Ron Pattinson joins me to discuss the history of brewing in the UK in World War I, a period of profound change for British breweries.
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[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/beersmith/BSHB-201-WWI.mp3]Topics in This Week’s Episode (44:45)
- This week I welcome Ron Pattinson to discuss his new book Armistice! which covers the brewing industry in the UK in World War I. Ron has written many books about historical brewing and runs a blog called Shut Up about Barclay Perkins.
- We start with a discussion of the state of UK brewing just prior to the outbreak of WWI.
- Ron shares some of the types of beers brewed as well as where breweries sourced their ingredients.
- We discuss how German U-Boats significantly limited supplied of imported ingredients and also government rationing kicked in.
- As the war progressed, additional restrictions were placed on brewers many lasting well beyond the war itself.
- Ron talks about the large increase in taxes on the “standard barrel” of beer and how it had a lasting impact on the strength of British beers.
- We talk about “Government ale” and the wholesale takeover of certain industries
- We discuss inflation which was huge during the war and shocked a population that had largely seen zero inflation in their lifetimes.
- We talk a bit about distribution and public houses and how many of them were significantly impacted by the war.
- Ron shares his thoughts on the flood of women entering the workforce for the first time to support wartime industry and how their tastes drove beer production.
- He shares his closing thoughts including the long term impact of WWI on UK beer brewing.
Sponsors
- Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine for sponsoring this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to their great magazine!
- And also Anvil Brewing Equipment. Anvil is a new line of kettles, burners and accessories from John Blichmann at Blichmann Engineering. They make top quality brewing equipment built to last a lifetime.
- Also check out BeerSmith, BeerSmith Mobile software and the new DVDs John Palmer and I filmed – How to Brew with Malt Extract and How to Brew All Grain are available now. You can subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter for free to get some great articles on home brewing.
Thanks to Ron Pattinson for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!
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Related Beer Brewing Articles from BeerSmith:
- Post-War British Beer with Ron Pattinson – BeerSmith Podcast #176
- British Brewing in World War II with Ron Pattinson – BeerSmith Podcast #211
- British Brewing in WWII with Ron Pattinson – BeerSmith Podcast #294
- Scottish Ale History with Ron Pattinson – BeerSmith Podcast #133
- The History of Stout with Ron Pattinson – BeerSmith Podcast #277
- Vintage English Beer Brewing with Ron Pattinson – BeerSmith Podcast #75
- The History of Berliner Weisse with Ron Pattinson – BeerSmith Podcast #257
- Specialty Beer Brewing with Randy Mosher – BeerSmith Podcast #202
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