Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Patent No. 3207605A: Production Of Beer

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Today in 1965, US Patent 3207605 A was issued, an invention of James R. A. Pollock, assigned to Brewing Patents Ltd., for his “Production Of Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The present invention relates to the production of potable beers and in particular to a process for the fermentation of wort in a semi-continuous manner which results in fermented wort becoming available in batches for further processing.

Processes for the continuous fermentation of wort are known and these processes are capable of producing beer at a very high rate as compared with conventional processes in which batches of wort are fermented with yeast in fermentation vats. Continuous fermentation processes have the disadvantage that they must be continued in operation over weekends and holidays, if the maximum economic advantage is to be obtained from them, and this in turn means that extra storage capacity must be installed in the brewery to hold the excess beer that may build up at such periods.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a brewing process which can readily be shut down when further supplies of fermented wort are not required, but which can at the same time produce beer at a rate comparable to that of known continuous processes.

The present invention provides a process for the production of beer which comprises adding unfermented wort to a body of yeast and either wort or fermented wort, which is subjected to sufficient agitation to maintain the yeast evenly dispersed through the wort, the unfermented wort being added at such rate either continuously or in separate small quantities that at the end of a predetermined time the body of fermenting wort is fermented to a desired degree of attenuation, at least a major part of the fermented wort then being separated from the yeast. Preferably the process is carried out under conditions such that the fermentation stage is completed in about 16 hours, so that a batch of beer may be produced each working day.

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Patent No. 3054676A: Process For Producing A Cereal Adjunct For Use In Brewing

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Today in 1962, US Patent 3054676 A was issued, an invention of Albert J. Hardgrove and Howard J. Lauhoff, assigned to the Lauhoff Grain Company, for their “Process For Producing A Cereal Adjunct For Use In Brewing.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

It is an object of this invention therefore to provide an improved cereal adjunct which can be efficiently handled and employed directly in the mashing step without pre-treatment. It is also an object of this invention to provide a method for producing such adjunct.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved cereal adjunct which will produce a higher product yield in the normal brewing operation.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cereal adjunct which can be efficiently utilized in any modern automatic brewery apparatus designed to handle materials necessary in the brewing process.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved pre-gelatinized cereal adjunct for breweries which has less bulk than other similar type adjuncts, thereby reducing shipping costs, and requiring less storage space.

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What The New Landscape Of Beer Might Look Like

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You’d have to be living under a rock to not have seen the news that ABI was planning a takeover bid to acquire SABMiller, which might work unless SABMiller might be able to buy Heineken, thus making itself too big for ABI to get in a hostile takeover. These rumors have long been circulating so nobody who’s been paying attention to the beer industry was too surprised at these announcements.

But so far I haven’t seen too much discussion about what the beer world might look like if any of these come to pass. The online news site Quartz filled that gap by producing a chart showing that This is what the family tree of beer companies will look like if AB InBev acquires SABMiller.

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Click here to see the chart full size.

Gordon Biersch Closes Original Palo Alto Brewpub

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When Dan Gordon and Dean Biersch opened the first brewpub in downtown Palo Alto in 1988, it was one of the few to focus on lagers, and one of the few to focus on fine dining, or at least a step up from the usual pub fare found at most brewpubs at the time. In 1999, two years after opening a production brewery in San Jose, the brewpubs were sold to a restaurant group which today is known as CraftWorks Restaurants and Breweries, headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and includes the Rock Bottom brewpubs as well as Gordon Biersch. Dean Biersch retired and went on to open the HopMonk Taverns in Sonoma County while Dan Gordon continues to run the production brewery in San Jose.

Today, September 16, CraftWorks announced that they had closed the brewpub on Emerson Street in Palo Alto, as of the close of business on Tuesday, September 15, and apparently “apologizing for short notice.” Unfortunately, there’s no additional information, or indeed any mention at all, about the closure on their Facebook page, website or on the parent company’s corporate website, which hasn’t updated their press releases since 2011.

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The Gordon Biersch brewpub on Emerson Street in Palo Alto.

NOTE: It turns out this was just half of the story. Read the other half, Dan Gordon To Re-Open Original Gordon Biersch Brewpub.

A Look At The Craft Beer Industry Supply Chain

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2013 was the year of the infographics, when I featured a new infographic each and every day, so I haven’t used too many lately. But this look at The Craft Beer Industry Supply Chain stood out as an interesting one. It was crated by Halobi, a company that specializes in supply chain and inventory management for businesses. Here’s their journey, “From Grains to Growlers.”

