Today in 1902, US Patent 694584 A was issued, an invention of Otto Selg and Carl Guntrum, for their “Process Of Converting Wort Into Beer.” There’s no Abstract, but the description begins by explaining that in their new invention the “body of the yeast has been withdrawn [and] it is impregnated with carbonic-acid gas and simultaneously clarified. Thus the separate processes heretofore carried on in the fermenting-tub, the storage-tub, and the chipcask are all combined and the latter two processes are carried on simultaneously.”
Patent No. 3123476A: Production Of Hopped Wort
Today in 1964, US Patent 3123476 A was issued, an invention of Michael Edward Ash, assigned to Arthur Guinness Son and Company for his “Production of Hopped Wort.” Here’s the Abstract:
The invention relates to the hopping of wort, a stage in the brewing process which takes place prior to fermentation. The object of the hopping process is to extract from the hops and transfer to the Wort certain desirable flavouring substances particularly humulone, or substances derived therefrom, which are generally considered to provide the bitter flavour in finished beer, and which in some cases may exercise a preservative function.
Patent No. 3171746A: Production Of Brewers’ Wort
Today in 1965, US Patent 3171746 A was issued, an invention of David Teignmouth Shore, for his “Production of Brewers’ Wort.” There’s no Abstract, but in the description Shore explains that his “invention relates to the production of brewers wort at the mashing stage in which a reaction is created between water and goods, i.e., ground solids or grist to obtain as a product of the stage a wort which is known as sweet wort: the sweet Wort is passed on for further treatment including heating, hopping and fermentation treatment to produce beer of one grade or style or another.”
Patent No. 2109489A: Liquid Filling Machine
Today in 1938, US Patent 2109489 A was issued, an invention of John Daniel Le Frank, assigned to the American Can Co., for his “Liquid Filling Machine.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states that the “present invention relates to a machine for filling cans with liquids that have a tendency to foam and has particular reference to devices which minimize foaming of the liquid passing into a can, passages in the devices being automatically purged of any foam which may have accumulated during the filling of a preceding can.”
Patent No. 1018703A: Building For Cooling And Storing Beer
Today in 1912, US Patent 1018703 A was issued, an invention of Wilhelm Griesser, for his “Building for Cooling and Storing Beer.” This one seems crazy, an entire building being patented. There’s no Abstract, but the description states that the “present invention has reference to storage buildings, and it comprehends generally a structure which is adapted primarily for cooling and storing beer and is designed to be built up floor by floor as the tanks are arranged in position one above another, so as to produce, in effect, at its completion, a tower or the like wherein the tanks are inclosed and supported by a homogeneous monolithic casing of cementitious material, the tanks being built into the casing, during the actual construction of the latter, in such a manner that their metal walls and the walls of the casing mutually reinforce each other.”
Patent No. 1992261A: Pulp Or Fibrous-Mass Breaker
Today in 1935, US Patent 1992261 A was issued, an invention of William F. Traudt, for his “Pulp or Fibrous-Mass Breaker.” There’s no Abstract, but in the description Traudt explains that his “invention relates to improvements ‘in breakers or disintegrators for fibrous material, such as the filter-mass employed in breweries for filtering beer, the breaker of this application being primarily intended for breaking up the soiled or used filter-mass coming from the beer filters preparatory to washing or reclaiming it for reuse.”
Patent No. 200744A: Improvement In Ale Or Beer Measures
Today in 1878, US Patent 200744 A was issued, an invention of Thomas Millee, for his “Improvement in Ale or Beer Measures.” There’s no Abstract, but in the description Millee explains that the “object of my invention is to provide a ready and convenient means of ascertaining the quantity of liquor in the measure, including that portion which is contained in the form of froth or foam; and in order to accomplish this object I cover or inclose the outlet from the interior of the measure to the measuring tube, by soldering strips of metal to the side and bottom of the measure at the point where the tube connects therewith, so as to form a separate compartment at the base of such tube on the inside of the measure above the bottom, which compartment has small apertures leading’ into it, arranged so that the foam or froth will not be driven against or through them into this compartment when the liquor is drawn or poured into the measure, all of which will more clearly appear by the drawings and description of the different parts.”
Patent No. 447131A: Process Of Making Malt Liquor
Today in 1891, US Patent 447131 A was issued, an invention of John Griffiths, for his “Process of Making Malt Liquor.” There’s no Abstract, but the description very generally states that the “invention relates to an improvement in the art of making malt liquors by which the quality of the liquor is improved,the cost of production reduced, a considerable saving effected in the time and appliances heretofore required, and a consequent gain realized in the capacity of a brewery.”
Patent No. 2926087A: Method Of Carbonating A Malt Beverage
Today in 1960, US Patent 2926087 A was issued, an invention of Frank Otto Rickers, assigned to the George Wiedemann Brewing Co, for his “Method of Carbonating a Malt Beverage.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states that the “one of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a method for carbonating beer at a very much more rapid rate than has been possible heretofore.”
Patent No. 3078166A: Continuous Brewing
Today in 1963, US Patent 3078166 A was issued, an invention of James Shanks Hough and Robert William Ricketts, for their “Continuous Brewing.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states it’s for a “fermentation process in which means are secured for controlling the quantity of yeast present in the fermenting liquid and hence the rate of fermentation.” They continue in the application:
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a process whereby wort can be fermented with production of substantially smaller quantities of yeast than is possible in known processes.
Continuous processes for the fermentation of brewers wort are known and these are claimed to have a high rate of production in comparison with the conventional batch processes. In the known processes, however, a yeast separation stage is employed in which yeast is separated from the fermented wort and in most known processes the yeast separated from the fermented wort is recycled to the fermentation stage. The present invention permits a more compact apparatus to be used as no separate yeast separation stage is required unless it is specifically desired to produce yeast in conjunction with the production of beer. This is achieved by using a process which permits the separation of the yeast from the fermented wort to be effected in the actual fermentation vessel.
