The sun., 1899-02-19

he could not hnd, but hon substitutes olteh
escape the chemist. The highest percentage OF
alcohol was 800 lin ale). the lowest 81 lin
| lager beer) The average percentage OF alcohol
! In 172 samples OF lager beer was 3.75: and In
100 samples OF ale. 4.62. The inquiry showed
that many breweries were dirty and that some
State or local supervision OF beer-making
| would remedy bad conditions. The Health
Board recommended that law be made de-
hninR the normal constituents of malt BEERS
and thought that malt beverage should con-
tain only malt and hops, with their constit-
uents and water" This definition places
barley beer" corn beer" rice beer" and
glucose beer" on the same footing. as the con-
sttuents of malt are the constituents OF the
other grains
The state Health Board again took up the
pure beer" question two winters ago. and
asked DR.. Willis q. Tucker. Director OF the
State Laboratory, to make q report. The
board wanted to 20 all over Dr. Engelhardts
work again. but DR.. Tucker told the board
that it was nonsense. He quoted this from
the Washington report referred to above:
Probably there is no one article Of daily
consumption that has been so often subject to
suspicion OF adulteration or sophistication
ms beer Its complex composition and pc
culiar nature have deceived people into max
Ing all sorts of charges against its purity.
but cxperie9ce has failed to establish the
truth OF by&far greater majority OF these
charges am fhe fncts OF many published
analyses shoW<lhat it is az free from adultera-
ton as most other articles OF consumption and
more so than some"
Some old reports we're dug out by DR.. Tucker
and he thus summarized them:
Prof. r. o. Dorcmus in 1873 examined four
teen samples of bottled lager beer for the Mod
GRAFTON Society. and Prof. Engehnrdt examined
or delcteriouS constituent. Prof. ii. b. Corn
wall Of Princeton, analyst to the State Board OF
Health of New Jersey. in 1888 made report
to the board IN which he states that mono of
the samples of beer tested by the writer gave
any indication of the presence of anything
not normal to beer and he quotes Witt
stein tArchiv. der Pharmacc. 1879 as
saying that. so far as he knew. mono OF
them have over been certainly detected, refer
enco being made to foreign bitters. Tho Min
nesota State Dairy and Food Commissioner re-
ported the analyses of Il number Of beers by
DR.. Eberman. chemist to the commission. in
his report for 1SSl-9O. in which no adulter-
ants were detected. and in 1890 and 1891 re-
ports the analysis of further samples of malt
liquors. which were all found to be free from
such unheathful or detrimental substances as
are alleged to have been found in beers "
Study OF chemists analyses of beers
should not lead the seeker after the facts OF
the pure beer" question to believe that
American brewing practices are beyond crit-
csm. This illusion is moro dangerous than
the opposite and a moro common one. De-
spite the statements OF the highest chemical
authorities. it must be said thai good many
materials are used by unscrupulous brewers
which ought never to be put in beer. although
the majority OF them are not injurious to
health. Bad materials make bad beer, and
purely barley beer" may be unfit to drink.
while n well brewcd glucose beer" would be
recommended to patient by physician. Many
brcweres make bad beer. and many brewers
use chemicals to hide the defects of bad brew
ing. Beer is one of the most sensitive of foods.
and its making is an art which few men entirely
master. The American brewer is lover OF
beer and believes in it. and no one is more
anxious than he to make the best beer that
can be brewed. He will welcome any honest
legislation which will help to raise the standard
of quality of American beer. The best Amer
lean brewed beer is the peer OF any beer made.
and the American brewer wants to keep it so.
Last summer the United States Brewers AS
sociaton recorded itself as favorng the adop-
ton OF standard of beer by a Federal commits
sion made up Of chemists and physicians OF
national prominence and the general regula-
ton OF brewing by the Department of Agricul-
of the Brosius Pure Food bill. which proposed
to establish standard of beer as well as of
other foods. md the beer commission plan was
made part of the bill. Such questions as the
kind and quantity OF barley substitutes beer
may contain. the length of time it should be
stored after brewing. the propriety OF the use
Of preservative acids. bcarbonate Of soda and
glycerine. and other brewing questions over
which there is an honest difference OF opinion.
the brewers are ready to submit TO Federal or
a State commission.
Scientific men. who have looked into tho
matter of pure beer" believe that. before any
legislation is proposed the whole subject Of
brewing should be studied by n Government
commission of experts. who would not only
find how beer is made in this country. but go
abroad and study the practices OF foreign
brewers. Such commission would be capa-
bic. after its investigation. OF defining how
beer should be made. and recommending what
legislation would be necessary to insure the
making OF the best and healthest