Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1886-05-28
HE BREWING TRADE. 4
History of Bc~r- seno-us..~ 49,.
lions of the Trade.

wv '''' F7''''i's' Ni'.N''f'' 49,
liquor trade received considerable at
tention from newspaper men and poll
ticians, and since then the fevcrish
activity of reviyaliSts and temperance
people has kept it constantly before the
public. The brewers in particular
have attracted Il great deal of notice,
and the clippings from the New York
papers alone for the last twelve months
would make good-sizcd volume, but
it would read more like fairy tales than
facts 10 those who understand the sub
jcct The official trade journals wrig-
gle themselves in Il perSpiration in
every issue over the wicked stories of
the temperance cranks and the callouS-
ness of the public. The brewers GER
tainly are very often misreprcsented.
and of their general character and
business methods most people are en-
tirely ignorant.
The history of beer in this country is
very interesting. The pioneers in the
business were William Penn and Jaco-
bus Jacobus built his brewery in 1914,
on what is now the corner of Pearl
street and Old slip. whore he also
established beer garden. He after
ward became the first burgomaStcr, and
his beer and justice gave equal Sati>fac
ton TO the citizens of New Amsterdam.
Penn brewery was ut Pennsburg,
Bucks county. Pa. where the excellence
of his brew was considered by no means
the least Of his virtues. \ hundred
wears that doughty soldier Gen. Israel
Putnam was running Il brewery and
tavern ut Brooklyn, Conn.
The manufacture of lager beer in
America only dates back about forty
wears. but it has gone ahead and spread
itself like the mustard seed in the para
bic. There are now about 200 brew
crS in this country, and they sold last
year over $4,000, 600 barrels of malt
liquors, OF this New York and Brook
lyn alone contributed near Il quarter
The next largest producers are Milwau-
Lec. St Louis. Cincinnati. Chicago,
Boston, and Newark. in the order
named. An estimate of the capital in
vested in the trade would probably
reach at least $4,000, 600 Ninety
five per cent. of the brewers are Ger
mans, and "a more enterprising and
public spirited class of men it would be
very hard 10 find
The twcnty-tifth annual convention
of the United States Brewing associa-
ton, which was held in this city last
year, served TO remind New Workers
what powerful body of men the brew
cr, are. Their influence in politics is
necessarily very great, and they know
how TO turn it TO the best account. Be
sides this association there are
some twenty subsidiary organizations
throughout the country, of which the
United States Brewers and Masters
association is the best known. the cleo
ton of Mr. Cook Rochester brewer,
rs secretary of state of New York hav-
inc been largely the result of It's efforts.
The Association of the United Lager
Beer Brewers of New York city and
vicinity confines itself strictly TO trade
affairs such as regulating the credit
system with saloon keepers. The sa-
loon-kceperS, a. rule, are men of
small capital. but rs their business is
for spot cash they ought to he able to
pay their bill, every week. Under the
rules of this association brewer must
be satisfied that Il new customer has
paid his debts to other brewers before
supplying him with beer. Before this
rule was made 500 was the maximum
credit brewer could safely give,
whereas now he can give credit to four
times that amount with comparatively
little risk. Unfortunately the associa-
ton has not been able TO regulate
prices. and competition is so intensely
keen that the market is practically de-
moralizcd. In the early history of this
industry Il well-cstablished brewer con-
sidered his name as his principal stock
in trade, but the business nowadays is
entirely in the hands of collectors, to
whose caprice the brewers must submit.
The trouble is that the great number of
new brcwcrics which have sprung up
in and around New York during the
last few years, and the extensive growth
of the old establishments, have not been
met by II sufficient increase in the con-
sumption of beer The expectation of
large increase in the demand have
been considerably checked by the
general depression in trade, and
there are probably few local brew
cries working up to anything like
their full capacity. Consequently,
the brewers have to tax all their re-
sources to retain their trade. and they
offer so many inducements that their