W H UC-HRt.f III ?': Danish Beer AND Continental Beer Gardens W^ DH. M.\X HENIUS. in o GIFT OF 6 c7.yvA-O^Jbli- £lhunJ^ i (^ ^ ./^ AJ >V -A V /^ \\4 y ^'(^ i^a A\ V^ t V Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/danishbeercontinOOhenirich (EnntittBittal B:e:er (5arri:ens UNITED STATES BREWERS' ASSOCIATION Danish Beer and Continental Beer Gardens ILLUSTRATED LECTURE by DR. MAX HENIUS at the Annual Convention in Atlantic City, N. J. Oaober 2nd, 1913 UNITED STATES BREWERS' ASSOCIATION PUBLISHERS NEW YORK 1914 — ^^v^^ Since this address was delivered Dr. Carl Jacobsen died—January 11, 1914 but no change was made in the address which was delivered while he was still among the living. On the opposite page we reprint by permission a brief appreciation of the deceased from the American Brewers' Review. HXTGH H. FOX, Secretary. :^t> **I.aboremusi ^ro ^atria This is the motto that Carl Jacobsen put in a con- spicuous place in the brew-house of the New Carlsberg brewery. It was the dominant principle of his life: "Let us work for our country." But his aims and aspirations transcended the limits of his country. "Let us work for humanity," would have been a more fitting motto, had his modesty per- mitted. The man who, following the noble example of an illustrious father, gave his all freely to the Carlsberg Fund, founded for the promotion of science and art, which are essentially world-wide, was truly working for humanity in the largest sense. Yet, while striving for the good of his fellows on these larger lines, he forgot not the duty of each to do his best in his particular sphere. He did the utter- most that could be done in his vocation. "In spite of his activities in so many directions," said B. Dessau, President of the United Breweries of Copenhagen, "he remained in his innermost heart a brewer, and what ever else he did and whatever honors were showered upon him, he never for a moment forgot that he was first of all a brewer. And as he took pride in his chosen calling, so did his fellow brewers take pride in him as the foremost among them." arclj 2, 1842 Sanuarg 11, 1914 282609 Danish Beer and Continental Beer Gardens Dr. Max Henius The form in which the gentlemen who prepared the program for this convention stated my subject: "Danish Beer and Con- tinental Beer Gardens," seems to suggest a notion on my part that beer originated in Denmark and that the Continental gardens are to this day supplied with beer by that little country. I assure you, gentlemen, that while 1 am something of an enthusiast on the sub- ject of Denmark and intend to show you, before this address is finished that there is good reason, in one respect at least, for being proud of that country and its achievements in the brewing trade, in art, in science, and in the promotion of temperance, my con- ception of the importance of the little Danish country is not quite so disproportionate. Still, there may be something in the idea. You know that, ac- cording to the latest theories, the cradle of the great Teutonic race, embracing today most of the great nations of the world, Germany, Austria, England, and the United States, with the Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands, and Switzerland thrown in, and a liberal sprinkling elsewhere, stood along the shores of the Baltic and German oceans, that is, in what is today Denmark and the adjoining coasts, and since beer was the favorite drink when this race first appeared in history, —and the myths and legends carry its use beyond the limits of history, —perhaps beer also originated in the same regions. You see then, there is a certain historical or sociological in- terest attaching to Danish beer. And of late years the sociological interest has once more become prominent, though in a very dif- ferent way, due to a beverage the ancients did not know—distilled 7 Temperance Hotel, Copenhagen, Denmark. Temperance Home, Gentofte, Denmark. : — spirits. During the early half of the last century the Danes were great drinkers of spirits. There was some beer brewed, but it did not amount to much. It was a top-fermented kind, similar to English porter, rather heavy in alcohol, but the common drink of the people was "snaps." It was Captain J. C. Jacobsen who in 1 840 introduced beers of the lager-beer or bottom fermented type. Jacobsen always considered himself a pupil of Gabriel Sedlmayer, the