The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1896-05-07
BREWERS FAVOR TT.
Congressman Cooper's Pure Beer Bill Re-
ceives Support.

|
Representative Cooper is daily in re-
ceipt of letters, from various parts OF
the country, favoring the general object
of his bitterly opposed Pure Beer bill.
While the brewers in general are
against the bill on the ground that it is
too severe, a few letters have been re-
ceived from brewers, one or two in Wis
consin, advocating the measure. It is
claimed for the bill by some of the COR
respondents that it is one that larger
brewers will favor with some modifica-
lions because it would place a govern
ment stamp of approval upon pure
article. Again, some of the friends of
temperance favor it because they show
that the adulterated beers are those
which contain the greater quantities of
alcohol. One of the most important
letters received by. Mr.. Cooper is from
the chemist of the Wisconsin dairy
and food commission, Mr.. Mitchell,
who says:
The most common adulteration of
beer is the result of the effort to keep
it bottled for an extended length of
time without spelling. For this pur-
pose chemicals are used as preventives.
Salicylic acid perhaps is the most COM
mon and is almost always used in the
beer intended for export. Sulphuric
acid and boric acid are also used to
some extent, and formaline is a newer
drug which is coming into use for this
purpose. Saccharine is an excessively
sweet poisonous chemical which has
high preservative powers and has been
occasionally used. All these substances
and similar preservative drugs should
be Internationally prohibited. Sub
stitutes for the bitter principle Of
hops have been used to some extent
in foreign countries and were used to
some extent in this country when hops
were higher in price. | do not believe
they are now in use to any extent.
The commonest of these were quasi
bitterwood, gentian, extract of the
root of aloes, dried juice of colchim
and juice of the bitter apple. More
poisonous bitters have occasionally
been reported, but have never known
of their use. Ali of these substances
are medicinal in their properties and
are not fit substitutes for the bitter
principle of hops"
Chemist Mitchell says that the Sec
ton of the bill providing against other
grains will be bitterly antagonized by
the brewers. He says that before being
matted barley is similar in it's compost
ton to other grains, but in the process
of mailing disastase is formed, which
is the process Of changing starch into
sugar, turning the insoluble starch into
sugar, which is dissolved and afterward
fermented to form alcohol. 1t is found
that barley properly matted contains
sufficient diastase to convert more
starch into sugar than the barley con-
tains This fact induced the brewers
to use corn, rye, rice and other grains
as cfeapener, and make lighter
colored beer suited to certain trades.
Many persons like the white, high
~ alcoholic beer manufactured from
rice" say Mr.. Mitchell. "Others like
the darker, more heavily bodied beer
manufactured by the use of highly
parched malt or grains. The claim
will be made that these people
have a right and that they
demand the manufacture of beer
not made wholly from matted barley"
Mr.. Mitchell says that while the whole
bill is not greatly Objectionable; if it's
clause relating to the use of other
grains were eliminated there would not
be logical objection to the bill, as no
one, he says, can advocate the use of
medicinal drugs even as preservative.