It's one of those special treat days. Where, as a reward for being good, I give you a bug, fat, juicy table. Several tables, in fact
The tables in question have details of the hops grown, imported, exported and used in the UK from 1857 to 1954. So almost 100 years' worth of hoppy fun.
One of the drums I particularly like to bang is about Britain's dependence on foreign hops in the second half of the 19th century. You can see it clearly in the table. Between 1870 and 1900 Britain imported 100,00-200,000 cwts. of hops each year and accounting for probably about a third of the hops used.
I'd expected that. What I hadn't foreseen was how steeply imports fell off after WW I. By 1924 they were at about half the level of 1900. By the 1930's, hop imports had halved again, averaging about 37,000 cwts. a year 1930 to 1938. That's quite a turnaround.
WW II basically brought imports to a halt, and though there was a small boom in 1946, after 1949 the quantities imported were minimal.
This table shows how the use of foreign hops declined:
| Percentage of imported hops used |
| year |
% of hops used in
UK |
year |
% of hops used in
UK |
year |
% of hops used in
UK |
year |
% of hops used in
UK |
| 1920 |
100.34% |
1930 |
15.93% |
1940 |
5.84% |
1950 |
0.12% |
| 1921 |
54.35% |
1931 |
22.91% |
1941 |
0.01% |
1951 |
0.27% |
| 1922 |
38.80% |
1932 |
6.71% |
1942 |
1.28% |
1952 |
0.22% |
| 1923 |
3.46% |
1933 |
19.21% |
1943 |
0.08% |
1953 |
0.47% |
| 1924 |
24.72% |
1934 |
12.08% |
1944 |
0.00% |
1954 |
1.41% |
| 1925 |
25.41% |
1935 |
13.62% |
1945 |
0.25% |
|
|
| 1926 |
10.38% |
1936 |
11.80% |
1946 |
13.43% |
|
|
| 1927 |
29.31% |
1937 |
14.54% |
1947 |
3.33% |
|
|
| 1928 |
20.66% |
1938 |
15.80% |
1948 |
1.96% |
|
|
| 1929 |
20.24% |
1939 |
2.95% |
1949 |
0.39% |
|
|
| Sources: |
| Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 63. |
| 1971 Brewers'Almanack, page 54 |
| 1928 Brewers' Almanack, page 119 |
The reason for the fall in imports can be explained very simply: the gravity drop caused by WW I. The weaker beer produced after the war required fewer hops. As the level of UK production had remained relatively unchanged, for the first time in many decades Britain was almost self-sufficent in hops.
It's interesting that, despite all the upheavals of two world wars, British hop production was relatively stable between 1890 and 1850. As this table demonstrates:
| Average annual UK hop production |
| years |
cwt. |
| 1890 |
283,629 |
| 1900 |
347,894 |
| 1910 |
302,675 |
| 1920 - 1929 |
302,241 |
| 1930 - 1939 |
235,930 |
| 1946 - 1947 |
284,797 |
| Sources: |
| 1928 Brewers' Almanack, page 119 |
| Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 63. |
The main table also shows the volatility of the price of hops. The price could change by 100% or more from one season to the next. For example, 1928 to 1929, 1932 to 1934 and 1933 to 1934.
Hop exports increased significantly after WW I, but nmuch of this is explained by Irish independence. After 1923 hops shipped to the
Republic of Ireland Irish Free State were counetd as exports. In the years 1923 to 1925 this acoounts for most of the hops exported.
| Hops: home production and imports 1857 - 1954 |
| Year ended 31st Dec. |
Acreage |
Estimated
Produce |
Yield
per acre |
Average
Price of English Hops per Season, Sept. to Dec. |
Imports:
Less Re-Exports |
Exports:
British Hops |
Consumption
Years ended 30th Sept. following |
|
|
Cwts. |
Cwts. |
£ s. d. |
Cwts. |
Cwts. |
Cwts. |
