1831.] Beer and Spirit Monopolies. 521 



porter than the charred malt now used ; and coloured it must be, as long 

 as the public are prejudiced in favoui- of colour ; / think the charred malt 

 injures the flavour of the beer; in my opinion, it is not so well flavoured 

 now, as it was when the colouring was made of burnt sugar ; I think, if 

 molasses were used instead of burnt malt, the flavour would be better, 

 and the expense less ; what we now use is a caput mortmim ; there is no 

 return in the present colouring ; from molasses there would be." — Mr. 

 Martineau, of the house of Whitbread and Co., objects to the use of mo- 

 lasses, as being likely to be prejudicial to the great brewers, because 

 " the beer that was brewed from molasses, would clearly, in the general 

 way, be brewed cheaper than from malt, and that, in consequence of the 

 cheapness of it, it would be taken ofi", or sold in our public-houses, and 

 mingled with that description of beer which we, of course, send out." 

 '' There are descriptions of beer, that woidd be brewed from no- 

 thing but molasses. I will take an instance : I should say the table 

 beer, not only through the metropolis, but through the whole kingdom, 

 would be brewed with molasses, and with molasses only." And why 

 not ? Is the interest of the public to be sacrificed to that of the great 

 porter brewers .'' 



Being questioned as to the quantity of molasses necessary to make 

 500,000 barrels of table beer, Mr. Martineau answered — " Not being 

 a table beer brewer myself, I cannot accurately answer that question ; 

 but be it more, or be it less, it would be so much more to the ad- 

 vantage of the table beer brewer to make use of molasses, rather than 

 malt, that it mould be from one end of the kingdom to the other tini~ 

 versally adopted. I speak confidently of that." " Upon the whole, are 

 the committee to understand, that you think it would be a very 

 hazardous experiment to the brewery, to admit the introduction of mo- 

 lasses }" — ]Mr. Martineau : " I would say, certainly, that it nwidd, in my 

 opinion, be the means of lessening our consiimption very much ; it would be 

 almost a death-blo?v to us .'" We think we need scarcely proceed further, to 

 shew cause why the interest of the great brewers is directly opposed to 

 that of the public in this matter. The introduction of molasses would, 

 in fact, enable the small brewers to oppose the twelve great monopolists, 

 by giving them an article which could be readily made into excellent 

 ale, in premises that would not cost the tenth part of the large " plant" 

 or buildings presently necessary for carrying on an extensive trade. In 

 fact, the small brewer would, upon his limited premises, be able to do 

 ten times the business, using sugar, molasses, and hops, or molasses and 

 malt, than at present, when he is confined to malt alone ; and, conse- 

 quently, he would be able to send out a better and cheaper liquor, than 

 that now generally used. The great brewer, on the other hand, alarmed 

 equally for his monopoly, and the value of his immense buildings, will, 

 as is very natural, oppose this matter, however advantageous it may be 

 to the public ; and the leading distillers, similarly situated, join him in 

 this self-interested opposition. 



With regard to the quality of the beer produced from sugar and mo- 

 lasses, or combined with malt, two eminent chemists, Dr. Ure, and Dr. 

 Thomson, of Glasgow, speak most decisively in favour of the pure sac- 

 charine matter of sugar and molasses. Dr. Thomson, in reply to a (jues- 

 tion respecting the quality of sugar and molasses, as an ingredient to be 

 used in the making of beer, says — " I have no experience in molasses. 



