TEMPERANCE BEVERAGES.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 448, 22 February 1890, Page 5

TEMPERANCE BEVERAGES.

The recent prosecution and punishment of two purveyors of hop beer, which took place at Mercer, gives rise to an important question as to the character of numerous socalled temperance drinks, notably ginger beer, ginger ale, cider, perry, hop beer, etc., all of which are known to contain a certain amount of alcohol. How much they should be permitted to contain, when sold as temperance and non-intoxi-cating drinks, is a question that will have to be solved, and solved speedily, in the interests not only of those who purchase them, but also for the protection of those who pay heavily for the privilege of selling admittedly intoxicating liquor. The Licensing Act of 1880 contains an interpretation clause, with which some of the manufacturers of “ soft ” drinks would appear to be unacauainted. The clause reads as follows: includes all porter and other malt liquor or fermented beverages made in imitation of beer or malt liquor, and brewed in whole or in part from any substance than malt.” Therefore, anything which is composed of a fermented beverage really comes under the heading of “ beer, ’ according to the interpretation clause of the Licensing Act.- :: . < What is known as “ hop beet is simply an infusion, or solution of sugar in water, to which has been added some yeast, in workable form, and flavoured with hops. Fermentation thengoeson, until a large proportion of that sugar is, in the usual way, converted into alcohol and carbonic acid nas—that is the effervescing portion. (Vhere a large amount of sugar is used in the manufacture we have what would be called a strong beer. Hop beer can, 1 in this way, be made equally as strong, or stronger than colonial ale. Colonial ales hero contain from about 10 per cent, to nearly 14 per cent, of proof spirit by measure; or, in other words, about one-seventh of the strongest would be proof spirit. It is peculiar that those drinks which are not alcoholic are not enjoyed by a majority of the public, and so, to meet the demand, a class of beer is being made which goes by the name of “ hop beer. The same remarks, we are informed on the best of authority, also apply to ginger beer, ginger ale, cider and perry, all ot which are of the same character. To obtain the exhilaration that appears to be appreciated in these so-called temperance drinks, some manufacturers have made their hop beer so strong as to cause intoxication of a very large number of those who partook of them. At Oborohonga, about three or lour years ago, some samples of hop beer were seized by order of the police and analysed by Mr J. A. l’ond, Government Analyst, and convictions were recorded by Mr Northcroft, R.M., on the ground that a breach of the Licensing Act had been committed. Several similar cases have been tried in Auckland and elsewhere, and convictions recorded. The disclosures made from time to time by analyses show that there is an absolute necessity for regulation of the traffic in so - called temperance drinks. If no conviction were sustained in a case of this kind, the Licensing Act might as well be done away with altogether, so far as the manufacture of beer is concerned. In the Otorohanga case, the hop beer seized contained from 10-48 to 11-64 per cent, of alcohol, and in the Mercer case, in which a conviction was recorded, the hop beer contained 13*59 per cent, of alcohol. Colonial ales brewed in this district contain from 12 per cent, to 13‘87 per cent, of proof spirit by measure, so the hop beer seized at Mercer was almost identical in strength with the strength of the colonial beer brewed in this district. A large majority of the quickly-brewed hop beers contain from 4$ to 7 per cent, of alcohol, and the manufacturers say that if they make the proportion of alcohol under 5 per cent, the beer will not keep, especially in warm weather. This is quite true, butit is very desirable thatthereshould be some legal limit in order to prevent socalled temperance drinks of this description being made of such strength as to be intoxicating, even to the strength of colonial beer. We understand that sundry additional prosecutions are contemplated by the police for breaches of the Licensing Act under this heading.