1914 Beverages de luxe

When Ihe American wants a drink lie wants a drink. W'lien the German wants a drink of beer he expects to get a small meal. The American wants a light, thin, .sparkling, snappy beverage with a good aroma and spicy taste, and he also wants a beverage that is pleasing to the eye, because he drinks from a gla.ss, where the German drinks from a stone mug. This last reciuire- ment has given extraordinary importance to the matter of ap- pearance in American beers. A German does not object to haziness or even cloudiness in beer, in fact the best German and Bohemian beers are always cloudy, particularly when served almo.st ice cold, as is the practice in this country. The American wants his beer clear and brilliant. He also wants it very cold. Low temperature freciuently causes precipitation of albuminous matters in the beer with consequent cloudiness. Hence, Ameri- can beers cannot have the heavy body of German beers. They also average a trifle lighter in alcohol than German beers. Another circumstance that lias contributed to the modifica- tion of the original (Jernian type into the modern American tyjie is the great exjjansion of tlie bottle beer industry. This is almost exclusively American. IJottle beer is comparatively a recent development in Kurojje. Tiie domestic ice chest is not so universal in Europe, and it is therefore more difficult to keep beer in the house. Bottle beer is exposed to greater hardships than keg beer. Where keg beer goes there is always the neces- sary furniture to keep and tap it, whereas bottle beer goes into many places where there is scant provision for handling it properly, which is a matter of great importance with so per- ishable an article as beer generally is. This condition of the market has contributed further to the thorough clarification of American beer .so as to eliminate all substances which may lead to deterioration when kept for a long time and exposed to heat and cold by untrained hands. The matter of .stability thus acquires exceptional importance in American beer, and the jiroblem has been solved with a fair degree of success. It is the object of research at present and promises an early com- plete solution. As is well known, the chief base of mo.st types of beer is barley malt. American barleys have a higher albumen content than German barleys, and, partly to offset this excess, partly to produce the light character demanded by the American taste, almost all American beers are made with an admixture of other grains to add to the starch contained in the barleycorn. I'"'or this purpo.se rice and corn are u.sed, being freed from the husk and, in the case of corn, from the germ, in order to eliminate matters that are objectionable to the taste. In the production of beer, the barley is malted, which means