1880, with the Free Mash Tun Act, was a huge dividing line in brewing legislation. Many of the old rules - designed to stop brewers dodging tax by using any fermentable material other than malt - ell by the wayside.
31st July 1865 - 30th April 1874
Brewers prohibited from using a mixture of glucose and treacle.
30th April 1874
The definition of sugar extended to mean any description of sugar, including any saccharine substance or syrup manufactured from any material from which sugar can be manufactured. The use of sugar to make beer colouring also allowed.
14th August 1855 - 30th September 1880
Storage of unmalted grain in a brewery prohibited except for: grain in a malt house; oats or beans for horse food kept in a specific place. Malt only to be crushed by metal rollers with smooth surfaces which were not fluted.
11th October 1862 - 30th September 1880
Brewers of spruce or black beer exempted from new rates of license duty on brewers provided that they used no hops or yeast in making them.
16th September 1862
Duties on hops repealed. Prohibition on hop substitutes removed, also the restrictions on importing extracts, essences and other preparations of hops. This was only extended to Ireland on 25th July 1864.
1st October 1880
"Free mash tun " Act. Duty imposed at 6s 3d per standard barrel of 1057º. All restriction on ingredients removed except those on drugs and harmful substances.
16th May 1888
The use of "saccharin" (a product of coal tar) prohibited.
16th April 1889
A standard barrel changed to 1055º.
17th April 1894
Duty per standard barrel raised to 6s 9d.
1st October 1896
Rice, flaked maize and other similar products, which had been classified as malt or corn with regard to their wort-producing powers reclassified as "sugar".
Source: "Report and minutes of evidence Departmental Committee on Beer Materials, 1899, page 382.
Notice how strict the rules were on unmalted grains. And the weird rules about mill rollers. I've absolutely no idea why fluted rollers weren't allowed. Maybe that's what you'd use for unmalted grains.
Thanks for a couple of interesting articles on brewing legislation
ReplyDeleteBetter than what the unified Government of Germany did.
ReplyDeleteOscar
I was hoping you'd get into the early part of the 20th century to cover the licensing laws introduced into Ireland that are still having a massive effect in both the north and the south. The surrender principle can go fuck itself
ReplyDeleteCertainly not an expert on this, but my 2 cents would be that fluted rollers would potentially be better for crushing harder grains, and also, would be less likely to jam on those harder grains - unmalted barley essentially.
ReplyDelete