Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - VII. Manufacturing Industries. Introd. by [G. Sundbärg] K. Åmark - 1. Articles of Food and Consumption. Introd. by Alf. Larson - Spirit Production. By Å. G. Ekstrand
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vii. manufacturing industries.
distilleries, but since an extra duty of 10 ore was imposed on spirits
manufactured from this cereal, the import for this purpose has diminished
very considerably.
Regarding the employment of the potato for the purpose of manufacturing
spirits, it mäy be mentioned that, as early as the middle of the 18th century,
i. e., immediately after the introduction of the potato into Sweden, it was
discovered that use could be made of it for distilling purposes, although the
general use of the potato for the purpose in question probably did not occur
before the beginning of the 19th century. As to the proportion of the
potato-crop used for spirits, it may be stated that, in 1872, about 17 % of the total
potato-crop of the country and 1’5 % of the grain-crop, found their way to the
distilleries; in the manufacturing year 1912—13, there were used 235 165 quintals
of grain of all kinds and 1 772 000 hectoliters of potatoes and, as the harvest in
1912 was estimated at 28 311 982 quintals of grain of all kinds and 28 175 600
hectoliters of potatoes, there was, consequently, employed in 1912—13 for the
manufacture of spirits, only 0’83 % of the grain-harvest and 7’6 % of the
potato-crop.
The spirit industry is becoming more and more an independent branch
of industry, while, in earlier times, and even as låte as the seventies,
it was partly carried on as a branch of agriculture.
The number of the very small factories, which often confine themselves
to the mashing of their own products, shows an absolute decrea.se. The
.average amount manufactured per distillery which, in the seventies,
amounted to about 1 100 hectoliters, had, for the quinquennial period
1907—12, increased to 2 978 hi.
While, during the fifties all the provinces of the kingdom carried on the
distilling of spirits, nowadays it is chiefly Skåne, Uppland, Blekinge,
Gästrikland, and Halland that pursue the business. Of all the provinces,
Skåne, in 1912—13, occupied the first place, having 72 % of all the
distilleries and nearly 71 % of the total manufacture.
A special phase in the manufacture of spirits in Sweden was the
experimental distilling carried on with lichens, which, on the proposal of Professor
Stenberg, was carried on during the years 1867—77. Reindeer-moss contains a
kind of cellulose which can be easily saccharified and be made to ferment
alco-holically. The spirit manufactured from lichens had a peculiar flavour, which
made it difficult to dispose of the article.
Sulphite Spirits. In spite of repeated attempts to employ wood-fibre
— either in the form of sawdust or of peat — for the production of
spirits, no very satisfactory result has been reached in the effort to obtain
spirits from wood. On the other hand, two Swedish engineers, J. A.
Wallin and G. Ekström, have succeeded in producing spirits from the
waste-lye from the sulphite-cellulose factories. It was found that this
waste-lye contains about 2 % of fermentable sugar, which can be made
to ferment in the ordinary way by means of yeast. By this process there
is obtained a spiritous solution which, it is true, contains only about
1 volume-percentage of alcohol, but by modern methods of distillation
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