Monday, May 11, 2009

1906: Beer in New Hampshire

If you know a good ale when you taste it you ll be glad to taste J the best ale when you know it It
I have taken some time lately to search through Google Books for historical information on New England breweries. The 1906 report from New Hampshire State Board of Health has provided the best information on types and strength of beer. The gravities range from 1.043 to 1.068, the latter being the highly regarded P.B. Ale from Van Nostrand Brewing Company in Boston. Thirty of seventy-nine samples tested positive for some for of adulteration. All but one of those thirty contained either salicylic acid or sulphorous acid.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Ron Pattinson said...

Great stuff. More numbers for my collection.

je said...

In late 1905, the San Francisco city chemist found salicylic acid in several beers - see my post on some aspect of the controversy, as well as some discussion on historic use of salicylic acid in beer. I have additional info on the topic, and can send you newspaper clips if you're interested.