Allsopp's pale or bitter ale : remarks upon the alleged use of strychnine in the manufacture of pale ale / by Baron Liebig (in a letter to Henry Allsopp, Esq., Burton-on-Trent.).

  • Liebig, Justus, Freiherr von, 1803-1873.
Date:
1852]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Allsopp's pale or bitter ale : remarks upon the alleged use of strychnine in the manufacture of pale ale / by Baron Liebig (in a letter to Henry Allsopp, Esq., Burton-on-Trent.). Source: Wellcome Collection.

    2/8 (page 2)
    deleterious substance. It is practically impossible that any operation of a doubtful character could be carried out in these extensive estab¬ lishments, on account of the large number of workmen employed in them. Any attempt on the part of the brewer to impart qualities to his beer in an illicit manner, which are not to be obtained from malt or hops, would necessarily lead to his ruin; as he would be obliged to communicate his secret to too many persons, and to employ too many accomplices. The draymen themselves, as good connoisseurs in beer, would protest against, any manipulation of a suspicious cha¬ racter. The case has even occurred of an eminent brewer not venturing to make use of a method suggested to him, for the purpose of clearing his beer more effectually, because the addition of a new material to the wort might have induced a suspicion in the minds of his workmen that it was an illicit proceeding, and this would have endangered the good reputation which his beer enjoyed. He stated to me at the same time, that no improvement could be intro¬ duced into a brewery, the object of which was not perfectly evident to everybody. During a sojourn of several days at Biirton-on-Trent, I had an opportunity of becoming intimately acquainted with the method pursued in the manufacture of pale ale. I convinced myself that the qualities of this excellent beverage depended mainly upon the care used in the selection of the best kinds of malt and hops, and upon the ingenuity exhibited in conducting the processes of mashing and fermenting. Our continental biwers have much to learn in these points to come up to the English brewers. I have no hesitation in saying that England possesses the greatest adepts in malting. I know positively that the chief brewers of Munich, who undoubtedly produce the best beer in Germany, have gone through an apprenticeship in Burton. This may account for the predilection entertained by the genera] public, as well as by medical men, for these varieties of beer; for the instinct of humanity and experience appear to be as good guides in the choice of things that contribute to health and enmyment as the profoundest philosophy. Professors Geaiiam and Hofmann, in the excellent Report already addressed to you upon the alleged Adulteration of the pale ale by Strychnine, have indicated a very simple process for detecting the