The evening Argus., 1868-11-23

has been lately assisted by one Of those un.
lucky coujunctions ofwhich we have spoken.
The season has been unfavorabe and the
quality Of the beer has somewhat deteriorat.
ed, but it never has become really unaccept.
able. This preference for Chicago beer has
been assiduously cultivated, for some foolish
reason, by the saloon keepers, by placarding
| the fact that Chicago beer was Obtainable
from them. Sometimes the supply Of ChisA.
go beer being exhausted they have furnished
their patrons with that made by our own
brewers, and no fault has been found and no
inferority detected This then resolves it.
self into n mere whim and captiousness
about name. 1t costs the saloon keepers
ust one dollar more per barrel and the pur.
chase price Of it goes to enrich other brew.
er5 and outside communities. 1t is the
merest piece of childish folly on their part,
as our own brewers are able to supply them
with as much as they can sell, and Of as good
n quality.
This leads us into the consideration Of the
extent Of our brewsries and the improve.
ments they are making. The beer drinkers
in this region are innumerable, and the con.
sumption of beer, annually, in and about
Rock Island and Davenport reaches the i'm.
mense total Of 200 barrels. To meet this
demand two brewories are in operation
which make couple Of hundred barrels.
each, every week, and sometimes a great
deal more. 1t is a matter Of wonder to see
the size Of the statistics of this one article in
the United States alone.
The operation Of compounding beer is the
simplest imaginable. A liquor, made from
boiling hops and malt (which last, as every.
| body knows, is barley taken az it begins to
germinate or sprout and dried in kiln
boiled together and allowed to ferment in
cool place, which fermentation is assisted by
the addition of yeast The only difference
between ale and beer is in the manner of fer
mentatien ale is fermcnted warm and beer
cold. But there is in the mere operation of
mailing, brewing, and fermenting, Difficult.
ties which nothing but the knowledge deriv.
ed from long experience can overcome.
The two breweries in this city are owned
aud superintended by Mr.. |. Huber, and Mr..
Geo. Wagner. That of Mr.. Huber was estab
lished by Peter Lettig, in l8i7, as was that o.
Mr.. Wagner sometime later. The dimen
sions Of Mr.. Huber's brewery are large and
. he has three principal cellars Of great size
besides several vaults.
He has this year erected copper cooler
4 on an ingenious plan, at a cost of neRrl
e $1,000. 1t consists of a tier or pile of COZ
), per pipes, placed parallel, in which pipes 0
y. cylindrical chambers, beer and ice water a
:; ternately run 30 that the hot beer passing sid
p by side with channel of ice water become
cooled when it reaches the bottom of the tel
One Of the same sort, at about the same cos
h. has been purchased by Mr.. Wagner. Bot
at breweries have also set up a new cope
o, boiler which holds 60 to 10 barrels of bee
~ Mr.. Wagner has erected an elevator whic
Is carries the grain and malt to all parts of th
IN building, and has also made new dryn
We kiln of an area Of % by "a. lie has a ne,
u drying floor of large dimensions the bottor
ar of which has been carefully cemented AM
Il. every precaution taken to ensure the success
G. of this important operation. He buys hop
" "a and grain of the best quality in large quar-
n. titles as also does Mr.. Huber, and they ar
ID thus enabled to make capital article at tn
.e lowest market figure. Another importan
~ feature is the coopernge, which, Messrs. lIu
Il Der and Wagner, recognizing the identity o
n. their interests, have done coniointly. Their
lie are six coopers employed, who, at this seaso
- of the year, are engaged principally in mal
w.. ing large watts and butts. The location c
il the breweries, in both instances, is admira
Or bic, situated in neighborhood where goo
water aboundsi they have cellars and ic
houses of large dimensions in the side ofth
n, bluff, and thus there is no drawback to tn
ry production of firstrate article. Mr.. Wag
ner has erected q fermentiug house, ic
he house and cellar, this year, at conslderabl,
IA cost, and has now sufficient dimensions Il
uu furnish half the region with beer The bee
~ is boiled and from thence carried to a COO,
IL. ing vat whence nature carries it by the lav
Ii of hydrostatCs, that all liquids seek thei
1t. level, to the fermentng house. The entir
20 building is run by steam, assisted in severa
a departments by the simple laws of nature
Mr.. Huber has also increased the dimension
Sc of his ice houses Both establishments al
.v furnished with a large number offermentin
lg vats, holding from G to 10 or Is barrel
nd each.
We Thus, from short rehearsal of the var
"a GUS features. an idea can be obtained of tn
A dimensions of these two establishments en-
n. ploying Il or Is hands each and man,
IN featuring large quantities Of fermente
i" liquor and, considering the fact that, OF tn
nv beginning, 10 or II barrels Of beer at on
ll, brewing was regarded as eXtravagantly larg,
se and that, since his advent, Mr.. Huber ha
", erected one of the finest residences in tow
ed and made of his brewery one of the con
iy. pletest, in all its appointments, of any in til
west and that Mr.. Wagner, after psyin
A, $4,000 for bis brewery, three years ago,ha
es in that time, expended nearly $4,000 MOI
IN improving it, some idea Of the prodiCiou