 – UK and US hop usage was almost exactly the same in terms of pounds. But US gravities were higher. A fairer comparison is based on standard barrels, 36 imperial gallons with an OG of 1055. As that’s based on a more similar gravity to US beers.



Hop usage in the UK 1914 - 1920


year
standard barrels
hops( lbs)
hops lbs/ Imperial barrel
hops lbs/ US barrel


1934
15,043,120
26,142,928
1.74
1.25


1935
15,577,836
27,859,328
1.79
1.28


1936
16,386,985
28,929,600
1.77
1.27


1937
16,985,231
30,306,304
1.78
1.28


1938
18,055,539
31,118,752
1.72
1.24


1939
18,364,156
32,000,080
1.74
1.25


1940
18,738,619
29,737,344
1.59
1.14


Source:


1953 Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 62.



On this basis, UK beers had about double the quantity of hops as American beers.

I’ve got several more decades of these numbers. It’s going to take a while.

More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2015/02/materials-used-in-brewing-in-usa-1934.html)