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02-03-2021, 07:50
Visit the Shut up about Barclay Perkins site (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2021/03/retail-prices-follow-up.html)
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In reaction to my last post, a reader enquired about the reason for increases in the price of beer. The simple answer is: tax.A ridiculous percentage of the retail price of beer was the tax. As I will demonstrate in my usual way - with a table. Having lots and lots of numbers to hand, I can magic up how much of the money you handed over the bar was going straight into the chancellor's pocket.
A note about how I've come up with the figures. To calculate the average tax per pint, I've simply divided the total tax paid by the number of bulk barrels brewed that year. For the average price of a pint, I've used the price of Barclay Perkins Ordinary Bitter, XLK, which was about average gravity. Not totally precise, but close enough.
A standard barrel, in case you're wondering was a nominal unit for calculating tax, that is 36 Imperial gallons with an OG of 1055º. Bulk barrels are the actual volume of beer produced.
From an already high 30% of the retail price at the start of the war, by its end it was pushing double that. Truly eye-watering.
What effect did the high rate of tax have on the industry? It certainly couldn't have done much for competition. Unless you were operating on a vast scale, any small economies in production or raw materials were going to be an insignificant part of the retail price.
It also incentivised getting beer tax-free. Either by reusing ullage (returned beer) or any grotty bits of beer left at the bottom of fermenters, etc. Brewers were allowed a 6% loss on the volume put into fermenting vessels. If you could cut your wastage to just 2%, you got 4% of your beer free of tax. This was the major advantage large brewers had over their smaller competitors.
UK tax and price per pint 1939 - 1949
Year
Total Tax £
Bulk Barrels
Tax/Std. Brl
Av. OG
price pint
tax pint
Tax (% retail price)
1939
62,370,034
24,674,992
80s
1040.93
7d
2.11d
30.09%
1940
75,157,022
25,366,782
80s / 104s
1040.62
8d
2.47d
30.86%
1941
133,450,205
26,203,803
135s / 165s
1038.51
10d
4.24d
42.44%
1942
157,254,430
29,860,798
165s /240s 7.5d
1035.53
12d
4.39d
36.57%
1943
209,584,343
29,296,672
240s 7.5d / 281s 10.5d
1034.34
13d
5.96d
45.86%
1944
263,170,703
30,478,289
281s 10.5d / 286s 5.5d
1034.63
13d
7.20d
55.35%
1945
278,876,870
31,332,852
286s 5.5d
1034.54
13d
7.42d
57.05%
1946
295,305,369
32,650,200
286s 5.5d
1034.72
13d
7.54d
57.98%
1947
250,350,829
29,261,398
286s 5.5d
1032.59
13d
7.13d
54.84%
1948
264,112,043
30,408,634
325s 5d
1032.66
15d
7.24d
48.25%
1949
294,678,035
26,990,144
364s 4.5d / 343s 4.5d
1033.43
16d
9.10d
56.86%
Sources:
1955 Brewers' Almanack, pages 50 & 80.
1971 Brewers' Almanack, pages 45 & 75.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2021/03/retail-prices-follow-up.html)
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In reaction to my last post, a reader enquired about the reason for increases in the price of beer. The simple answer is: tax.A ridiculous percentage of the retail price of beer was the tax. As I will demonstrate in my usual way - with a table. Having lots and lots of numbers to hand, I can magic up how much of the money you handed over the bar was going straight into the chancellor's pocket.
A note about how I've come up with the figures. To calculate the average tax per pint, I've simply divided the total tax paid by the number of bulk barrels brewed that year. For the average price of a pint, I've used the price of Barclay Perkins Ordinary Bitter, XLK, which was about average gravity. Not totally precise, but close enough.
A standard barrel, in case you're wondering was a nominal unit for calculating tax, that is 36 Imperial gallons with an OG of 1055º. Bulk barrels are the actual volume of beer produced.
From an already high 30% of the retail price at the start of the war, by its end it was pushing double that. Truly eye-watering.
What effect did the high rate of tax have on the industry? It certainly couldn't have done much for competition. Unless you were operating on a vast scale, any small economies in production or raw materials were going to be an insignificant part of the retail price.
It also incentivised getting beer tax-free. Either by reusing ullage (returned beer) or any grotty bits of beer left at the bottom of fermenters, etc. Brewers were allowed a 6% loss on the volume put into fermenting vessels. If you could cut your wastage to just 2%, you got 4% of your beer free of tax. This was the major advantage large brewers had over their smaller competitors.
UK tax and price per pint 1939 - 1949
Year
Total Tax £
Bulk Barrels
Tax/Std. Brl
Av. OG
price pint
tax pint
Tax (% retail price)
1939
62,370,034
24,674,992
80s
1040.93
7d
2.11d
30.09%
1940
75,157,022
25,366,782
80s / 104s
1040.62
8d
2.47d
30.86%
1941
133,450,205
26,203,803
135s / 165s
1038.51
10d
4.24d
42.44%
1942
157,254,430
29,860,798
165s /240s 7.5d
1035.53
12d
4.39d
36.57%
1943
209,584,343
29,296,672
240s 7.5d / 281s 10.5d
1034.34
13d
5.96d
45.86%
1944
263,170,703
30,478,289
281s 10.5d / 286s 5.5d
1034.63
13d
7.20d
55.35%
1945
278,876,870
31,332,852
286s 5.5d
1034.54
13d
7.42d
57.05%
1946
295,305,369
32,650,200
286s 5.5d
1034.72
13d
7.54d
57.98%
1947
250,350,829
29,261,398
286s 5.5d
1032.59
13d
7.13d
54.84%
1948
264,112,043
30,408,634
325s 5d
1032.66
15d
7.24d
48.25%
1949
294,678,035
26,990,144
364s 4.5d / 343s 4.5d
1033.43
16d
9.10d
56.86%
Sources:
1955 Brewers' Almanack, pages 50 & 80.
1971 Brewers' Almanack, pages 45 & 75.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.
More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2021/03/retail-prices-follow-up.html)