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It would be easy to see WW I as marking the end of the glory days of British brewing. Many aspects of Britain's brewing industry were irrevocably changed by the war. Exports and gravities would never be as high again. Even worse, much of the fight was knocked out of brewers. Rather than the aggressive expansion of the 19th century, simple survival dominated their thinking.

Let's start off with some figures because, if a picture paints a thousand words, numbers are at least good for a few hundred.


The effect of WW I on British brewing
Year Production (bulk barrels) Production (standard barrels) Exports (standard barrels) Imports (standard barrels) Average OG
1913 34,805,291 33,286,515 651,768 1052.60
1914 37,558,767 36,056,416 74,205 1052.80
1915 34,765,780 32,964,280 481,183 49,790 1052.15
1916 32,110,608 30,289,061 19,700 1051.88
1917 30,163,988 26,621,091 1048.54
1918 19,085,043 13,814,101 16 1039.81
1919 23,264,533 12,922,391 1030.55
1920 35,047,947 25,113,447 317,167 590 1039.41
1921 34,504,570 26,731,631 1042.61
1922 30,178,731 23,528,436 260,914 4,033 1042.88
1923 23,948,651 18,601,570 257,454 7,017 1042.72
1924 25,425,017 19,896,231 262,668 1,392,576 1043.04
1925 26,734,825 20,960,103 266,933 1,545,953 1043.12
1926 26,765,610 21,037,769 295,488 1,576,381 1043.23
1927 25,100,461 19,751,781 276,758 1,349,515 1043.28
1928 25,435,145 19,964,277 328,029 1,427,174 1043.17
1929 24,608,000 19,283,724 352,942 1043.10
1930 25,061,956 19,548,326 328,524 1,522,906 1042.90
1931 23,900,000 18,468,182 289,516 1042.50
1932 20,790,812 15,513,726 244,525 1,373,450 1041.04
1933 17,950,303 12,898,109 217,981 1,203,063 1039.52
1934 20,182,308 15,041,324 213,813 1,276,270 1040.99
1935 20,864,814 15,576,532 224,087 1,332,277 1041.06
1936 21,969,763 16,385,449 311,663 1,392,457 1041.02
1937 22,724,450 16,981,362 329,498 1,385,833 1041.10
1938 24,205,631 18,053,000 271,114 1,163,046 1041.02
1939 24,674,992 18,362,680 274,272 838,269 1040.93
Sources:
Brewers' Almanack 1928, p. 110, 115
Brewers' Almanack 1955, p. 50, 51, 57
Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser - Friday 17 April 1914, page 12.
Statistical Handbook of the British Beer & Pub Association 2005, p. 7

I've included the standard barrel* figure because that highlight more accurately the decline in beer production as it takes into account the fall in gravity as well as the fall in volume. You can see that in 1932 in terms of standard barrels beer output was only around a third of what it had been in 1914.

The effect on beer gravity is very obvious. Average OG remained 10 points or more lower than it had been in 1914. On the eve of WW II in 1939, average gravity was 22% lower than on the eve of WW I.

The fall in exports was equally dramatic, falling to about a third of the 1913 level before levelling off about 50% down. Though this fall wasn't evenly spread around the UK. Scottish brewers were much more successful in hanging onto their export markets than their English colleagues. As can be seen from this table:



Beer Exported on Drawback and Free of Duty
England and Wales Scotland Ireland United Kingdom UK exports
1916
581,947
174,595
46,371
802,913
1917
314,333
73,896
30,095
418,324
1918
174,408
30,379
16,185
220,972
1919
470,794
195,995
33,821
700,610
1920
312,868
146,726
16,698
485,292
390,248
1921
215,719
92,193
12,648
320,560
1922
207,882
117,978
10,239
336,099
260,914
1923
176,913
108,544
2,270
287,727
257,454
1924
158,373
132,889
753
292,015
264,003
1925
180,731
145,603
415
326,749
290,824
1926
178,155
168,609
305
347,069
283,033
1927
156,258
179,242
232
338,732
287,445
1928
170,728
193,255
363,983
328,029
1929
176,381
223,638
400,019
352,942
1930
173,988
204,345
378,333
328,524
1931
159,278
147,527
306,805
289,516
1932
136,231
133,240
269,471
244,525
1933
117,363
126,254
243,617
217,981
Sources:
Brewers' Journal 1919, page 65,
Brewers' Journal 1922, page 71.
Brewers' Journal 1925, page 83.
Brewers' Journal 1928, page 87.
Brewers' Journal 1928, page 87.
Brewers' Journal 1934, page 162.
Brewers' Almanack 1928, p. 115
Brewers' Almanack 1955, p. 57


The net result being that by the 1930's Scottish brewers were exporting more beer than English brewers. Quite an achievement given the relative sizes of the English and Scottish brewing industries.

The war indirectly also affected beer imports. If you consider the move to Irish independence to have been set in motion during the war. Those million plus barrels suddenly being imported to Britain are, of course, virtually all Guinness. It had been the largest brewery in the UK in 1914. Ultimately Irish independence led to Guinness building a brewery in London in the 1930's.



* A standard barrel is 36 gallons of beer with an OG of 1055ยบ.


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