Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/779

BEER. the manufacture of lager beer this long storage is not usually practiced in the United States. The wort is prepared in much the same manner as for ale, and is pumped from the hop-jack into shallow coolers placed in the upper stories of the brewery, and is also passed through a refrigerator until it is reduced to a temperature of about 4.5° F. Thence it is carried in pipes to large fermenting tuns, placed in cool cellars, or in chambers cooled by ice or artificial refrigeration, having a temperature of 40° to 45° F. Here yeast is added, which, in the course of about three dayes, incites fermentation, this be- ing manifested by the appearance of minute bub- bles of carbonic-acid gas, which, as in the fer- mentation of ale, carry a little of the yeast with them. This docs not, however, remain there, but, discharging the gas, to which it had ad- hered, settles to the bottom in the form of a viscous mass, this mass, with that which remains there, constituting what is called bottom yeast. The slow fermentation emploj-ed in the process of making genuine lager beer causes a clarifica- tion and the commencement of a ripening, which afl'ords a beverage free from the objectionable <pialities of the common beer that goes under the same name, but which is known to brewers under the name of Schenk-hier, or present-use brer. This is fermented in a much shorter time; but the fermentable matter is not all eliminated, as in the genuine article : but for the purpose of neutralizing what acetic acid might appear from the acetous fermentation, or for producing by union with it an additional quantity of car- bonic-acid gas to give it 'life,' the brewer adds in the operation of casking a quantity of bi- carbonate of soda, immediately upon which the bung is driven in and the beer is ready for mar- ket. Genuine lager, however, lies a long time to ripen, and attains certain qualities not pos- sessed by any other kind of beer, and highly prized by lovers of this beverage. Bock ieer is lager beer of extra strength, made in the spring of the year. It rcauires two months to brew, and in making it 1 pound of hops to 3i/> bushels of malt are used.

Among the less known varieties of beer must be mentioned the following: 3luin is a peculiar kind of beer formerly usecl in Great Britain and still used in Gei-many. Instead of only malt being used, it is made of malt and wheat, to which some brewers add oats and bran-meal. It is neither so wholesome nor so agreeable as common ale or beer. In South America the Indians prepared and drank a beer made from t'orn, and known as chica, or mai^e beer, long be- fore the Spanish conquest. The process followed in making chica is similar to that of beer brew- ing. The maize is moistened with water, al- lowed partially to germinate, and dried in the sun. The maize malt so prepared is bruised, treated with warm water, and set aside until the fermentation is over. The chica or maize beer has a yellow color and a pleasant acid taste. In the valleys of the Sierra the maize malt is chewed between the teeth liy the Indians and members of their households, and the chewed morsel, incorporated with the saliva, is put in jars with hot water, when the fermentation pro- ceeds more rapidly than liefore, and a more highly prized beer is obtained. The chica is also made from barley, rice, peas, manioca. pineapples. and grapes. The Crim Tatars prepare a beer from millet-seed, called bouza, or niillct beer. The same seed is used in Sikkim, on the southern slopes of the lower Himalayas, and yields beer there called miinra. The Arabians, Abyssinians, and many African tribes employ teff, the seeds of Poa Abyssinicti, and millet-seed as sources of beer. The Russians prepare a beer from rye called kija.is. or rye beer. The Tatars ferment- ed milk into koumiss, or mi7A: beer. The .Ara- bians used the milk to yield their leban. and the Turks to produce their yiiourt. In the north of Scotland, the Orkneys, and some parts of Ire- land, buttermilk, or sour milk, is allowed to stand till fermentation begins, and an intoxicat- ing liquor results. The South Sea Islanders pre- pare a beer from the root of Macropiper methys- iicuin, or the intoxicating long pepper, which is called ava.

CoMPO.siTiON. The exact composition of beer is not accurately known, but the principal con- stituents are water, alcohol, dextrin or gum, glucose or grape sugar, glycerin, several kinds of acids, albumen, resin, the essential oil from the hops, and mineral salts. Ale and beer, and especially lager beer, contain considerable nutri- ment in the sugar, starch, and gum that they hold in solution ; and in certain parts of Ger- many, where lager beer is very freely drunk, it seems to take the place to some extent of animal food. The bitter substances that enter into its composition appear also to exercise a mildly tonic effect. The proportion of alcohol in some of the most popular ales and lagers is as fol- lows: Burton Ale, 8.25; Guinness's Stout, G.81 ; Scotch Ale, 4.41 ; New York Lager, 5.86; Munich I.ager, 4.70; Schenk-bier, 3.90. For statistics of production, see Liquors, Fekmented and Dis- tilled, Statistics of.

BEER, bar, Adolf (1831-1902). An Austrian historian, born at Prossnitz, Moravia. He studied history, philology, and political economy at the universities of Berlin, Heidelberg, Prague, and Vienna. In 1857 he was appointed pro- fessor at the Commercial Academy of Vienna, and in 1868 he was called to a similar chair in tne technical high school in that city. As one of the foremost promoters of educational reform in Austria, he received in 1870 an important appointment in the ministry of education. He was elected to the Reichsrath in 1873, and became a member of the L'pper House in 1897. The fol- lowing are a few of the principal works of this prolific author: Oeschichte des Welthandels (18fi4-84; Die Finanzeti Ocslerreichs iin lOteii Jahrhundert (1877); Die orienialische Politik Oesterreiehs seit 1$74 (1883); Die iisferreich- ische U andelspolit ik im lOten Jahrhundert (1891).

BEER, Michael (1800-33). A German dramatic poet, born in Berlin. He won a considerable success with his tragedy of Klytdmnesira (Berlin, 1819). His other works are Die Briiute ron Aragonien (1819) ; Der Paria (1823), a one-act tragedy, which depicted the situation of the Jew in modern Germany, and was praised by Goethe; and Struensee (1829), his most successful work, for which his brother, the famous composer, Jleyerbeer, wrote an overture and incidental music. His complete works were edited by von Schenk (1835), who also published a volume of his correspondence ( 1837).