| 1857 |
50,974 |
426,049 |
8.35 |
4 2 8 |
18,711 |
|
|
| 1860 |
46,271 |
99,667 |
2.15 |
17 5 0 |
68,918 |
|
|
| 1870 |
60,594 |
700,000 |
11.55 |
3 7 8 |
127,853 |
3,365 |
|
| 1880 |
66,698 |
440,000 |
6.60 |
4 6 0 |
195,987 |
7,218 |
|
| 1890 |
53,961 |
283,629 |
5.26 |
10 9 4 |
181,698 |
6,164 |
|
| 1900 |
51,308 |
347,894 |
6.78 |
5 18 8 |
198,494 |
14,999 |
|
| 1910 |
32,886 |
302,675 |
9.20 |
5 6 6 |
172,032 |
8,927 |
|
| 1914 |
33,661 |
507,258 |
13.84 |
4 3 9 |
83,690 |
9972 |
450,231 |
| 1915 |
34,744 |
254,101 |
7.31 |
6 7 0 |
199,347 |
8,288 |
|
| 1916 |
31,352 |
307,856 |
9.82 |
6 14 0 |
146,150 |
10,765 |
263,386 |
| 1917 |
16,946 |
225,763 |
13.32 |
8 15 0 |
8,530 |
12,796 |
|
| 1918 |
15,666 |
130,491 |
8.3 |
18 15 0 |
259 |
6,923 |
503,140 |
| 1919 |
16,745 |
187,795 |
11.21 |
20 5 0 |
154,091 |
2,606 |
|
| 1920 |
21,002 |
281,042 |
13.4 |
19 10 0 |
455,799 |
3,672 |
454,258 |
| 1921 |
25,133 |
224,172 |
8.9 |
19 10 0 |
216,571 |
2,200 |
398,506 |
| 1922 |
26,452 |
301,000 |
11.4 |
12 0 0 |
127,539 |
2,818 |
328,688 |
| 1923 |
24,893 |
229,000 |
9.2 |
14 10 0 |
12,111 |
22,051 |
350,428 |
| 1924 |
25,897 |
444,000 |
17.1 |
10 5 0 |
89,632 |
44,316 |
362,554 |
| 1925 |
26,256 |
355,000 |
13.5 |
10 15 0 |
90,305 |
44,541 |
355,376 |
| 1926 |
25,599 |
332,000 |
13 |
11 5 0 |
35,040 |
78,574 |
337,721 |
| 1927 |
23,004 |
255,000 |
11.1 |
12 10 0 |
96,917 |
54,630 |
330,662 |
| 1928 |
23,805 |
242,100 |
10.2 |
11 16 0 |
66,183 |
17,651 |
320,315 |
| 1929 |
23,986 |
359,100 |
15 |
5 0 0 |
62,208 |
13,192 |
307,289 |
| 1930 |
19,997 |
253,000 |
12.6 |
4 15 0 |
44,199 |
22,302 |
277,406 |
| 1931 |
19,628 |
169,000 |
8.7 |
7 5 0 |
50,303 |
22,388 |
219,587 |
| 1932 |
16,531 |
188,000 |
11.4 |
9 15 0 |
14,952 |
19,264 |
222,868 |
| 1933 |
16,895 |
210,000 |
12.8 |
16 10 0 |
44,829 |
20,298 |
233,419 |
| 1934 |
18,037 |
259,000 |
14.4 |
9 0 0 |
30,046 |
13,382 |
248,744 |
| 1935 |
18,251 |
248,300 |
13.6 |
9 0 0 |
35,186 |
16,223 |
258,300 |
| 1936 |
18,317 |
252,000 |
13.7 |
9 0 0 |
31,953 |
19,987 |
270,692 |
| 1937 |
18,093 |
235,000 |
13 |
9 0 0 |
40,406 |
16,130 |
277,846 |
| 1938 |
18,460 |
257,000 |
13.9 |
9 0 0 |
45,287 |
12,580 |
286,716 |
| 1939 |
18,812 |
288,000 |
15.3 |
9 10 0 |
7,840 |
16,050 |
265,512 |
| 1940 |
18,592 |
270,500 |
14.5 |
12 0 0 |
14,675 |
26,830 |
251,354 |
| 1941 |
18,158 |
262,800 |
14.5 |
15 0 0 |
31 |
17,209 |
223,007 |
| 1942 |
18,420 |
261,900 |
14.2 |
17 10 0 |
2,963 |
30,673 |
231,689 |
| 1943 |
19,131 |
285,200 |
14.9 |
18 0 0 |
198 |
24,941 |
243,900 |
| 1944 |
19,603 |
253,900 |
13 |
20 0 0 |
-- |
26,525 |
244,822 |
| 1945 |
19,957 |
282,900 |
14.1 |
21 0 0 |
574 |
32,337 |
226,197 |
| 1946 |
21,163 |
257,451 |
13.4 |
22 10 0 |
29,243 |
35,056 |
217,759 |
| 1947 |
22,142 |
289,908 |
13.2 |
23 10 0 |
7,716 |
31,661 |
231,470 |
| 1948 |
22,787 |
273,584 |
12 |
25 15 0 |
4,561 |
29,135 |
233,168 |
| 1949 |
22,196 |
250,406 |
11.3 |
26 10 0 |
900 |
42,301 |
232,979 |
| 1950 |
22,198 |
368,313 |
16.6 |
21 0 0 |
269 |
84,027 |
229,106 |
| 1951 |
22,460 |
321,824 |
14.3 |
26 0 0 |
626 |
107,738 |
228,512 |
| 1952 |
22,279 |
282,349 |
12.7 |
28 3 0 |
502 |
76,620 |
225,569 |
| 1953 |
21,932 |
272,593 |
12.3 |
27 10 0 |
1,015 |
64,762 |
216,841 |
| 1954 |
20,760 |
246,748 |
11.9 |
29 0 0 |
3,075 |
51,323 |
217,716 |
| Sources: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Brewers' Almanack 1955, page 63. |
| 1928 Brewers' Almanack, page 119, 1971 Brewers'Almanack, page 54 |