As every per cent. of sugar in the malt yields by fermentation about half a per cent. of alcohol, it is evident that ale, porter, and lager beer are stronger or weaker, as more or less malt is used in making them.
ALCOHOL IN BEERS.
Beers are stimulating from their alcohol and refreshing from their carbonic acid, besides being tonic and somewhat nutritive. The oil of the hops gives them aroma and the lupulin they contain soothes the nerves. Their taste is vinous, sweetish, and bitter at the same time. The quantity of alcohol in malt liquors was given by Prof. Englehardt, as the result of analyses made for the N. Y. State Board of Health, in 1885, as follows.
| Per cent of alcohol by weight. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Lager, average | 192 samples | 3.754 | |
| Ale | “ | 199 samples | 4.622 |
| Porter | ” | 70 samples | 4.462 |
| Weiss Beer | “ | 28 samples | 2.356 |
Beer Adulterations.
It has been popularly supposed that beer is much adulterated. But the result of many analyses made by Mr. C. A. Crampton, for the Department of Agriculture at Washington, last year, show him “That beer is as free from adulteration as most other articles of consumption, and more so than some.” The analyst found that, practically, no foreign bitters other than hops were used; but he also found that nearly one quarter of the samples analyzed contained, as a preservative, the unwholesome salicylic acid. This powerful drug is also largely used in the manufacture of cheap wines, etc., and the practice should be rigidly prohibited.
Ginger Ale is made by fermenting sweetened water, to which extract of ginger has been added, to such a degree as to generate carbonic acid gas and become effervescent. It is a healthful and agreeable beverage, containing some alcohol and being slightly stimulant.
Good Cider contains 3 to 5 per cent. of alcohol. It is made from the fermented juice of apples. Many grown people acquired their fondness for cider on the “Old Farm” in childhood. It is sold by grocers in bulk, and is also bottled extensively and sold as “Champagne cider,” and quite often as champagne.
DISTILLED LIQUORS.
The disagreeable taste of freshly distilled ardent spirits is due to the presence of fusil oil and other empyreumatic substances, which time alone can transform into harmless ethers which smell and taste agreeably, and produce an exhilaration over and above that of the alcohol which holds them in solution. Spirits can be distilled from any vegetable matter which will yield alcohol, yet many substances yield only a rasping, nauseous or flavorless liquor, which age does not improve. To some of these products, artificial flavors and color are given and the imitation articles are thus placed on the market. But true whiskey, brandy, etc., have a specific and original flavor of their own, and contain vegetable oils and acids.