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BEER

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 644 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BEER , a beverage obtained by a See also:

process of alcoholic See also:fermentation mainly from cereals (chiefly malted See also:barley), hops and See also:water. The See also:history of beer extends over several thousand years. According to Dr See also:Bush, a beer made from See also:malt or red barley is mentioned in See also:Egyptian writings as See also:early as the See also:fourth See also:dynasty. It was called 1 or hega. Papyri of the See also:time of Seti I. (1300 B.C.) allude to a See also:person inebriated from over-See also:indulgence in beer. In the second See also:book (c. 77) of See also:Herodotus (450 B.C.) We are told that the Egyptians, being without vines, made See also:wine from barley (cf. Aesch. Sup pl. 9J4) ; but as the See also:grape is mentioned so frequently in Scripture and elsewhere as being most abundant there, and no See also:record exists of the See also:vine being destroyed, we must conclude that the historian was only partially acquainted with the productions of that most fertile See also:country. See also:Pliny (Natural History, xxii.

82) informs us that the Egyptians made wine from See also:

corn, and gives it the name of zythum, which, in the See also:Greek, means drink from barley. The Greeks obtained their knowledge of the See also:art of preparing beer from the Egyptians. The writings of See also:Archilochus, the Parian poet and satirist who flourished about 65o.B.e., contain See also:evidence that the Greeks of his See also:day were acquainted with the process of See also:brewing. There is, in fact, little doubt that the See also:discovery of beer and its use as an exhilarating beverage were nearly as early as those of the grape itself, though both the Greeks and the See also:Romans despised it as a See also:barbarian drink. Dioscorides mentions two kinds of beer, namely ('IOos and rcoiip .u, but he does not describe them sufficiently to enable us to distinguish them. See also:Sophocles and other Greek writers, again, styled it &piirea. In the time of See also:Tacitus (1st See also:century after See also:Christ), according to him, beer was the usual drink of the Germans, and there can be little doubt that the method of malting barley was then known to them. Pliny (Nat. Hist. xxii. 82) mentions the use of beer in See also:Spain under the name of celia and ceria and in See also:Gaul under that of cerevisia; and elsewhere (xiv. 29) he says:—" The natives who inhabit the See also:west of See also:Europe have a liquid with which they intoxicate themselves, made from corn and water. The manner of making this liquid is somewhat different in Gaul, Spain and other countries, and it is called by different names, but its nature and properties are everywhere the same.

The See also:

people in Spain in particular brew this liquid so well that it will keep See also:good a See also:long time. So exquisite is the cunning of mankind in gratifying their vicious appetites that they have thus invented a method to make water itself produce See also:intoxication." The knowledge of the preparation of a fermented beverage from cereals in early times was not confined to Europe. Thus, according to Dr H. H. See also:Mann, the Kaffir races of See also:South See also:Africa have made for ages—and still make—a See also:kind of beer from See also:millet, and 1 Lidzbarski, Handbuch der nordsemitischen Epigraphik, i. pn. 240, 37'7-similarly the natives of See also:Nubia, See also:Abyssinia and other parts of Africa prepare an intoxicating beverage, generally called bousa, from a variety of cereal grains. The See also:Russian quass, made from barley and See also:rye, the See also:Chinese samshu, made from See also:rice, and the See also:Japanese See also:sake (q.v.) are all of See also:ancient origin. See also:Roman historians mention the fact that the Britons in the south of See also:England at the time of the Roman invasion brewed a See also:species of See also:ale from barley and See also:wheat. The Romans much improved the methods of brewing in See also:vogue among the Britons, and the Saxons—among whom ale had long been a See also:common beverage—in their turn profited much by the instruction given to the See also:original inhabitants of See also:Great See also:Britain by the Romans. We are informed by See also:William of See also:Malmesbury that in the reign of See also:Henry IL the See also:English were greatly addicted to drinking, and by that time the monasteries were already famous, both in England and on the See also:continent, for the excellence of their See also:ales. The See also:waters of See also:Burton-on-See also:Trent began to be famous in the x3th century. The See also:secret of their being so especially adapted for brewing was first discovered by some monks, who held See also:land in the adjacent neighbourhood of Wetmore.

