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01-07-2011, 09:56
Visit the Shut up about Barclay Perkins site (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2011/07/uk-beer-production-1850-1922.html)

Numbers and Ireland. A happy meeting of obsessions. Today it's time for a round-up.

I was shocked to find that I had lots of numbers missing from my giant production spreadsheet. I've spent the last week filling some of those holes. And have come up with a lovely new table. All fresh and shiny. here it is:




UK Beer production 1850 - 1922



England and Wales
Scotland
Ireland
total UK



barrels
%
barrels
%
barrels
%



1850
14,420,069
93.16%
476,000
3.08%
582,500
3.76%
15,478,569


1857
16,326,773
90.78%
616,000
3.43%
1,042,000
5.79%
17,984,773


1860
18,384,096
90.38%
816,000
4.01%
1,140,000
5.60%
20,340,096


1863
18,005,908
89.66%
893,000
4.45%
1,182,500
5.89%
20,081,408


1864
19,106,461
89.45%
986,000
4.62%
1,268,000
5.94%
21,360,461


1865
20,061,389
88.98%
1,111,000
4.93%
1,374,500
6.10%
22,546,889


1866
22,634,100
89.15%
1,254,000
4.94%
1,500,500
5.91%
25,388,600


1871
23,588,104
89.24%
1,227,000
4.64%
1,616,656
6.12%
26,431,760


1875
27,927,381
90.05%
1,179,000
3.80%
1,908,000
6.15%
31,014,381


1880
27,616,649
89.83%
1,143,000
3.72%
1,983,000
6.45%
30,742,649


1881
24,425,861
89.30%
1,037,000
3.79%
1,889,500
6.91%
27,352,361


1885
24,603,993
87.91%
1,237,000
4.42%
2,145,500
7.67%
27,986,493


1890
26,794,315
86.97%
1,666,000
5.41%
2,348,000
7.62%
30,808,315


1895
30,110,787
87.52%
1,758,000
5.11%
2,535,500
7.37%
34,404,287


1900
32,146,769
86.64%
2,289,048
6.17%
2,669,225
7.19%
37,105,042


1905
30,594,189
86.39%
2,021,374
5.71%
2,799,960
7.91%
35,415,523


1910
29,284,045
85.38%
1,956,659
5.70%
3,059,210
8.92%
34,299,914


1914
31,737,384
84.50%
2,288,981
6.09%
3,532,902
9.41%
37,558,767


1915
29,310,783
84.31%
2,042,477
5.87%
3,412,520
9.82%
34,765,780


1916
26,914,428
83.82%
1,917,148
5.97%
3,279,032
10.21%
32,110,608


1917
25,497,825
84.53%
1,816,003
6.02%
2,850,170
9.45%
30,163,988


1918
16,340,250
85.62%
1,141,114
5.98%
1,603,679
8.40%
19,085,043


1919
20,133,048
86.54%
1,325,439
5.70%
1,806,096
7.76%
23,264,533


1920
29,891,845
85.29%
2,186,604
6.24%
2,969,498
8.47%
35,047,947


1921
28,927,178
83.84%
2,096,080
6.07%
3,481,312
10.09%
34,504,570


1922
25,486,663
84.45%
1,770,175
5.87%
2,939,893
9.74%
30,178,731


Sources:








Brewers' Almanack 1928, p. 110







“A History of the Brewing Industry in Scotland” by IanDonnachie, 1998, pages 147-148.


Statistics of British commerce by Braithwaite Poole, 1852, page 6.




“Bericht über der Welt_Ausstellung zu Paris im Jahre 1867, volume 7”, 1868, page 119.


Ireland Industrial and Agricultural, 1902, page 492





The Dynamics of the international brewing industry since 1800 by Richard George Wilson, Terence Richard Gourvish, 1998, pages 121 - 122, estimated from malt used



Before you say "But how does that compare to population, here's a table showing just that:




UK Population 1841 - 1911



England and Wales
Scotland
Ireland
total



population
% UK Pop
population
% UK Pop
population
% UK Pop



1841
17,435,700
61.76%
2,618,000
9.27%
8,177,700
28.97%
28,231,400


1851
17,932,400
65.51%
2,889,000
10.55%
6,554,000
23.94%
27,375,400


1861
20,063,000
69.44%
3,063,000
10.60%
5,768,300
19.96%
28,894,300


1871
22,715,000
72.15%
3,362,000
10.68%
5,405,600
17.17%
31,482,600


1881
25,974,300
74.46%
3,734,000
10.70%
5,174,900
14.83%
34,883,200


1891
29,001,400
76.82%
4,046,000
10.72%
4,704,800
12.46%
37,752,200


1901
32,527,800
78.46%
4,472,100
10.79%
4,458,700
10.75%
41,458,600


1911
36,072,500
79.76%
4,760,900
10.53%
4,390,200
9.71%
45,223,600


Source:








http://www.populstat.info/








Beer production increased in Ireland and Scotland in the second half of the 19th century. Both in absolute amount brewed and percentage of UK beer production.

Let's look at Scotland first. It had about 10% of the UK population throughout the period under analysis.But it's beer production was always well below 10% of the UK total. The best it could manage was 6.24%.

Ireland is more complicated. The percentage of the UK population living in Ireland dropped from almost 30% to around 10% between 1841 and 1911. Perversely, beer production increased, despite the falling population, more quickly than in Scotland. Eventually beer production reached about the same percentage as the population. Meaning that, per head, Ireland was producing as much beer as England and Wales.

here's another table, showing beer production per head of population:




Beer output per head of population 1850 - 1910







England and Wales
Scotland
Ireland



beer production
population
barrels per head
beer production
population
barrels per head
beer production
population
barrels per head


1850
14,420,069
17,932,400
0.80
476,000
2,889,000
0.16
582,500
6,554,000
0.09


1860
18,384,096
20,063,000
0.92
816,000
3,063,000
0.27
1,140,000
5,768,300
0.20


1871
23,588,104
22,715,000
1.04
1,227,000
3,362,000
0.36
1,616,656
5,405,600
0.30


1881
24,425,861
25,974,300
0.94
1,037,000
3,734,000
0.28
1,889,500
5,174,900
0.37


1890
26,794,315
29,001,400
0.92
1,666,000
4,046,000
0.41
2,348,000
4,704,800
0.50


1900
32,146,769
32,527,800
0.99
2,289,048
4,472,100
0.51
2,669,225
4,458,700
0.60


1910
29,284,045
36,072,500
0.81
1,956,659
4,760,900
0.41
3,059,210
4,390,200
0.70



I think that shows more clearly how Scotland still lagged behind England while Ireland was closing in fast.

Of course, Ireland's success in upping beer production was almost entirely due to the efforst of one firm: Guinness. By the end of the 19th century it wasn't only the largest brewery in the UK, but the largest in the whole world. Quite an achievement.https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5445569787371915337-5002481922770481116?l=barclayperkins.blogspot.com


More... (http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2011/07/uk-beer-production-1850-1922.html)