famous Munich brewer, under whose guidance he learned the trade, and it was that training, together with his conviction that "good vinous beer is the most efficient means to counteract and conquer the desire for spirits," which governed him in revolutionizing the taste of the Danish people. The modern Danish lager beers are much lighter in alcohol than the older top-fermented kind, and have crowded the latter to the wall. But the brewers did not stop there. Finding that the law taxed all beer with 2^ weight per cent of alcohol or more which is equivalent to almost 2^ per cent by volume, as alcohol content is measured in the United States—they began to brew beer with less than 2% per cent alcohol and this is today the type of beer which finds the largest consumption in Denmark. Strange to say—at least strange to us who are accustomed to the fanatical and anti-drink movement in this country—these low alcohol beers are not generally opposed by the temperance people of the country. On the contrary, they frequently use them and allow them to be sold in the "temperance houses"* or "inns" where the people gather for social entertainment. Nevertheless, beer is not making that progress in Denmark which would seem desirable in the interest of temperance. The people still continue to use large quantities of spirits, as shown by the following figures, compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics "Afholdshjem" in Danish. Literally, this means "abstinence houses," but in deference to American usage, the word "temperance houses" is used by the author. 9 Temperance Home, Noerre Nebel, Denmark. Interior from Temperance Home, Aalborg, Denmark, with President of the Danish National Temperance Society. 10 TABLE I. Taxable beer con- Taxfree beer con- Whiskey by Uter taining 2.25% or taining less than of pure alcohol more alcohol, by 2.25% alcohol by of 100%. weight. weight. 1891—1895 . 721,589 hi. 1,198,507 hi. 14,650,000 1. 1896—1900 924,768 " 1,384,760 " 15,200,000 " 1901—1905 922,805 " 1,485,185 " 15,150,000 " 1906—1909 962,646 " 1,489,774 " 13,960,000 " 1906 959,957 " 1,539,159 " 14,410,000 " 1907 965,545 " 1,490,152 " 13,550,000 " 1908 1,000,781 " 1,517,682 " 14,230,000 " 1909 924,300 " 1,412,101 " 13,630,000 " 1910 979,500 " 1,494,000 " 13,700,000 " 1911 1,013,800 " 1,536,700 " 14,130,000 " 1912 882,700 " 1,444,200 " 13,880,000 " For the different types of beer in detail, the showing is as follows: TABLE II. hnpr. tax-free Lager beer Pilsener type Porter type ;i. 75-4. 50% al- 3.00-4.00% al- 4.50-5.50% al- 2.25%, alcohol .'ohol by weight. cohol by weight. cohol by weight. weight. 1893—1894 713,110 hi. 27,656 hi. 9,104 hi. 1894—1895 728,235 " 30,161 " 10,620 " 4,726 hi. 1895—1896 774,470 " 49,259 " 12,621 " 14,507 " 1896—1897 743,991 " 124,627 " 13,265 " 24,038 " 1897—1898 730,656 " 174,079 " 15,653 " 30,281 " 1898—1899 760,155 " 212,586 " 17,604 " 39,191 " 1899-^1900 712,324 " 240,757 ''• 19,365 " 50,370 " 1900—1901 689,630 " 283,175 " 18,084 " 56,771 1901-1902 617,030 " 292,821 " 17,490 " 67,732 " 1902—1903 576,409 " 329,431 " 17,548 " 78,521 " 1903—1904 542,602 " 357,062 " 17,122 " 95,533 " 1904—1905 508,893 " 380,012 " 16,503 " 101,244 " 1905—1906 492,927 " 433,538 " 17,403 " 112,164 " 1906—1907 461,663 " 473,050 " 20,373 " 116,025 " 1907—1908 444,707 " 547,824 " 22,926 " 111,741 " " 1909 368,850 " 532,468 " 21,994 137,201 " " 1910 368,663 " 588,301 " 21,827 141,913 " " " 1911 358,443 " 633,713 " 31,639 141,056 " " 1912 298,294 " 565,170 " 19,213 143,821 11 Where first Lager Beer was brewed in 1846 by Capt. J. C. Jacobsen. Jacobsen's First Lager Beer Brew Kettle. 12 The tables show (tables I and II) that the production of tax- paid beer, containing 2.25^/ alcohol by weight or more increased from 614.956 bbls. (721,589 hi.) in 1891 to 752.514 bbls. (882,700 hi.) in 1912. and increase of 137.558 bbls. The tax- free low alcohol beer increased in the same period from 1,021,- 396 bbls. (l,198,507hl.) to 1,230,078 bbls. (1,444,200 hi.), an increase of 208,682 bbls. The consumption of spirits at the same time diminished from 3,875,714 gal. (14,650,0001.) to 3,672,01 1 gal. (13,880,0001.) a decrease of 203,703 gal. To you who are accustomed to figures for some single brew- eries, almost equaling the total production of the kingdom of Denmark, these numbers mean little until they are reduced to the per capita consumption.