2 MAINE AGRICULr'fURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I914. 



"Ale" AND "Beer". 



It has never been the policy pf the executive of the Maine 

 Food Law to mix up with the law prohibiting the sale of spirit- 

 uous liquors and malt liquors in Maine. Under Governor 

 Cobb's administration, at his request, standards and definitions 

 were fixed for distilled and fermented beverages. At this 

 time there were state and town agencies where liquors coulld 

 under certain conditions be legally sold. These standards were 

 primarily for the standardization of the quality of the liquors 

 that were dispensed at the public dispensatories. 



In the early spring of 19 13 all over the State there came to 

 be an unusual activity in the attempts to prohibit the sale of 

 fermented and distilled beverages. It speedily developed that 

 there was a large amount of fraud being perpetrated upon the 

 drinking public by the sale of fermented beverages under 

 false and misleading names. This led to an understanding 

 with the sherififs whereby when seizures were made fer- 

 mented beverages that were at all doubtful were sent 

 to the Experiment Station. If they proved to be true to 

 name the goods were condemned and destroyed. If they proved 

 to be untrue to name in many instances cases were brought 

 under the pure food law and the parties concerned fined. 



The Maine law prohibits the salt oi intoxicating beverages 

 and of malt beverages. Quite a number of years ago it was 

 decided and this decision has been used as a criterion in court 

 cases that a beverage containing less than three per cent of 

 alcohol was not intoxicating. It is, of course, possible to make 

 a malt beverage which carries less than three per cent of alco- 

 hol, but the sale of a malt beverage is prohibited. Therefore, 

 there sprung up the special brewing for sale in Maine of fer- 

 mented beverages which more or less resemble beer which are 

 designed to carry something under three per cent of alcohol. 

 Through the seizures by the sheriff's it was found earl)'- in the 

 season of 1913 that many of these imitation beers were carrying 

 labels purposely designed to deceive the purchaser into the belief 

 that he was getting a straight lager beer. This even went so 

 far that many beer bottles were brought into the State and 

 filled with these imitation beers. For instance, a beer carrying 



