MALT AND BEER IN SPANISH AMERICA. 353 



PARA. 



RETORT IIY nt\s?'i, ( LAYTON 

 MALT. 



There are no breweries in the States of Para or Amazonas, conse- 

 quently malt is not imported into this consular district. 



BEER. 



No statistics can be obtained which will show the exact quantity of 

 beer imported into Par and the Amazon Valley, but it is estimated that 

 the consumption of the same is between 800 and 1,000 cases or barrels 

 per month. 



Beer is imported chiefly from Germany and England, Germany being 

 the largest seller. The importation of American beer is very limited, 

 and can therefore hardly be considered. 



It is shipped in pint and quart bottles ; a small quantity of English 

 stout comes in stone bottles. 



Import duty on all foreign beer is 300 reis (about 15 cents) a liter, 

 with an increase of 5 per cent, for the emancipation of slaves, long ago 

 established, but the tax has never been abolished. A reduction of 5 

 per cent, on quantity of liters is allowed for breakage. Minor custom- 

 house expenses are not taken into consideration, except storage, which, 

 if beer is not dispatched on vessel, or before taken out of the lighters, it 

 is something like 4 -or 5 per cent, of extra duty in the first month, and 

 largely increasing this percentage according to the length of time it is 

 stored. 



The greatest demand is for German beer. English ale and stout reach 

 about the tenth part of German beer in consumption. German cheap 

 beer is sent to the interior of the States of Para and Amazonas, while 

 good German beer, and lately especially Bavarian beer, meets with a 

 ready sale in the city. American beer was imported about six or seven 

 years ago in large quantities, but since that time good German beer has 

 come to the front, so that at present American beer has a small demand. 



German beer is imported at from $5 to $7 50 a case of seventy-two 

 pint bottles, free on board ship. Price of English beer is about $7 a 

 barrel of seventy-two bottles. After paying import duties, quotations 

 for German beer here are from $12 to $17 a case, and for English beer 

 $15 to $17 a barrel of seventy-two bottles. Five per cent, discount is 

 allowed on the above prices for cash within sixty days. The retail price 

 here is from 25 to 30 cents per pint bottle. All European beer imported 

 into this consular district is bought through foreign commission houses, 

 on credit at from three to six months' time. The little American beer 

 that comes to this market is also bought through New York commission 

 houses, and the receiver here generally has to pay cash for the same. 



