The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-03-27
FIGHT FOR PURE BEER
IDPoCATES or THE Biz CONI'J-
DENT or SUCCESS.


Attorney Williams said yesterday af-
ternoon concerning the fight that Is
now being waged in the general as
sembly against impure beer that he
was satisfied with the results Of the
hearings that have been held. 1.-THE
weight of the testimony has been on
our SIDE" said the advocate Of the
measure.
THE hearing on Thursday was all
that we could desire. We are making
this fight in the interest of health and
against the impure connections that are
now being placed on the market About
all the testimony has been submitted
to the committee, and the final hearing
will probably be held April ID,
Senator Woodruff said at the opening
of the hearing Thursday afternoon that
the committee would hear the analyses
of beer offered by the parties in support
of the bill, provided that the analyses
of more than one beer We're presented,
and also provided that the name OF any
beer or the manufacturer of any beer
should not be given.
William b. Stoddard, counsel for the
Quinnipiac Brewing company, thought
that no analysis of beer that had been
already shown to the committee should
be allowed.
n. w. Kendall president of that COM
pany, said that all beer analysed should
be analysed by parties not interested
in the present hearing.
L. j. Nickerson, who appeared for the
bill, said the object of the bill was to
obtain pure beer, and It's promoters
were not engaged in opposition to any
particular manufacture of beer The
broad question was beer.
DR.. A. j. Wolff was put under oath
and produced samples of beer and an
analysis of them. Two bottles with the
labels of the Quinnipiac Brewing COM
pany were pasted over with white pa
per. The labels were plainly visible
beneath the paper, and the edges of
them protruded beyond the white pa
per.
Mr.. Kendall and Mr.. Stoddard called
the attention of the committee to the
fact, and DR.. Wolff proceeded to sorape
the labels all off, but Senator Woodruff
said that it was now too late, and the
Wolff then proceeded to explain his an
alysis of beers, including the analysis
of the beer in question, but not by
name. In the Connecticut beers he
found unconverted glucose to the
amount of over one-half of the solid
substance of the beer. In the alcohol
he also found fusil oils in the Connec-
ticut but not Wuerzberger beer, which
he had analysed in conjunction with
the home manufacture.
The experiments were simply of sani-
tary chemistry and not of analytical
chemistry. He described the process,
which was a simple one Of distillation.
He also described the changes from
dextrine to maltese and glucose. Once
during his testimony DR.. Wolff men
toned New Haven beer but apollo
gized for the slip, after Mr.. Kendall
had called the attention of the commit
tee to the fact. He proceeded to say
that the presence of the higher alcohols
were inimical to health, and that I'M
der certain conditions glucose was
inimicaI to health, especially as it was
a diuretic and an excitant to the kid
neys and would produce Bright's dis
ease.
Mr.. Kendall said that no glucose was
used by brewers in Connecticut.
DR.. Wolff exhibited a Connecticut
beer which had 631a per cent of glucose
In its solids, and it was sold In pints
of which it took three to make quart.
He said that beer in Germany was sold
upon analysis, and If 1t contained glu-
cose or rice the consumer knew what
he was buying. The sample of Connec-
ticut beer had an analysis of purity as
a guarantee, and pretended to have
been the product of malt and hops, and
vet over half of the solids contained
glucose which could not have been the
result of malt fermentation. If one ton
of glucose were added to 500 barrels it
would give two pounds of absolute al
cohol to a barrel without the addition
of any other fermentation whatever.
Prof. Herbert F. Smith, dean of Yale
Medical college, replied to DR.. Wolff,
saving that the two pounds of alcohol
in a barrel of beer would Simply add
eight-tenths of one per cent. of alcohol.
This was small part of the alcohol
even in the weakest beer. Fermentation
would not cease with the presence of SO
small a per cent. OF alcohol. He mad
been unable to find in the literature
that there should be any difference In
the production of fusil oil from the
starch of any compound which might
be used in beer. He produced small
bottle of commercial fusil oil for the
committee to smell and to compare with
the analyses of DR.. Wolff. Several
samples were shown of separations of
beer, domestic and foreign, to show that
there was less valerianic acid in Con-
necticut beer than in the foreign beer,
that acid showing the presence of fusil
oil There was a general feeling
among the medical fraternity that fustl
oil was poisonous, but there was no
record where man took a large guam
tity of fusil oil and recovered 1t was
not poisonous in the sense that strych-
nine is poisonous Prof. Smith did not
think that the glucose as shown in the
beer samples was in sufficient quanti
ties to be detrimental to health. He
did not think the analyses showed the
amount of glucose stated, much of the
solids being dextrose.
William Zeltner of the Zeltner Brew
ing company of New York explained
III ir. he