VerdanaFound this on the website of the (British) Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry. Meeting reportTimes VerdanaAnalysis in IndustryTimes VerdanaThe Society held a meeting on 23 May 2002 in the Conference Room of the Science Museum and Imperial College Library entitled "Analysis in Industry". **** The title of Ray Anderson's paper was "From Saccharometer to Hartong Number: Analysis in the Brewing Industry, 1780-1940". The introduction of a uniquely calibrated hydrometer, the saccharometer, in the 1780s provided brewers with a means of assessing the best ways of using their primary raw material, malted barley. The analytical determination of the yield of 'extract' from malt was to remain of great commercial importance in the burgeoning brewing industry of the 19th century. The growing output of breweries; the switch away from crude dark heavy beers to more delicate and more difficult to produce styles; the advent of all year round brewing with the introduction of artificial refrigeration from the 1870s; all encouraged the application of science in brewing. By the 1880s various levels of sophistication in analysis could be identified in UK breweries. At a minimum, measurement of specific gravities was required for Excise purposes and thorough visual inspection of raw materials, casks, etc., was considered essential. A step up from this was the provision of a bench or table in the brewers' room to accommodate a microscope for checking yeast purity and perhaps an assortment of glassware for simple testing of water and malt. In some breweries analysis by brewers who had received training in chemical/microbiological techniques as part of their pupilage or apprenticeship extended far beyond this to more extensive testing of water, malt, hops, wort, sugars and beer in relatively well equipped laboratories. Specialist analytical chemists had been engaged by only a handful of the largest breweries by the 1880s, with the Burton brewers leading the way with the employment of particularly talented men who carried out research as well as routine duties. Four of the Burton chemists were to be elected Fellows of the Royal Society. But Burton was unusual; most brewers relied upon consulting chemists for expert analytical services, particularly when they were outside the normal run and in times of difficulty. The arsenic poisoning episode of 1900 when contaminated beer caused many deaths was the most spectacular and tragic example. Consulting chemists retained a central role in brewing analysis well into the 20th century, even as the number of companies employing specialist analysts increased. Analysts drawn into the brewing industry in the 19th century had predominantly received their scientific education in London or Germany, but with the establishment of specialist brewing schools in Birmingham and Edinburgh at the start of the 20th century; recruitment from these sources became common. The average head chemist by the 1920s ranked someway below the head brewer in the hierarchy of the brewery with a salary intermediate between that of the 2nd or 3rd brewer. He had a status equivalent to that of the head bookkeeper. Outside the UK, brewers sought to meet their analytical requirements in a variety of ways. In Germany specialist brewing testing and experimental stations attached to higher education establishments in major cities provided analytical services and few breweries employed specialist analysts even in the 20th century. The USA followed the English model, although German immigrants largely ran the industry there; consulting chemists operated in Chicago, New York and elsewhere and leading brewers also employed chemists. Consulting chemists were also to be found Denmark; however two companies, Carlsberg and Tuborg, dominated and established sophisticated laboratories. By the 1930s the emphasis on raw materials, which had until then been the dominant feature of brewing analysis internationally, began to be diluted with the rise in sales of bottled beer requiring more attention to be paid to aspects of beer flavour, shelf-life and appearance (clarity, foam and sparkle). Analysis thus became increasingly a tool in seeking competitive advantage in the marketplace, complementing its long-standing role as a guide to production integrity and efficiency.