Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 April 1888 — The Origin of Beer. [ARTICLE]

The Origin of Beer.

Ale was the sole title of malt liquor • until the reign of Henry VIII., up to which time the employment of hops as an ingredient in the beverage was unknown in England. In the year 1524,. or thereabouts, the use of hops wasintroduced from Germany, and to distinguish the new kind of liquor from the old the German name bier was adopted, and, with an infinitesimal change of spelling, became part of our language. Germany, in truth, is the native land of beer, and nowhere in the world is it treated with such special honor. In Germany the drinking of beer isnot, as with us, a mere means of carnal refreshment, but, particularly, amongthe students of the universities, is elevated to the dignity of a cult, familiarity with whose ritual is deemed an essential branch of liberal education. Weremember to have seen, appended to areceipt of M. Francatelli’s for some specially seductive beverage, the recommendation, “Stir and drink devoutly.” This is precisely the mental attitude of the German student in relation to beer. He drinks devoutly; indeed, it might be almost s >id, parodying the familiar Oriental phrase, that in Germany “there is no God but beer, and th© student is the prophet.”— Cornhill Magazine