In the United States, the best known varieties of malt liquors are ale, porter, and lager beer. The difference between ale and porter is mainly due to the quality of the malt used in their manufacture. Ale is made from pale malt, porter or stout from a mixture of the darker coloured malts, the method of fermentation employed being in both cases that known as the “superficial” (_obergährung_), which takes place at a higher temperature and is of shorter duration than the “sedimentary” (_untergährung_). The latter form of fermentation, which is used in the preparation of Bavarian or lager beer, occurs at a temperature of about 8°, and requires more time for its completion, during which the beer is, or should be, preserved in cool cellars for several months before it is fit for use; hence the common American name of this kind of beer, from _lager_, a storehouse. There are three varieties of Bavarian beer, “lager beer” proper, or the summer beer, which has been stored for about five months; “_schenk_,” or winter beer, which is fit for use in several weeks; and “_bock_” beer, which possesses more strength than the former, and is made in comparatively small quantities in the spring of the year. A mild kind of malt liquor, known as “_weiss_” beer, and prepared by a quick process of fermentation, is less frequently met with. The first brewery in America is said to have been founded in New York in the year 1644, by Jacobus, who afterwards became the first burgomaster of the city, then New Amsterdam. Subsequently, William Penn established a brewery in Bucks Co., Pa., and a century later, General Putnam engaged in the manufacture of beer in the State of Connecticut. The brewing of lager beer in the United States began to assume prominence about thirty-five years ago. It is estimated that, at the present time, over 2000 breweries are devoted to the preparation of this form of malt liquor, with an invested capital of at least 60 millions of dollars, the annual production exceeding 15 millions of barrels.[69] The industry is chiefly carried on in New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. The composition of beer naturally varies according to the kind of grain from which it is made and the process of fermentation employed. The chief ingredients are alcohol, carbonic acid, sugar (maltose), dextrine, the oil and bitter principle of hops (lupuline), albuminoids, lactic, acetic, succinic and propionic acids, inorganic salts, and traces of glycerine. The term “extract” is applied to the non-volatile constituents, which include the sugar, dextrine, albuminoids, ash, etc. The foregoing table, collated from the analyses of various chemists, gives the general composition of some of the best known brands of malt liquor, as well as the minimum and maximum proportions that have been found.