• This definition includes the German lager beers, such as Pilsener, Wiener, Muenchner; English nglish beers, such as Mild ales and Stock ales, Porter, Stout; and American beers which are usually designated as draught beers and bottle beers and are mostly patterned after German lager beers, from which they usually take their names, like Pilsener style, Muench ner style, etc. the Pilsener style being light in color and more strongly hopped; the Muenchner style being dark in color and with a more pronounced malt flavor. Weiss beer is a special German brew, light in color and gravity and tart to the taste.
About 95 per cent of the output of American beers is of the lager beer character, with an alcoholic content of 3 to 3% per cent by weight, and brewed on the average with 10% to 12% per cent of extract. Tonics are bottle goods, quite high in extract, and usually with low alcohol content, with highly nourishing qualities.
In prohibition States in the United States, there is a considerable output of near-beers with less than % of 1 per cent of alcohol, which, according to the ruling of the Internal Revenue Department, arc tax-free. In prohi bition Canada, 2% per cent proof spirits or about PA per cent of alcohol by volume is allowed. In European countries, lower alcoholic beers are .privileged in regard to taxation, •like
Norway with lowest rate for beers up to 2% per cent of alcohol by weight or approximately 3 per cent by volume. In Denmark beers up to 2% per cent by weight or 2.85 per cent by volume are tax-free and considered non intoxicating. The tax on beers with more than 4 per cent of alcohol by volume, which has been $1.00 per barrel of 31 gallons for years in America, was raised in 1915 to $1.50, and in 1918 to $3.00 the latter being a war measure. By presidential proclamation the brewers are required during 1918 to reduce the amount of grain heretofore employed by 30 per cent, and to reduce the alcoholic content of all beers, other than ales and porters, to at least 2/ per cent by weight.
Technically, that is, in respect to its man ufacture, lager beer may be defined as follows: Lager beer is an effervescent sparkling beverage, properly brewed from sound ma terials, principally barley-malt, with, if desired, prepared cereals like corn or rice or their natural equivalents, hops and potable water; with the resulting brew or wort thoroughly fermented by culture bottom yeast and the fer mented product stored in refrigerated cellars for sedimentation; clarified, if desired, by filtra tion, and properly sterilized, when bottled, by pasteurization.