There is a document dated 1295 in which it is stated that See also:

Matilda, daughter of See also:Nicholas de Shoben, had re-leased to the See also:abbot and See also:convent of Burton-on-Trent certain tenements within and without the See also:town; for which re-See also:lease they granted her, daily for See also:life, two See also:white loaves from the monastery, two gallons of conventual beer, and one See also:penny, besides seven gallons of beer for the men. The abbots of Burton apparently made their own malt, for it was a commoh See also:covenant in leases of See also:mills belonging to the See also:abbey that the malt of the lords of the See also:manor, both spiritual and temporal, should be ground See also:free of See also:charge. See also:Robert See also:Plot, in his Natural History of See also:Staffordshire (1686), refers to the See also:peculiar properties of the Burton waters, from which, he says, " by an art well known in this country good ale is made, in the management of which they have a knack of fining it in three days to that degree that it shall not only be potable, but is clear and palatable as we could See also:desire any drink of this kind to be." In 163o Burton beer began to be known in See also:London, being sold at " Ye Peacocke " in See also:Gray's See also:Inn See also:Lane, and according to the Spectator was in great demand amongst the visitors in See also:Vauxhall. Until See also:tea and See also:coffee were introduced, beer and ale (see ALE) were, practically speaking, the only popular beverages accessible to the See also:general See also:body of consumers. Since the See also:advent of tea, coffee, See also:cocoa and See also:mineral waters, the See also:character of See also:British beers has undergone a See also:gradual modification, the strongly alcoholic, heavily hopped liquids consumed by the previous See also:generation slowly giving See also:place to the lighter beverages in vogue at the See also:present time. The old " stock See also:bitter " has given way to the " See also:light See also:dinner ale," and " See also:porter " (so called from the fact that it was the popular drink amongst the See also:market porters of the 18th century) has been largely replaced by " mild ale." A certain quantity of strong beer—such as heavy stouts and "stock " and " Scotch " ales—is still brewed nowadays, but it is not an increasing one. The demand is almost entirely for See also:medium beers such as mild ale, light stout, and the better class of " bitter" beers, and light beers such as the light "See also:family ales," " dinner ales " and lager. The general run of beers contain from 3 to 6 % of See also:alcohol and 4 to 7 % of solids, the See also:remainder being water and certain flavouring and preservative matters derived from the malt, hops and other materials employed in their manufacture. The solid, i.e. non-volatile, See also:matter contained in See also:solution in beer consists mainly of maltose or malt See also:sugar, of several varieties of dextrin (see BREWING), of substances which stand in an intermediate position between the sugars and the dextrins proper, and of a number of bodies containing See also:nitrogen, such as the non-coagulable proteids, peptones, &c. In addition there is an appreciable quantity of mineral matter, chiefly See also:phosphates and potash. Dietetically regarded, therefore, beer possesses considerable See also:food value, and, moreover, the nutritious matter in beer is present in a readily assimilable See also:form. It is probable that the See also:average adult member of the British working classes consumes not less than two pints of beer daily, A reasonable calculation places the See also:total proteids and carbohydrates consumed by the average worker at 140 and 400 grammes respectively.

Taking the proteid content of the average beer at 0.4 % and the See also:

carbohydrate content at 4 %, a See also:simple calculation shows that about 3 % of the total proteid and I1 of the total carbohydrate food of the average worker will be consumed in the shape of beer. The chemical See also:composition of beers of different types will be gathered from the following tables. A. ENGLISH BEERS. (Analyses by J. L. See also:Baker, Hulton & P. Schidrowitz.) I. Mild Ales. r Number. Original Gravity. , - Extractives(Solids)%.

Alcohol %. I.1 1055.13 4.17 6.1 2.1 1055'64 4'47 5'7 3.2 1071.78 5.57 7.3 II. Light See also:

Bitters and Ales. Number. Original Gravity. Alcohol %. Extractives(Solids)%. 1. 1046.81 4'15 4.0 2. 1047.69 4.23 4.1 3. 1047.79 4'61 3.2 4. 1050.30 4.53 4.2 5.

