Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Patent No. EP 2450290 B1: Plastic Beer Keg

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Today in 2014, just one year ago, US Patent EP 2450290 B1 was issued, an invention of William P. Apps, assigned to Rehrig Pacific Company, for his “Plastic Beer Keg.” There’s no Abstract, but there’s a lengthy summary after the introduction which appears to serve the same function:

According to the present invention there is provided a plastic beer keg as claimed in claim I and a method as claimed in claim 6. The locking ring secures the liner to the lid, and the locking ring is configured to release the liner from the lid upon impact of the keg in a drop. This can be accomplished by molding the locking ring from a softer material, which flexes to release the liner on impact, or a more brittle locking ring or a locking ring with design-in stress concentrators, which breaks to release the liner on impact.

In the method of the present invention, the liner of the beer keg is filled with beer while the locking ring is securing the neck portion of the liner to the lid, but the locking ring is removed after filling and prior to shipping of the beer keg. The filled keg is shipped, sold and used without the locking ring. The locking ring may be reused in the filling of many kegs.

Also disclosed is a plastic keg that includes a liner including a neck portion and a body portion. A lid having an opening is disposed at least partially over the liner. The liner is disposed in an outer container having a wall with at least one locking rib projecting therefrom. The locking rib angles downward and the lid secured to the outer container by the at least one locking rib. Optionally, the lid can be snapped onto the locking rib or rotated to lock onto the locking rib. This can be accomplished by an angled surface on at least one of the locking rib and the shoulder of the lid that snaps under the locking rib.

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Patent No. 1020877A: Combination Beer-Cock

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Today in 1912, US Patent 1020877 A was issued, an invention of Herbert Bell, for his “Combination Beer-Cock.” There’s no Abstract, but the description makes a valiant attempt, although the OCR did a pretty lousy job on this one, but the “invention relates to ‘liquid dispensing devices’ and has special reference to a form of beer cock designed to dispense beer to improve the general construction of cocks of this improved construction to provide it with a novel gormoffplu(?) valve. “The invention consists of certain novel details of construction as hereinafter fully described.”
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Patent No. 4505941A: Lauter Tun For The Filtration Of Wort During Brewing

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Today in 1985, US Patent 4505941 A was issued, an invention of David W. Raines, for his “Lauter Tun For The Filtration Of Wort During Brewing.” Here’s the Abstract:

Lauter tuns are used for the filtration of wort during brewing. In use the wort runs off through a filter bed and has to be collected. Hitherto the bottom of such tuns have been flat having a number of holes through which the wort runs. If the bottom is ostensibly flat, problems can arise in that puddles accumulate in any undulations leading to possible spoilation of the wort. The bottom of a tun in accordance with the invention is formed with a series of straight parallel valleys extending across the tun and having spaced wort collection points for connection to straight wort mains or manifolds located beneath the tun.

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Patent No. D6506S: Design For A Beer-Mug

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Today in 1873, US Patent D6506 S was issued, an invention of J. Ernest Miller, for his “Design For a Beer-Mug.” There’s no Abstract, and even less information aprt from the following, that the “nature of my design is fully represented in the accompanying drawing, to which reference is made,” which is the same as saying just look at the damn drawing, will you?
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Patent No. PP18602P3: Hop Plant Named ‘Bravo’

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Today in 2008, US Patent PP18602 P3 was issued, an invention of Roger D. Jeske and Joe Brulotte, assigned to S.S. Steiner, Inc., for their “Hop Plant Named ‘Bravo.'” Here’s the Abstract:

A new and distinct variety of hop, Humulus lupulus L., named “01046” is characterized by its exceptional cone yield, high percentage of alpha acids, and resistance to hop powdery mildew strains found in Washington. The new variety was cultivated as a result of a cross in 2000 at Golden Gate Roza Hop Ranches in Prosser, Wash., United States and has been asexually reproduced in Prosser, Wash., United States.

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Patent No. 423833A: Metallic Keg

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Today in 1890, US Patent 423833 A was issued, an invention of Anthony and Michael A. Stiveson, for their “Metallic Keg.” There’s no Abstract, but in the description it states that their “invention has for its object to provide a metallic keg, barrel, or similar article which can be expeditiously and economically manufactured, which shall be extremely light.”

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Every Country’s Most Popular Beer

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Here’s an interesting map. Vinepair has created a global chart of “The Most Popular Beer in Every Country,” based on “market share for each country” from “the most recent year available.” If they couldn’t find the data, or if there wasn’t a clear winner, they left them off the map, which is why there are some countries with no beer listed. That’s especially true in Africa and parts of Asia but, curiously, for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, too.

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Click here to see the map full size.

Patent No. 2631393A: Illuminated Tap

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Today in 1953, US Patent 2631393 A was issued, an invention of Lionel S Hetherington, for his “Illuminated Tap.” There’s no Abstract, but in the description it states that the “invention relates to illuminated taps and more particularly to an electrically illuminated tap adapted to be used as an advertising device..” In addition, “one object of this invention is to advertise the beverage available on draught at the tap” and “Another object is to visibly indicate the specific beverage to be drawn from a specific tap.”

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Top 10 Party States

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I got an e-mail this morning from Retale, a mobile app company, with an infographic showing the Top 10 Party States in the Country. To arrive at the list, they looked at a variety of factors including the number of bars, universities and colleges, music festivals, party stores, beer consumption, alcohol tax, hours opened, median age, the number of clubs and how popular the state is for tourism.

Obviously, these types of lists are highly subjective and tend to please no one, but it’s still fun to look at how the numbers shake out on all of the categories they used. Overall my home state of California tops the list, despite being number 1 in only two of the categories (music festivals and tourism). We have nearly double the breweries of our closest state, and a few wineries, too, so I’m okay with that.

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How They Created This Ranking

According to Retale. “In determining what criteria to use for this list, we considered contributing factors to party culture, including events, alcohol consumption, venues, tourism, and youth culture. Our Top Ten Biggest Party States interactive visual was calculated based on an analysis of [the following] data.”

Alcohol consumption per capita
Number of nightclubs per capita
Number of music festivals in each state
Most popular tourist destinations
Number of bars per capita
Population density
Last call: opening and closing hours
Number of universities and colleges per capita
Combined alcohol taxes (lower the better)
Median age (lower the better)

Here’s their write-up for California.

1. California (CA)

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California is known worldwide for its pristine beaches, enviable year-round weather, HWY 1, and Hollywood. The state is also the #1 ranking party destination in the U.S. There is a reason why our favorite pop and rap artists rave about the California party scene, with its thriving nightlife, underground techno, and midnight street shindigs. California has the highest number of festivals, the second highest number of bars by state (over 3,000), and the most universities and nightclubs relative to population.

With diverse demographics, an expanding youth culture, and innovation in tech and the arts, California has been an epicenter of art and social movement since the 60s. Rivaling party cities in California include L.A., San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, and Long Beach.

Individual Statistics

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You can see the interactive map online at Retale. Moving the cursor and hovering it over each state reveals the answers for each datapoint.

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Patent No. 2631777A: Process For Centrifugal Separation Of Yeast Cells From Beer

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Today in 1953, US Patent 2631777 A was issued, an invention of Verner Hanno Tore, for his “Process For Centrifugal Separation Of Yeast Cells From Beer.” There’s no Abstract,
but the description claims that the “invention relates to the centrifugal separation of impurities from liquids, such as the separation of yeast cells from beer. More particularly, it relates to an improved process for this purpose, whereby contamination of the centrifugally purified liquid by the impurities, incident to interruption of the centrifugal separation, is avoided.”
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