Definitions and Descriptions of British and American Beers,
circa 1908
"The beers brewed in the United Kingdom and its possessions show similar characteristic differences in their properties. . . . They are called ale, porter, and stout.
"Mild beers, whether ale, porter, or stout, are called such as undergo no secondary fermentation [sic], but are marketed about seven days after the principal fermentation is finished.
"Stock beers, or old beers, whether ale or stout, are such as have undergone a secondary fermentation and are stored about two months or more before marketing.
"The mild beers are distinguished from the stock beers by a more sweetish (mild) taste, containing more unfermented maltodextrin and less acid, the old beers, [sic] on the other hand, becoming more alcoholic and tart. . . .
"Stouts are quite dark, almost black, have a pronounced malt-caramel taste and aroma, a sweetish taste if mild, and a more or less tart taste, according to age and circumstances. They are brewed stronger than ales.
"Porter is brewed less strong than the old beers. It stands in a similar relation to stout as does a mild ale to a stock ale.
"The secondary fermentation of English stock beers -- as shown by Claussen in 1904 -- is entirely different from what is called secondary fermentation of, f.i., American or European beers . . . [it is] due, not to a genuine Saccharomyces, but to a certain
torula, called Brettanomyces by its author . . . forming large quantities of acidic and ethereal substances, thus producing the typical flavor of the English stock beers.
"A pure cultivated yeast . . . cannot produce the flavor that is characteristic to stock or ale or stout, and is due exclusively to the action of Brettanomyces.
"[To make the secondary fermentation more reliable and predictable] Claussen recommends the addition of cultures of Brettanomyces to bring about the secondary fermentation."
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