1038.31 3.81 3'5 Number. Original Gravity. Alcohol %. Extractives(Solids)%. L° 1059.01 4'77 5.8 2.4 1068.58 5'48 7.1 3.4 1076.80 6.68 5'9 I V. Stouts and Porter. Number. Original Gravity. Alcohol %. Extractives(Solids)%. 1.5 1072.92 6.14 6.3 2.6 1054.26 4'73 4'5 3.6 Io81.62 6•oz 8.8 The figures in the above tables are very fairly representative of different classes of British and Irish beers. It will be noticed that the Mild Ales are of medium original gravity 8 and alcoholic strength, but contain a relatively large proportion of solid matter.

The Light Bitters and Ales are of a See also:

low original gravity, but compared with the Mild Ales the proportion of alcohol to solids is higher. The See also:Pale and Stock Ales, which represent the more expensive See also:bottle beers, are analytically of much the same character as the Light Bitters, except that the figures all See also:round are much higher. The Stouts, as a See also:rule, are characterized by a high gravity, and contain relatively more solids (as compared with alcohol) than do the heavy beers of light See also:colour. With ' London Ales. 2 Strong Burton Mild Ale. ' Fairly representative of '' Pale Ales." 4 Heavy Stock Ales. 5 Irish Stout. 6 Nos. 2 and 3 are respectively " single " and " See also:double " London Stouts from the same brewery. ' London Porter or See also:Cooper. 'The specific gravity, or " gravity " as it is always termed in the See also:industry, of the See also:brewer is moo times the specific gravity of the physicist. This is purely a matter of See also:convention and convenience.

Thus when a brewer speaks of a wort of a " gravity " of 1045 (ten-See also:

forty-five) he means a wort having a specific gravity of 1.045. Each unit in the brewer's See also:scale of specific gravity is termed a " degree of gravity." The wort referred .to above, therefore, possesses forty-five degrees of gravity. The " original gravity," it may here be mentioned, represents the specific gravity of the wort (see BREWING) before fermentation. The solids in the original wort may be ascertained by dividing the excess of the gravity over moo by 3.86. Thus in the See also:case of Mild Ale No. I the excess of the original gravity over 1000 is 1055.13 - Ioo0 =55.13. Dividing this by 3.86 we get 14.28, which indicates that the wort from which the beer was manufactured contained 14.28 % of solids. In the See also:trade the gravity of a beer (or rather of the wort from which it is derived) is generally expressed in pounds per See also:barrel. This means the excess in See also:weight of a barrel of the wort over the weight of a barrel of water. The weight of a barrel (36 gallons) of water is 36o lb; in the above ex-ample the weight of a barrel of the beer wort is 36o X1.05513 =379'8. The gravity of the wort in lb is therefore 379.8-360=19.8. The beer which is made from this wort would also be called a 19.8 lb beer, the reference in all cases being to the original wort.643 regard to the proportions of the various matters constituting the extractives (solids) in English beers, roughly 20-30 % consists of maltose and 2o-50 % of dextrinous matter.

In mild ales the proportion of maltose to dextrin is high (roughly 1 : I), thus accounting for the full sweet See also:

taste of these beers. Pale and stock ales, on the other See also:hand, which are of a " dry " character, contain relatively more dextrin, the general ratio being about r : 1 ': or i : 2. The mineral matter (" ash ") of beers is generally in the neighbourhood of 0.2 to 0.3 %i of which about one-fourth is phosphoric See also:acid. The proteid (" nitrogenous matters ") content of beers varies very widely according to character and strength, the usual limits being 0.3 to o•8 %, with an average of roughly 0'4%. B. See also:CONTINENTAL BEERS. (Analyses by A. Doemens.) Description. Original Alcohol %. Extractives Gravity. (Solids) %. See also:Munich See also:Draught Dark Io56.4 3.76 6.58 ,, 1052.6 338 6 45 Light Io48•o 3.18 5.55 1048 4'05 3.92 Export 1054.3 3.68 6.32 Bock Beer ' 1076.

