3rd. Malt substitutes.—These mainly consist of corn, rice, and glucose.
A substitute for malt, of rather recent origin, and commercially known as “cerealine,” is prepared by subjecting hulled and coarsely ground Indian corn to the action of steam, the product being subsequently pulverised by means of hot rollers. It is said to have the following average composition:—
| Water | 9·98 |
| Insoluble starch | 61·43 |
| Soluble starch, dextrine, and maltose | 17·79 |
| Albuminoids | 9·07 |
| Oil | 1·22 |
| Cellulose | 0·23 |
| Mineral matter | 0·28 |
In addition to the foregoing, several chemical compounds, such as ammonium carbonate, tartaric acid, alkaline phosphates, boric and salicylic acids and glycerine are, or at least have been, employed as accessories in the manufacture of beer. From the investigations of the New York State Board of Health, it appears that the present adulteration of American beer—more especially of “lager beer”—is limited, so far as the brewer is concerned, to the use of various substitutes for malt, the addition of salt, and of sodium bicarbonate.
The proportion of diastase obtained by the germination of barley, or other cereals, is largely in excess of the amount required to convert into sugar the starch actually present in the grain treated; hence the brewer can add other forms of amylaceous substances, such as corn or rice, to malted barley with decided economy, and the majority of New York brewers employ such substitutes, usually in a proportion of 25 per cent. The brewer may likewise advantageously add glucose syrup to the malt infusion, since, by its use, he arrives at the same end, i. e. instead of obtaining all of his sugar as the result of the malting process, he directly provides himself with the same body, at least so far as it possesses value to him as a source of alcohol. The question of the sanitary effects of the use of artificial glucose as an adulterant of sugar and syrups, and as a substitute for malted grain in the manufacture of beer, has given rise to extensive controversy. In this regard, one fact seems to have been demonstrated. Glucose, as it is now to be found on the market, is free from any appreciable amount of deleterious contamination. The discovery of its artificial production has given birth to a very important branch of industry, and, according to all available reports, the commercial product at present met with is for many purposes an economical and harmless substitute for cane sugar, the chief objection to its application as such being the fact that it possesses considerably less sweetening power.
The United States National Academy of Sciences, after having carefully investigated the sanitary aspects of the glucose question, arrived at the following conclusion:[71] “That, though having at best only about two-thirds the sweetening power of cane sugar, yet starch sugar is in no way inferior to the cane sugar in healthfulness, there being no evidence before the committee that maize-starch sugar, either in its normal condition or fermented, has any deleterious effect upon the system, even when taken in large quantities.” In regard to the use of glucose as a substitute for malt in beer-making, it is asserted by some authorities that dietetic advantages to be derived from pure malt will be to some extent wanting in the extractive matters of beer manufactured partially from the artificial product. A distinction between glucose and maltose, to the advantage of the latter, is also made. The brewer, on the other hand, claims that sugar is sugar, whether obtained from the malting of grain or from the conversion of starch by the aid of acids. Regarding these bodies merely as sources of alcohol, attempts to differentiate between them are of little service. The superiority claimed for barley malt over its substitutes would rather appear to be due to its greater richness in certain soluble constituents, more especially those containing nitrogen and phosphoric acid.[72] A proposed law to prohibit the use of all malt substitutes has recently been rejected by the German Reichstag. In the English Beer Adulteration Act (1886), however, it is directed that, in case beer (ale or porter) made from other substances than hops and barley-malt is offered for sale, the fact shall be mentioned on a prominent placard, stating the nature of the foreign ingredients.
The addition of sodium bicarbonate is resorted to in order to increase the effervescing power of the beverage, and, possibly in some instances, to neutralise the acids formed by the souring of new and hastily prepared beer.[73] One of the chief objections to which certain inferior varieties of American lager beer are open is that they are not allowed to “age” properly. The apparent gain to the brewer of such beer consists in an economy of time and ice; he is also enabled to turn over his invested capital sooner than the more scrupulous manufacturer, who is thus placed in a disadvantageous position so far as trade competition is concerned. It is stated that some of the beer made in the neighbourhood of New York is sent out for consumption two weeks after its brewing.[74] Beer of this character would be apt to contain abnormally large proportions of dextrine, dextrose, etc., as well as be contaminated with unchanged yeast and other products of imperfect fermentation. It is said to be the practice to submit it to a process of clarification by means of isinglass and cream of tartar, and then impart additional life to the product by adding sodium bicarbonate, which is used in the form of cartridges or pills, and in a proportion of two ounces of the salt to the keg of beer.[75] Such a beverage obviously possesses very little claim to the name “lager” beer. It is, perhaps, to this reprehensible practice that many of the deleterious effects on the digestive organs which sometimes follow the consumption of considerable quantities of poor grades of lager beer are to be ascribed; and it is often asserted to be the fact that beer drinkers who have daily drunk from 20 to 25 glasses of German beer with apparent impunity, experience disagreeable results from the habitual consumption of much smaller quantities of some varieties of American lager.
It should be remarked, in this connection, that the brewer is by no means responsible for all of the sophistications to which beer is exposed, as after it leaves his hands it may be watered by the retailer as well as allowed to deteriorate in quality by careless methods of preservation. From all procurable information, it would appear that the only questionable features of beer brewing, as now generally carried on in the United States, are the following:—