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Sugar has been a standard ingredient in British beer for more than 150 years. Ever since its use was allowed in 1847, it's been used as a source of fermentable material, to colour, to prime and to flavour beer. Like everything else, sugar was in short supply in WW II. A bad harvest in the West Indies didn't help.

SUGAR.

During the month under review no change in sugar values has been made, nor does the market position show any alteration. Deliveries are very satisfactory. The Ministry of Food has announced that, owing to a partial failure of the sugar crop in the British West Indies and to the necessity of conserving currency resources, it has become necessary to make a reduction in the sugar ration until further notice. The domestic ration was reduced on May 27th. From July 1st the allocations of sugar for manufacturing uses will also have to be reduced, but no alteration will be made in the allocation to any industry now receiving 40 per cent, of basic usage or less. In the early days of the war steps were taken to secure the fullest available supplies of raw sugar from the Dominions and Colonies, and the position would have been satisfactory but for the failure of the West Indies crop. It has only now been possible to measure the extent of the damage to this crop and of its effect on the sugar supply position. Arrangements have been completed for the purchase of the entire exports of the coming season's sugar crops of Australia, the Union of South Africa, Mauritius, Fiji, and the British West Indian Colonies. The total quantity involved is about one and three-quarter million tons, of which the United Kingdom proportion is about one and a quarter million tons. Arrivals of this sugar in the United Kingdom will be spread over a long period.
"The Brewers' Journal 1940" page 495. (Published June 19th, 1940.)
Contextualisation. That's what I'm all about. 1.25 million tons of sugar for the UK. Wonder how much of that was used in brewing? Of course you do. And what better way to convey the information than a nice table.


Brewing materials (tons)
year
malt
unmalted corn
rice, maize, etc
sugar
total malt & adjuncts
bulk barrels
1938
468,944
710
34,404
94,739
598,797
24,339,360
1939
494,240
496
36,739
99,324
630,798
25,691,217
1940
492,892
396
18,179
76,639
588,106
24,925,704
1941
549,421
595
12,338
69,882
632,235
28,170,582
1942
545,905
2,632
19,110
70,571
638,219
29,584,656
1943
514,366
2,030
61,909
70,029
648,334
29,811,321
1944
531,058
7,159
62,056
72,932
673,206
31,380,684
1945
521,761
12,288
66,602
89,203
689,853
31,990,334
1946
498,850
6,888
56,637
89,501
651,876
31,066,950
Source:
1955 Brewers'Almanack, page 62


Around 70,000 tons of sugar were used in brewing in 1940 and 1941. That was about 25% less than in 1939. And about 5 or 6% of all that sugar coming in from the West Indies, Africa and the Pacific. Not that big a proportion, really. Then again, there were all those cakes, biscuits and cups of tea that needed sugar.

The average amount of sugar in beer fell, too. From around 15% pre-war to 10 or 11%. What the hell. Here's another table showing that:

Brewing materials (%age)
year
malt
unmalted corn
rice, maize, etc
sugar
total malt & adjuncts
1938
78.31%
0.12%
5.75%
15.82%
11,975,941
1939
78.35%
0.08%
5.82%
15.75%
12,615,962
1940
83.81%
0.07%
3.09%
13.03%
11,762,114
1941
86.90%
0.09%
1.95%
11.05%
12,644,709
1942
85.54%
0.41%
2.99%
11.06%
12,764,377
1943
79.34%
0.31%
9.55%
10.80%
12,966,670
1944
78.88%
1.06%
9.22%
10.83%
13,464,119
1945
75.63%
1.78%
9.65%
12.93%
13,797,059
1946
76.53%
1.06%
8.69%
13.73%
13,037,517
Source:
my calculation from figures in 1955 Brewers'Almanack, page 62
Notes:
assumes a quarter = 336 lbs


I'm all worn out now. All that tabling and stuff. What I need is a nice cup of tea. Loaded with sugar.


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