That the use of the liquor of peaches prevented the introduction of the brewing industry into the Southern States, is an observation of as much force to-day as it was nearly a hundred years ago; but later experiences have demonstrated the fact, that the influence of climatic conditions, coupled with the high price of ice, is quite as unfavorable to the industry as the abundance of fruit and the tastes of the people. In addition to a scarcity of bottles, there was also a want of cork and wire for bottling purposes. Establishments for manufacturing these three articles were just beginning to grow into some importance, and, of course, demanded protection, which was granted at least to one of them. By the Act of March 27, 1804, quart bottles, which, in order to foster the brewing industry, had theretofore been exempt from the duty upon glassware, were taxed sixty cents per gross; yet the home supply remained behind the demand.
All these impediments, however, would not so materially have retarded the progress of brewing, if laws tending to restrict country distilling could have been maintained; and, from the standpoint of true temperance, nothing could have appeared so desirable as a judicious restraint upon what might be styled rural distillation. All authorities concur in the opinion—confirmed by the voluminous report of the Statistical Bureau of Switzerland—that in Sweden unrestricted distillation in the rural districts rendered intemperance a national vice of consequences all the more pernicious as, owing to the unavoidable deficiencies of a primitive mode of distillation, the spirituous liquors produced were of an extremely ardent nature. But it was precisely in respect to country distilling that our first restrictive laws were only partially successful. Those persons who distilled for the trade cheerfully obeyed the laws from the very beginning; and had they not elected to do so, little difficulty could have been experienced in controlling and coercing them. It was not the trade distiller, if this term may be allowed, but the distilling farmer from whom the opposition to excises emanated, and with him, the question resolved itself into one of personal rights, on the one hand, and of a limitation of the taxing power of the Federal Government on the other.
Insufficient, both as to time and mode, as had been the test to which the excise system was subjected, it was, nevertheless, proved beyond question that, coupled with a sufficiently high import duty, it could have fully realized the ethical objects of its framers, if the Government had been able to execute it rigorously, and the people had been willing to live up to it.
At the end of the first decade of the last century rural distilling recommenced with renewed vigor in all grain-producing States. From this time onward the brewing industry developed somewhat more rapidly in Pennsylvania and New York on account of the great influx of immigrants from beer countries; while in the other States it either remained stationary or progressed very slowly, constantly struggling against great difficulties and impediments. The extent of the progress of brewing within forty years, i.e., from 1810 to 1850, is clearly stated in these figures:
| 1810: | 129 breweries producing | 5,754,737 | gals. beer |
| 1850: | 431 “ “ | 23,267,730 | “ |
| 1850: | Production of beer in Penn. & N.Y. | 18,825,096 | “ |
| 1850: | “ “ “ all other States | 4,442,634 | “ |
During all this time, and up to 1842, or thereabout, the beers produced in this country were of the kind known as ale and porter, and some of these had acquired a reputation for palatableness and strength which rendered them formidable competitors of English ales in foreign markets.
CHAPTER VII.
THE RISE OF LAGER BEER.
Lager-beer, as a product of American industry, although introduced, as has been intimated, about the year 1842, did not gain popular favor until the decade following its introduction; nevertheless, all authorities agree that it tended even at that time to impart a strong impetus to brewing. As to the exact date of its introduction, and the person by whom it was first introduced, there still exists so much uncertainty that no writer on the subject has ventured to go beyond mere hypothetical assertions. Did we not live in an enlightened age, the mystery in which the origin of American lager-beer is shrouded might add another legend to the many mythical tales which, variously colored by different nations, are current concerning the father of real beer. We say real beer, for, although the use of a wine-like beverage, extracted from barley, extends far into the prehistoric ages, real beer (that is, the drink known to us by that name) is of more recent origin; yet, as to place and date of the latter, nothing definite can be known.