So I was dead pleased to find this lengthy article about English Lager, published in 1899. It seems to have been prompted by Allsopp's announcement that it was getting into the Lager game.
English Lager.
An announcement has been macle, apparently with authority, that Messrs. Allsopp and Sons intend at an early date to commence brewing lager beer at one of their Barton breweries. This announcement is a welcome one to those who take an interest in the world's consumption of beer, because it is likely to settle the question once for all whether in this country the small consumption of bottom-fermentation beer is due to its non-suitability to the wants of beer consumers, or that it has not been brought to the notice of the general public in an attractive form as to quality and price. In America, for instance, with a population of cosmopolitan origin, the production of lager beer is extending in all directions, and it has been asserted by those best acquainted with the industry that in a comparatively short time the brewing of top-fermentation beer will cease altogether, the national taste going in favour of lager beer, which, through not being highly hopped, is not heady, and possesses other properties attractive to the beer drinker of the States. No doubt climatic conditions have had some effect on this change of fashion, but up to the present time it has been a problem waiting for satisfactory solution why it is that in America this change should be generally taking place, whilst here the quantity of lager beer consumed is comparatively infinitesimal, and does not appear to be on the increase.
The Brewers' Journal vol. 35 1899, January 15th 1899, pages 5 - 6.
It's slightly odd that the author combines Allsopp's Lager brewery purchase with domestic consumption of Lager. Because their primary reason for brewing Lager wasn't to serve the UK. Bit for its export markets. Where Lager was seriously cutting into their sales of IPA.
The question of why Lager took off everywhere else in the late 19th century, but not the UK, is a good one. I'd put it down to a couple of factors. Number one being that the UK was already producing high-quality beer. And at a wide range of strength and character. That is, there wasn't a huge Lager-shaped hole in the market.
The second, that the brewing industry in the UK was already highly-developed, both technologically and financially. Breweries already had pretty modern equipment. And, by 1899, most breweries of any size were limited companies. Whereas in, for example, Northern Germany, the breweries were mostly small, old-fashioned and family-owned when the Lager wave swepy over them in the late 19th century. They didn't switch to bottom-fermentation. New limited companies were formed to build and run modern Lager breweries. With the technology cash behind them to easily outbrew and outcompete the older brewers.
Life for a new Lager brewer in the UK was much more difficult. Hence the many failures. There was far more competition from existing, quality beers. And plenty of large brewers with lots of money and also tied house.
I can think of a couple of reasons why Lager would take off more quickly in the USA: immigration and climate. Lots of Central Europeans coming in already used to Lager. It's noticeable that in regions settled earlier, such as the Northeast USA, Ale remained popular well into the 20th century. Anyone who has visited pretty much anywhere in the USA in the Summer can appreciate why you might reach for a nice cooling glass of Lager.
Thinking about it, the title for this article is wrong. It should be British Lager. As, of the handfull of brewers producing Lager at the time, one was in Scotland and one in Wales.
Quite a lot more of this to come. Including details of Allsopp's fancy new Lager brewery. And what became of it.
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