Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1865-12-23

| "hN Lager was EtHu EilSI SuUmeF-
Ihe Other Side Of the Patent
| Lager Observation-Disclosures Of Good
Beer Next Summer.
| From the n. Y. World.
Notwithstanding the cold, clear atmos-
phere of winter has for a season decreased
! the demand for lager drinkers to ascertain
the cause of the inferiority Of that beverage
last summer, and to Judge of the prospects Of
the future. The poor lager was in many in
stances palmed of upon a complaining public
is acknowledged This is certainly a fact
calculated TO cause the deepest anxiety
| among many classes Of our citizens; for
lager, by its devotees, is deemed the very
nectar Of the benefcent gods, making men
healthy, wealthy, and wise )" and whoever
would tamper with it, to destroy its flavor
and qualitya nd to introduce pernicious in
gradients into It's composition, must merit
and receive their direst imprecations 1t
makes men healthy, they say, for it is I'M
deniably productive of a clear conscience
an unobstructed digestion, and plump and
weighty corporation; it assists to wealth, for
it is the cheapest drink that is sold il
makes men wise, for it does not "steal away
the brains" but rather produces quiet, cheer
fitness, and calm reflection.
WHY LAGER WAS BAD LAST SUMMER.
Probably the true explanation of the de-
tcrioration of lager is the fact that some
brewers have not used good or enough malt
in brewing their beer The brewers were
obliged to pay very high prices for malt,
which had advanced very materially last
summer over the old prices, and which was
of an inferior quality, and in the desire for
a rapid accumulation Of wealth they raised
their charges for beer and endeavored by
using more than the proper amount of water
to make their malt go further than it would
stand. The result was that their beer was
inferior in quality, for good lager cannot be
made by any process without a sufficient
quantity of malt.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PATENT LAGER"
QUESTION.
This explanation is plausible enough; but
some have been disposed 10 attribute bad
lager to the use of a new patent recently
introduced and employed by number of
our best brewers, by which lager is brewed
more cheaply and more cxpiditiously than
by the old method. III some few saloons
placards have been posted with the words,
"No patent lager sold hero" and paragraphs
have gone the rounds of the newspapers
charging that il is unhealthy, unpalatable,
and productive of various diseases. Those
brewers who are using the patent complain
of these charges, and ask that "facts be sub
mitted to a candid world" They say that
it is very easily and very conclusively shown
that those parties who had bad lager were
not the parties who had patent beer" While
the beer was very generally bad only few
brewers in this city had the patent, and
therefore even those people who condemn
the patent must concede that the greater part
of the bad beer sold must have been due to
some other cause, and must have been
brcwed by those who had not the patent
process.
But those who had bad beer found il very
convenient TO saddle the patient with it. Ii
is admitted, however, that some who had the
patent had bad beer, for the reason that they
had not used enough malt 1t is generally
the case that about as bad beer as can be
found is got at the places which display the
placard. q" No Patent Beer" The holders
of the patent challenge beer drinkers to a
test Of their product, and they say they Gre
willing to allow any bibulous and ponderous
Dutchman ofthe most experienced and cul
tivated taste 10 compare their beer with that
produced by other brewers, without being
told which is the one or the other, and they
feel confident that their beer will be found
superior by any beer offered to the public. A
connoisseur in lager was asked by us TO state
the beer that he considered bad, and none
of those dealers whom he mentioned as hav-
ing poor lager had the patent process. They
claim that their method is efficient and
harmless. They claim that it makes at least
as good lager as is offered to the public, and
that it makes it much cheaper; that il does
not change or introduce any new ingredients,
but is simply more perfect method Of con-
yerting the malt into saccharine, and ex
tracing the hop. There is ALWAYS an outcry
against any new invention, and even the
sewing machine and the moving machine
did not escape severe aspersion and ridicule;
but those who use this patent invariably
praise it, and say that il produces at least as
good beer as is produced by the usual pro-
cess. The holders Of the patent say that the
outcry against lager is started by those
brewers who desire 10 purchase the privi-
lege of the patent cheaper than it is now Of
tercd-for the inventor, knowing its value,
holds its privilege at n high price
II out of this discussion the public get
good lager, patent or otherwise, it will prob
ably Ne excessively gratfcd 1t Is prob
able that during the coming season-brewers
will exhibit less cupidity in the use of malt.
! Good lager must be had though the heavens
| fall. Ii has become a favorite drink even
among the Americans and Irish. and il is
claimed for il that it is the enemy Of rum.
whisky and brandy that il saves us from
street quarrcls, from riots, from crime. from
beaStly and violent drunkenness, and that If
II shall become our national drink the genial
disposition, the unrufiled temper. and the
serene dcmeanor Of the Dutchman will be-
come our national character. Its cheapness
has been one important cause of its rapid in
PRODUCTION as favorite drink, and ANYTHING
that lessons its cost without deteriorating its
quality is, of course, to be commenced. Let
this subject be carefully considered /: let the
best lager win, and still NAV the medita-
tive Dutchman indulge over his mug in his
beaii6c soliloquy;
STRONG du Fcest vein lager,
NtN can stronger pe
likes dn peter ash soot