Once Over Lightly

ATTENTION ALL BEER-DRINKERS: We have it on record, very good record (the Congressional Record, in fact), that you are drinking a lot more than beer when you drink beer. Representative Benjamin S. Rosenthal (D.N.Y.) stated in the March 12 edition of the Proceedings of the Washington Chowder and Debating Society that there are up to fifty-nine additives used in the manufacture of beer. These include: tannin and enzymes to chill it; calcium disodium ethylene-tetraacetate to prevent gushing; propylene glycel alginate to stabilize the foam; sodium hydrofulfite to prevent oxidation; quassia extract, sucrose octaacetate, and other things to flavor it; caramel and three different coal tars to color it; and heptyl hydroxybenzoate, which is a preservative. There's more, but that's the general idea.