Visit the Shut up about Barclay Perkins site

UK brewing entered WW I in a troubled state. The decade before 1914 had been a difficult one for the industry.

Increased licence duties for breweries and pubs had seriously disrupted the industry. Specifically through a fall in the price of public houses, which left many breweries with nominal share values far in excess of their real assets. Many breweries were forced to reduce their share values. Others went into liquidation, including big names like Allsopp.

Brewers must have been anxious about what the war would mean for them. Most would have expected one thing: an increase in tax. Successive UK governments had used beer as a source of extra revenue.

Here’s what happened with beer output and strength across the war years:


UK beer production and average OG 1912 - 1922
England Scotland Ireland United Kingdom
Year bulk barrels average OG bulk barrels average OG bulk barrels average OG bulk barrels average OG
1912 30,991,776 1051.76 2,153,569 1048.11 3,330,174 1065.43 36,475,519 1052.72
1913 30,758,800 1051.52 2,119,666 1047.85 3,417,851 1065.73 36,296,317 1052.64
1914 31,737,384 1051.69 2,288,481 1047.67 3,532,902 1065.93 37,558,767 1052.80
1915 29,310,783 1051.16 2,042,477 1046.85 3,412,520 1065.93 34,765,780 1052.35
1916 26,914,428 1050.49 1,917,148 1046.45 3,279,032 1066.43 32,110,608 1051.88
1917 25,497,825 1047.01 1,816,003 1043.16 2,850,170 1065.69 30,163,998 1048.54
1918 16,340,250 1038.25 1,141,114 1036.74 1,603,679 1057.89 19,085,043 1039.81
1919 20,133,048 1029.35 1,325,439 1029.77 1,806,046 1044.43 23,264,533 1030.55
1920 29,891,845 1038.57 2,186,604 1038.83 2,969,498 1043.35 35,047,947 1039.41
1921 28,927,178 1041.72 2,096,080 1042.31 3,481,312 1050.18 34,504,570 1042.61
1922 25,468,663 1042.21 1,770,175 1041.68 2,939,893 1049.44 30,178,731 1042.88
Sources:
Brewers' Journal 1921, page 246.
Brewers' Almanack 1928, page 110.



The above is another excerpt from my book on WW I, Armistice!

Buy this wonderful book.







More...