6 44'15 7'48 Pilsener Bottle . 1047.7 '53 10.05 3'47 4.90 Draught 1044'3 3.25 4'58 See also:

Berlin Dark 1055.2 3.82 6.17 „ Light Io56.5 4.36 5.46 Weissbier . 1033.1 2.64 3.01 It will be seen that, broadly speaking, the original gravity of See also:German and See also:Austrian beers is See also:lower than that of English beers, and this also applies to the alcohol. On the other hand, the See also:foreign beers are relatively very See also:rich in solids, and the extractives: alcohol ratio is high. (See BREWING.) C. See also:AMERICAN BEERS AND ALES. (Analyses by M. Wallerstein.) 4.7 10J4.11 3.90 6.5 O Description. Gr avity. Alcohol °0. Solids) 1% 1. 1046.7 3'48 5.08 Bottom Fermenta- 2.

Io55•6 3.56 6.5o tion Beers r 3. 1063.4 4.12 7'43 (Lager Type). 1 4. 1046.0 2.68 5.96 5. 1051.7 3'42 5.86 See also:

Top Fermenta- 1 I. 1084.2 5.89 8 6o tion Ales 1073.5 6.46 5'69 (British Type). J 3. Io68•o 5.50 5'53 It will be noted that the American beers (i.e. bottom fermentation products of the lager type) are very similar in composition to the German beers, but that the ales are very much heavier than the general run of the corresponding British products. See also:Production and See also:Consumption.-(For manufacture of beer, see BREWING.) See also:Germany is the greatest beer-producing nation, if liquid bulk be taken as a criterion; the See also:United States comes next, and the United See also:Kingdom occupies the third place in this regard. The consumption per See also:head, however, is slightly greater in the United Kingdom than in Germany, and very much greater than is the case in the United States. The 1905 figures with regard to the total production and consumption of the three great beer-producing countries, together with those for 1885, are as under:- Country. Total Production (Gallons).

Consumption per Head of Popu- lation (Gallons). 1905. 1885. 1905. 1885. German See also:

Empire . 1,538,240,000 932,228,000 26.3 19.8 United States . . 1,434,114,180 494,854,000 19'9 8.8 United Kingdom 1,227,933,46810 993,759,000 27.9050 27.1 9 A particularly heavy beer, only brewed at certain times in the See also:year. 10 The See also:maxima of production and consumption were reached in 1899/1900, when the production amounted to 1,337,509,116 gallons (at the See also:standard gravity) and consumption to 32.28 gallons per head. The See also:chief point of See also:interest in the preceding table is the enormous increase in the United' States. In considering the figures, the character of the beer produced must be taken into See also:consideration. Thus, although Germany produces roughly 25 % more beer in liquid measurement than the United Kingdom, the latter actually uses about 50% more malt than is the case in the German breweries.

According to a Viennese technical See also:

journal, the quantities of malt employed for the production of one hectolitre (22 gallons) of beer in the respective countries is 0.40•CWt. in the German empire, 0.72 cwt. in the United States, and o•81 cwt. in the United Kingdom. In a sense, therefore, England may still claim pre-See also:eminence as a beer-producing nation. Large as the per capita consumption in the United Kingdom may seem, it is considerably less than is the case in See also:Bavaria, which stands at the head of the See also:list with over 50 gallons, and in See also:Belgium, which comes second with 47.7 gallons. In the See also:city of Munich the consumption is actually over 70 gallons, that is to say, about i pints a day for every See also:man, woman and See also:child. It is curious to See also:note that in Germany, which is usually regarded as a beer-drinking country See also:par excellence, the consumption per head of this See also:article is slightly less than in England, and that inversely the average German consumes more alcohol in the shape of See also:spirits than does the inhabitant of the British Islands (consumption of spirits per head: Germany, 1.76 gallons; United Kingdom, 0.99 gallons). This is accounted for by the fact that the peasantry of the See also:northern and eastern portions of the German empire consume spirits almost exclusively. In the British colonies beer is generally one of the See also:staple drinks, but if we except Western See also:Australia, where about 25 gallons per head of See also:population are consumed, the demand is much smaller than in the United Kingdom. In Australia generally, the per capita consumption amounts to about 12 gallons, in New See also:Zealand to TO gallons, and in See also:Canada to 5 gallons. (P.

End of Article: BEER

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