The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-06 00:00:00

PALE ALE IN INDIA.

During the last Sikh war an officer in a regiment
marching upon the Sutlej received intelligence from
his agent in England that a legacy of £1,500 had
fallen to his lot, the information being accom-
panied by a business-like request to know "how he
would take it." The young gentleman, after due
reflection, and perhaps consultation with his com-
rades, replied that he would " take it in pale ale,"
and the full value was accordingly remitted to him
in the article of his choice. The story created some
amusement in the camp, and bespoke, no doubt, a
certain exuberance of liberality on the part of the
legatee, but the decision, after all, was less extra-
vagant than it may appear. Good ale, under the
circumstances, was almost the first necessary of life,
and the fact has since been so practically recognised
that is the year 1858 the consignments of that
beverage to India on account of the troops reached
the value of nearly a million sterling. Beer, in short,
is the natural support of British soldiers in the East.
It keeps them in condition, not only by its proper
virtues, but by driving other liquors out of the field.
If the men can get sound ale or porter they
are not disposed to resort to arrack, and cense-
quently there is less drunkenness and more general
efficiency. Hero, however, a question suggests it-
self of obvious pertinence and moment. Could not
the beer be brewed in India ? Could not " India
pale ale" be rendered a native production, and
genuine British porter be manufactured by British
hands even in the old kingdom of the Moguls ?
Plumpuddings have been made at Jerusalem,
Christmas turkeys were cooked in the Crimea, and
very good beefsteaks can be had everywhere except
in Japan. Admitting that a supply of beer must
precede a British establishment, just as the growth
of mulberry trees must precede the produce of silk,
can we not naturalize the manufacture as well as
the men, and set up the breweries on the spot, in-
stead of keeping them 15,000 miles off? That is
precisely the question which has been asked more
than once, and answered in such a manner that it
certainly ought to be asked over again.
Besides the proper ingredients of beer—all simple
and procurable—the one thing needful to the success
of the manufacture is temperature. Even in England
itself there are two months in particular—March
and October—more favourable to the process than
others, and if a mild and equable temperature
cannot be secured in some manner or other the
brewing will probably be a failure. But this
ought to be no obstacle in the way of Indian
breweries. India comprises climates of ail kinds.
The plains are torrid, but the hills are cool. Brew
the beer at a certain level above the sea, and
there is no apparent reason why it should not be as
good as that consigned from the banks of the
Thames. So one or two people have thought on
the spot. A Mr. Davis made the experiment in
1841, but appears, in the opinion at any rate of his
patrons, to have been unsuccessful. Eight years
later, however, Captain Ouchterlony, of the Madras
Engineers, being employed on duty in the Neil-
gherry Hills, conceived the laudable idea of turn-
ing the situation to account by attempting to brew.
He brewed accordingly, and produced indubitable
beer. The next point to be ascertained was the
aci. value and palatability of the article, and of
this, of course, there was but one proof which
could be considered as conclusive. Would the men
drink it? Would they call for it at the canteen as
they would for English porter, ar>d be as well sa-
tisfied with the commodity ? The proof of the
brewing was in the drinking—nowhere else.
The means of decision were close at hand. Two
of her Majesty's regiments of foot were quartered
conveniently for the consultation, and one or the
European battalions in the old Company's service
lay at no great distance. So the beer was sent to
head-quarters, and appeal made on its merits. The
medical officers of the 51st disparaged the article,
declaring it heady and overcharged with alcohol.
The men, not objecting perhaps to these proper-
ties, pronounced more favourably of the specimen,
though intimating their opinion that it was a little
too sweet and new. The 94th also returned an
approving verdict, and deposed that they would
certainly prefer the beer to English beer, price
being considered. The Europeans followed in the
same strain, and more distinguished testimonials
were not lacking. A German missionary reported
upon a bottle of the Neilgherry beer with great
decision, classing it almost with the real German
article, while an English chaplain roundly affirmed
that he " could barely distinguish it from college
ale." All the suggestions received by way of ad-
vice pointed in one direction. If Captain Ouch-
terlony would but " hop" the beer a little more,
keep it a little longer, and send it out in the
cask instead of the bottle he would achieve a com-
plete success. This was encouraging, no doubt,
but the advice, as often happens, was too good to
be followed. It was all very well to say " Brew
in large quantities, put more hops in, and send us
a hogshead or two.' Poor Captain Ouchterlony
had neither materials nor " plant." He was only
an amateur, engaged in a benevolent experiment,
at his own costs and charges, for the good of his
kind, and confined to the resources of a private
house on the hill station. His only boiler was a
copper pot, his stock of hops could be packed in a
hamper, and the utmost quantity of beer he could
produce at a brewing was 10 gallons. Give him
the means, and he would do better; but then the
Court of Directors must step in.
The Madras Government does really seem to
have been impressed with the promise of the expe-
riment, and the result of sundry " memoranda,"
" military consultations," and " minutes" was, that
the whole account was forwarded to the Court of
Directors just 11 years ago. What measures that
august body adoted on the occasion, whether they
thought the question irreversibly settled by the
failure of 1841, or whether they themselves were
suppressed before they could come to any decision
on the matter, we cannot say. All we can tell the
reader is, that just before Parliament rose Mr. W.
Ewart moved for copies of the correspondence which
had passed on the subject, and that this correspon-
dence, after revealing the story which we have re-
lated, concludes with the following notification :
" No reply appears to have been made by the Court
of Directors to the Government of Madras on this
subject."
We think this a great pity. As everything which
goes to the manufacture of beer, temperature in-
cluded, can certainly be obtained in India, so
important an experiment should have had fairer
play. We believe there is nothing which India may
not be made to produce. Whenever any kind of crop
fails in any kind of country we are invariably as-
sured, and with perfect reason, that we can get all
we want from India. Even China has no monopoly
of tea or silk, nor America of cotton. We believe
turnips or primroses could be grown in India as
naturally as indigo or poppies. All we have to do
is to select the soil, and if similar discrimination
were applied to climates half the oppressiveness
of Indian life ought to be at an end. There are
places in India as healthy and agreeable as Kes-
wick or Eastbourne, if we would but take advan-
tage of them, and the success of a brewery would
not be a bad test of the salubrity of a station.
Wherever sound beer could be brewed British sol-
diers could comfortably live, and a moral of deep
import might be drawn from a fair commercial ex-
periment.—Times.