Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1872-06-05
An ESSAY on Beer.

The great German analytical chemist,
Baron Liebig, entertains high opin-
ion of America, but a poor opinion of
beer. In a conversation with CORE
spondent of the New York Tribune he
is reported to have said: cit is a pc
culiarity of Americans that they make
everything better than we (the Ger
mans) do. [ am convinced that Ameri-
can beer will in time be better than the
German. With us everything remains
as it was. The worst beer-brewers are
in Bavaria, though it was earlier the
| best. And whY2 Look into our brew
cry system. The brewers are only ig-
norant people, who brew good beer
from routine alone. They are in
capable of helping themselves. But
as soon as the Americans adopt any
thing from us they improve upon it,
and we get it back again as an Amer
machine It was begun in Germany,
,but it was first perfected in America.
Everything is improved with you. Look
at our German engineers; they are diff
ferent men when they come to Amer
ica" The testimony thus borne by
the learned philosopher to the faculty
for improving upon everything, which
/ distinguishes our nation, is supported
by the fact of the great demand for
American implements of every kind
from all parts of Europe.
| That the American brewers produce
such good beer as to supersede the de-
sire for importing it is further evidence
of the truth Of the Baron's remarks. He
thinks, however, that, as an article of
| food, beer takes a very inferior rank {;
as a stimulant it is better than brandy,
but as a nutr1ment it is no better than
potatoes. Man." says Liebig, "must
have a stimulant of some sort, and
brandy is a great evil. We find that
the consumption of beer is making
! Roadway even in the wine districts, for
instance in Stuttgart, and in no eli y is
there such an amount of meat con
sumed as in Munich, where the greatest
quantity of beer is also consumed. Be
fore every beer cellar in Munich
you will find a cheese stand.
Why2 Because in cheese you will
find that albumen which is lacking
in beer. Therefore you see that beer
and cheese go together like q law OF
nature. But as an article of nourish-
ment beer is very subordinate.
Schnapps is a great misfortune, and
destroys the working power" With
this last remark, everybody except
those who are addicted to drinking it,
Will agree; but it may be questioned
whether the same number of persons
will agree in condemning beer. The
consumption of it in this country is
| A
that nearly 100000 are spent annu-
ally in that city on beer. And some OF
the great lager beer brewers Of Phila-
delphia turn out over half million OF
barrels of beer.
/ Thirty years ago brewing was com
paratiyely in it's infancy in this country,
but about 1910 it began to assume an
importance which has steadily in
creased, and the use of the liquid has
spread from one end of the continent
to the other. This fact, however, is
mainly due to the large number Of Ger
man emigrants who eO6U have their
lager wherever they go, and carry their
worship of Gambrinus to as great an
extent as mortals can well do Strange
inconsistency, for according to the le-
gend Of that famous king, lager beer
was the invention of Satan. Thus il
happened was q fiddler,
who lived in the time of Charlemange
CA. d. 800). Having been Tilted by his
sweetheart, he went into a wood tC
hang himself. AS he was sitting on g
bough, with the rope about his neck,
preparatory to making the final plunge,
suddenly tall man in green coat
appeared before him, and offered
to make him as rich as he
pleased, and to cause his sweet.
heart to burst with ve1ation at her folly
in rejecting him, provided he would
give up his soul to Beelzebub, at the
end of thirty years. GambrlDus struck
the bargain, and, aided by Satan, be
invented Ginning bells and lager beer.
AS soon as the Emperor Charlemagne
had drunk gallon or two of the beer,
he was so pleased that he made Gam
brinus Duke of Brabant and Count OF
Flanders, and thus give him the salts
faction Of being able to laugh at his
old sweetheart. When the thirty years
expired, Beelzebub sent one of his
imps with orders to bring Gambrinus
back before midnight, but that jolly
hero made the imp SO drunk with the
beer that he was unable to do as he ha6
| been commanded; SO, as is usual in al
such legends, the devil was cheated il
his bargain, and Gambrinus lived long
enough to drink SO much beer that he
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