AbstractResults are presented for the levels of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, lead and arsenic in 144 lager samples. The average and range of each of the metals, in mg/litre, are as follows: sodium 58(15–170), potassium 362(253–680), calcium 46(10–135), magnesium 82(34–162), iron 0.12(0.04–0.44), copper 0.11(0.01–0.41), zinc 0.06(0.01–0.46), lead all samples below 0.06, arsenic all sampl