366 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



RICE BEER. 



The practice of brewing beer from rice is rapidly coming 

 into use in Germany. This beer is said to be of a very 

 clear, pale color, of an extremely pleasant, mild taste, foam- 

 ing strongly, and yet retaining well its carbonic acid. 1 A, 

 December 23, 311. 



CLEANING OF BEER BOTTLES. 



It is said that the hard crust or deposit that forms in beer 

 and wine bottles, adhering sometimes with extreme tenacity, 

 may be very readily removed by washing them in a solution 

 of permanganate of soda ; or, if necessary, allowing this to 

 stand for a time in the bottle. The separation will be facili- 

 tated by the free use of the ordinary bottle brush. 13 (7, 

 July 15, 1007. 



TANNIN IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BEER. 



Tannin as obtained from the grape is now much used in 

 the treatment of wine, for the special object of arresting fer- 

 mentation and preventing change beyond a desired point. A 

 similar application has also been made with much success in 

 the preparation of beer ; and the result, according to critical 

 authority, has been to establish a new epoch in this manufac- 

 ture. It is to the presence of tannin in the leaves of the hop 

 that its preservative peculiarities are due; and in the tannin 

 of the nut-gall we have the same agent in greater intensity, 

 75 grains of tannin exerting as positive an action upon beer 

 as a pound of the best hops. By taking tannin dissolved in 

 ten times its weight of warm water and adding it to the wort, 

 a complete clarification will take place, and on cooling a de- 

 posit will be thrown down. In all cases where the peculiar 

 aroma and bitter substance of hops are not desired, but a 

 sweet wine or beer is to be produced, the hops can always 

 be replaced completely and with advantage by the tannin. 

 The use of this new material allows the manufacture of sev- 

 eral new kinds of beer, and obviates the necessity of using 

 any other modes of clarifying. 5 C\ xxvi., 208. 



