The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-10-12
THE PEDIGREE OF BEER.
The History Of a Popular Beverage Its Use
Among the Ancient Egyptians.
London Examiner

Man. the animal that cooke. may also, IL Il
to be regretted be defined as the being tina
gets drunk. In some temperance tract OF
other there is an edifyfng story OF the mon
key who having once been made excessively
inebriated, became a sadder and wiser ape
and put his human proprietor 90 shame by
thenoeforth firmly refusing the dangerous
cup. At what stage Of their evolution from
monkeydom mon first learned to brew. history
saysth not, but we have the dictum OF no less
an authority than Prof. Huxley that among
the earliest records OF all kinds of men we find
o time recorded when they got drunk The
discovery Of roast pig is writ for all time;
but we are not aware that any one las yet
portrayed the happy savage who stumbled
upon the Invention Of beer. "A muddy mess of
sodden grain 1t probably was, but our early
ptogenitors doubtless fuddled themselves
upon 1t with. great satisfaction and com
plaisance, and It WAS probably d hundred
times more wholesome than the treacley, to-
bacco-inced stuff In which the heart oil the
agricultural laborer appears to delight.
Beer, Mt any rate speedily makes Its bow
ties inform US that the very EXPRESSION
"boozy,', comes from an ancient Egyptian
name Tor I, ale derived from Busiris: Be this MS
i may, 1t L. renarkaoe hat to this day the
| they call hou8a, and the Central Asiatic stupe-
| tips himself with buzt, Il beverage which had
| 20 demoralizing All effect OH the Russian sol
diers that strong efforts have been made to
his wine-drsnking Greeks, in the "ketreat of
the Ten Thousand" came across q tribe who
drank beer, and made II note Of It, The liquor
81 barley fermented to IL partial resem-
blance to wine. says TaGitus, was the favorite
beverage Of the ancient Germani, and from
remark of tho historian that those interest
ing barbariaus would drink just as much ms
they were able to get, We gather that the un-
dying thirst which characterizss the TelltOn
Of to-day had it's prototype in his compatriot
Of old.
In early times beer was made by an lnfu-
sion OF matted grain. partly fernented and
drank sweet t., by ana by. us such compound
would not keep spices, cloves and bitters,
AZ horehound on WormWuoJ, were added.
Hops were not used Ia this country until In
troduced from the Netherlands, early In the
sixteenth century, when they aroused such
Indignant oppositiou-for, pace Bismarck
who holds beer responsible for "all the Demo-
cratic pot policy talked over It," your true
beer topef tends to conservatism, that their
use was forbidden by Parliament. A re-
action followed, however, and hops became
until recently, tho only bitter for brewing
permitted by law. We say until recently"
Tor now not only Ia tho addition of any whole
some bitter sanctioned, but the latitude given
to the brewers We Is such that, much as 1t may
tually been produced which are innocent
Of hops and malt alike. Usually, how
ever, it is where beer passes into
the hands OF the email publican
are few Of these enterprlslng tradeemen, in
fact, who, whether they practice it OF not, do
not Possess recipe for making something
lie three barrels out Of two The basis OF
this process Is naturally water, but rs the
ensuing loss OF color and flavor would prob
ably be resented, while some customers would |
feel sggrlsved by the conaequtnt loss OF In |
toxicatlng power. recourse Is had to many in |
genious devices. Sugar helps to reg tor flavor,
caramel color, and salt gives fictitious pun
gency. while, to recompense those injured
gentlemen who cannot get drunk fast enough, |
such unconsdered trifles RS cocculus indicus |
are, though happily more rarely, added.
These are the most common authorizations at |!
the present time.
The sophietication of beer probably dates
from the time when ale became an article Of I
commerce. Three hundred years ago. that
happy time when, rs our contemporary envl- |
0usy observes, there we're no public ana |
lysts, the municipal authorities In this coup-
try took up the question Of beer authorization |
and appointed officials whose office 1t was to
taste all ales before they were sold by the
brewers. We do not know whether RESPONSE
BILE custodans were provided for those Offices
who might be overcome In the conscientious
md Jealous discharge Of their duties, or
whether their heads were "a unimpression-
able as those of the Connecticut people, who
have, 1t appears. been drinking for ever SO
long beer containing about twice as much
alcohol and thinking 1t was q temperance
drink. Az any rate they appear to have given
SATISFACTION, for the practice OF "ale tasting"
is still In existence In some places at tho pres
ent time. In olden times ole tasters, like
most other people, wore leather breaches, and
their method for determining The presence Of
sugar, which at all events possessed the
merit OF simplicity, WAS to pour a pint of
tho suspected beer upon the bench and to sit
upon the same until 1t dried; II on rising the
leather combinations stuck to the bench,
then sugar was present, but Ii not the beer
was pure.
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