A sample of draught ale, costing 2d. per pint in London, contained in 100 cubic centimètres:
| 4·7 | grams of | alcohol. |
| 5·8 | ” | organic residue. |
| 0·32 | ” | ash. |
A sample of London porter in 100 cubic centimètres contained:
| 3·3 | grams of | alcohol. |
| 3·45 | ” | organic residue. |
| 0·30 | ” | ash. |
“A large number of analyses recently made show that in the various classes of malt liquor sold in London there is a variation in the amount of alcohol contents from 3·87 to 8·41 per cent. of absolute alcohol by weight, these two extremes corresponding to ·98 and 2·18 fluid ounces of absolute alcohol in the pint of beer. The amount of extract varies from 2·16 to 13·32 per cent. by weight, or from ·73 to 2·77 ounces per pint of beer, as will be seen from the accompanying table.
| Kind of Malt Liquor. | Specific Gravity. | Per-centage of | Original Gravity of Wort. | Malt, per barrel. | Con. vols., per pint. | ||||
| Alcohol | Extract | Acetic Acid. | Alcohol, fl. oz. | Extract ounces. | Acid, grains. | ||||
| Burton ale (Allsopp’s) | 1040·38 | 8·25 | 13·32 | ·32 | 1121·63 | 4·50 | 2·16 | 2·77 | 29·12 |
| Bass’s barley wine | 1032·31 | 8·41 | 11·75 | ·23 | 1114·78 | 4·25 | 2·18 | 2·42 | 20·77 |
| Edinburgh ale | 1006·63 | 4·41 | 3·58 | ·19 | 1048·38 | 1·77 | 1·12 | ·72 | 16·73 |
| Guinness’s stout | 1015·51 | 6·81 | 6·17 | ·24 | 1078·06 | 2·88 | 1·74 | 1·25 | 21·32 |
| Truman, Hanbury, & Co.’s porter | 1013·16 | 4·02 | 5·12 | ·24 | 1051·33 | 1·90 | 1·03 | 1·01 | 21·27 |
| Whitbread’s porter | 1014·04 | 4·28 | 5·15 | ·18 | 1054·11 | 2·00 | 1·09 | 1·03 | 15·97 |
| Hoare’s porter | 1012·99 | 4·18 | 5·04 | ·18 | 1052·42 | 1·94 | 1·06 | 1·03 | 15·95 |
| Perry’s ale | 1006·48 | 3·87 | 3·65 | ·14 | 1045·82 | 1·69 | 0·98 | 0·73 | 7·97 |
“The relative proportions of alcohol and extract in beer will also have some influence on its fitness in a medical point of view for certain persons; and in some instances thin dry beer, that has had the fermentation carried so far as to reduce the amount of extract to a minimum, may be very preferable to beer containing a larger amount of extract. In this respect some samples of the Prestonpans’ beer are remarkable for the small proportion of extract they contain.
“In regard to the nutritive value of beer, over and above the stimulant and tonic actions due to the alcohol and to the bitter principle of the hop, it is worth notice that a pint of pale ale contains from 1⁄2 an ounce to an ounce of solid extract, while mild and old ale contain from 11⁄10 to 23⁄4 ounces in the pint.
“The amount of free acid in British beer appears to be uniformly larger than in the Viennese and Bavarian beer recently introduced here, and sometimes it is very much larger. This free acid is represented in the tables as acetic acid; but there is reason to believe that beer probably contains lactic acid or other fixed acids, together with a substance analogous to glucic acid, which, according to Graham, Hoffmann, and Redwood, appears to be produced in the fermentation of beer wort, as practised in this country.
“There appears to be great differences in the quality of beer sold by publicans at a given price. Thus, for instance, the variation in the pale ale sold at fourpence per pint is from 4·08 to 7·10 per cent. of alcohol, and from 3·22 to 7·53 per cent. of extract; in the mild ale sold at twopence per pint it is from 4·43 to 5·62 per cent. of alcohol, and from 5·01 to 5·56 per cent. of extract; and in old ale sold at fourpence per pint it is from 6·20 to 8·31 per cent. of alcohol, and from 4·56 to 6·2 per cent. of extract. These differences represent respectively 1·58, ·27, and ·49 bushels of malt per barrel of beer. From the great alcoholic strength of some kinds of old ale they partake more of the nature of wine than of beer, in the usual sense of this term. They are, in fact, quite equal in that respect to most of the cheaper wine imported from the Continent, while in flavour and general character old ale, such as that brewed at Burton-on-Trent and in Scotland, is far superior to any wine of the kind referred to, which can be sold here at a price even double that of the best old ale. This kind of ale, however, is but rarely sold by publicans.”—Dr Paul.