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Another of my patented snappy titles there. Someone - very unwisely, if you ask me - said they liked my posts about ancient brewing statistics. So here's another. Post about ancient brewing statistics.

Let's make a quick comparison of the state of the British and French brewing industries in the middle of the 19th century.

First France:

French beer production year production (hl) tax (francs) import (hl) pop litre/head 1851 4,449,000 9,633,000 35,783,000 12.43 1852 4,523,000 9,834,000 35,950,000 12.58 1853 5,047,000 20,847,000 7,000 36,070,000 13.99 1854 4,959,000 10,647,000 7,724 35,230,000 14.08 1855 5,871,000 12,995,000 12,338 36,080,000 16.27 1856 6,449,000 15,054,000 16,410 36,190,000 17.82 1857 7,088,000 16,511,000 19,330 36,300,000 19.53 1858 6,807,000 15,909,000 19,638 36,340,000 18.73 1859 6,700,000 15,678,000 19,495 36,500,000 18.36 1860 6,571,000 15,241,000 20,416 36,510,000 18.00 1861 26,693 37,386,000 1862 42,391 37,520,000 1863 44,472 37,710,000 1864 43,141 37,860,000 Sources: “Bericht über der Welt_Ausstellung zu Paris im Jahre 1867, volume 7”, 1868, page 115. http://www.populstat.info/

Now Britain:


UK beer production production (hl) pop litre/head 1857 29,433,160 27,393,337 107.44642 1860 33,287,788 28,977,133 114.87606 1863 32,864,429 1864 34,957,676 1865 36,899,337 1866 41,549,967 Sources: “Bericht über der Welt_Ausstellung zu Paris im Jahre 1867, volume 7”, 1868, page 119. http://www.populstat.info/

Quite a difference, I think you'll agree. Not a surprising one, admittedly. British beer production was 5 times greater than France's, despite France having a 25% larger population. I know. Next I'll be proving to you, with the aid of statistics, that the pope is indeed a Roman Catholic.


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