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Patent No. 305227A: Beer-Chip

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Today in 1884, US Patent 305227 A was issued, an invention of Bernard Rice, for his “Beer-Chip.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention has for its object to produce a beer-chip which is free from resinous and other similar matters; and to this end it consists in making the chip from a sheet or strip of veneer cut from a log, beam, or plank previously steamed, as herein more fully described.

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MillerCoors To Close North Carolina Brewery

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Thanks to declines in sales volume, MillerCoors announced today that they will be closing their brewery in Eden, North Carolina, winding it down over the next year with plans to finally close in September of next year.

According to MillerCoors’ website:

Opened in 1978, the Eden facility was the first brewery to produce Miller Genuine Draft back in 1986. Today, it’s a state-of-the-art operation with more than 500 employees and an annual brewing capacity of 9 million barrels. The small, friendly community of Eden lies near Greensboro.

Here’s the press release:

“Today we made the difficult decision to close our brewery in Eden, N.C., in order to optimize our brewery footprint and streamline operations for greater efficiency across our remaining seven breweries,” said Chief Integrated Supply Chain Officer Fernando Palacios.

The decision to close the Eden Brewery was due to significant overlap in distribution between Eden and the Shenandoah, Va., brewery, which is approximately 200 miles away. Eden has been a strong performer over the years. However, Shenandoah is better suited geographically in relation to Northeast markets and is also the newest brewery in MillerCoors network.

The Eden brewery employs approximately 520 employees. In 2014, Eden produced 7.1 million barrels of beer, which were shipped to 280 independently-owned distributors. Brands include Blue Moon seasonals, Coors Light, Miller Lite and Miller High Life. Over the next 12 months, products currently produced in Eden will be transitioned to other breweries, including Shenandoah, Va.; Trenton, Ohio; Fort Worth, Texas; Albany, Ga.; and Milwaukee, Wis.

Since the creation of MillerCoors seven years ago, volume has declined by nearly 10 million barrels. This volume loss is due to a variety of factors, including economic challenges, an explosion of choice and fragmentation within the beer business, and a dramatic change in the way consumers engage with brands. As a result of declining volume, MillerCoors breweries are operating at an increasingly inefficient capacity. While MillerCoors is taking steps to strengthen its overall portfolio to drive long-term growth in volume and share, continued volume declines are expected each of the next few years.

“We take great pride in supporting the communities where we live and work,” Palacios said. “We’ve been proud to be part of the Eden community since we shipped our first products in 1978. We will work with community leaders to make sure we continue to support the community while we are brewing beer in Eden.”

The Milwaukee Business Journal added:

Blue Moon seasonal products will be moving to the Milwaukee brewery, which already produces seasonal varieties for Leinenkugel, said Marty Maloney, a spokesman for MillerCoors. Maloney said each brewery receiving work from Eden will evaluate its own hiring needs, but the shift could add jobs or at least support the existing jobs in Milwaukee.

But decreasing sales — volume has declined by almost 10 million barrels since 2008 and the company expects the trend to continue for the next few years — mean MillerCoors’ breweries are operating inefficiently, and future closures or reductions could be in the big brewer’s future.

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The entrance to the MillerCoors plant in Eden, North Carolina, as close as you can get on Google Maps Street View.

Patent No. 264185A: Refrigerator

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Today in 1882, US Patent 264185 A was issued, an invention of James Miller of Oakland, California, for his “Refrigerator.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention relates to the class of refrigerators; and it consists generally in the construction and arrangement of peculiar vessels, providing for the holding of the substance to be kept cool, and a surrounding and underlying water-space.

It consists particularly in a deep vessel with vertical sides, and provided with a centrally perforated false bottom, upon which a holding-vessel of smaller diameter and extending above the exterior vessel is placed, whereby a surrounding and underlying water-space is formed.

It further consists in the provision of an airtight cover for the holding-vessel, all of which will hereinafter fully appear.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, economical, and effective refrigerating device for containing any substance or article which should be kept cool.

I can’t say for certain if this was even used by breweries, but the shape seems to suggest that it may have been.
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Patent No. 1003014A: Automatic Keg Washing And Sprinkling Machine

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Today in 1911, US Patent 1003014 A was issued, an invention of Friedrich Strohl, for his “Automatic Keg Washing and Sprinkling Machine.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to a combination can-piercing device and drinking cup.

One of the principal objects of the invention is the provision of :a drinking cup provided with can-piercing instrumentalities depending from its bottom wall, guide means for attaching the cup to the top of a beverage can and sealing means associated with the cup and guide means to prevent leakage between the top of the can and the outside of the cup after the top of the can has been pierced.

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