Harold Fielding

The Way of Peace Harold Fielding

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1917 edition. Excerpt: ...for many years encountered great opposition. Heavy beer brewed with hops was introduced from the same country earlier, but for long it could gain no foothold. The taste was disliked, the stupefying effect of the hops and the increased strength was felt and disapproved, and English ale held its own for long. The reasons why English ale was eventually ousted by this foreign introduction seem to have been as follows: The real English home-brewed did not keep well. "Hot weather and thunder and want of company are the hostesse's griefs, for then her ale sours. Your drink usually is very young, two days old." With the increasing dislike of women to do any work they could avoid, this trouble was greatly felt, and the brewing of beer fell more and more into the hands of big brewers, especially those of Burton. Another cause that drove the business of brewing into the hands of the capitalists was the institution of the excise on beer and the increasing restrictions which it caused. There was no excise in Elizabeth's day and its impositions increased but slowly. Thus local brewing ceased and the big brewers got the monopoly. Having got the monopoly they ceased to brew sweet ale because it did not keep well and substituted heavily hopped beer The hop is a member of the hemp family of plants. Indian hemp or bhang is so dangerous a brain narcotic that even to grow it in your garden is a penal offence. for it, and they forced their productions everywhere by means of tied houses. Thus the local publican whose interests were identical with those of his village, and consequently opposed to drugged drinks and to intoxication, was superseded by a nominee of strangers whose only idea was to make profit. The idea behind the inn had changed. And the idea...