Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Patent No. 2025640A1: Cooling Device For A Beverage Keg

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Today in 2009, US Patent EP 2025640 A1 was issued, an invention of Jan Nørager Rasmussen and Steen Vesborg, assigned to Carlsberg Breweries, for their “Cooling Device for a Beverage Keg.” Here’s the Abstract:

The present invention relates to a cooling device (10) for containing a collapsible beverage keg (12) to be cooled to a temperature of e.g. 5°-7° C. The cooling device comprises a thermally insulating container (14) comprising a housing having a base portion (18) from which an outer wall (20) extends upwardly defining an upper open end (20) and a movable lid (22) which provides access to the interior of the container when the lid is open and a waterproof sealing off of the container when the lid is closed. The container further defines a specific inner volume when the lid is closed. The keg is supported by the base portion and defines in a filled and non-collapsed state a specific beverage volume. A connector (24) is mounted to the container for connection to an external water hose (25) for receiving and introducing tap water into the interior of the container. A residual volume for receiving ice as a cooling medium is defined as the difference between the specific inner volume and the specific beverage volume, the residual volume constituting preferably 17,6% of the specific inner volume. The beverage container communicates with an external tapping cock (26) for supply of a beverage from the collapsible beverage keg, the tap water being provided through the external water hose.

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Patent No. D470370S1: Turtle-Shaped Combined Bottle Opener And Beer Separator

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Today in 2003, US Patent D470370 S1 was issued, an invention of William Burns Arnold, for his “Turtle-Shaped Combined Bottle Opener and Beer Separator.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

I claim the ornamental design for a turtle-shaped combined bottle opener and beer separator, as shown and described.

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Patent No. 554806A: Filling And Bunging Apparatus

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Today in 1896, US Patent 554806 A was issued, an invention of Marion Warren, for his “Filling and Bunging Apparatus.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The object of my invention is to provide apparatus for filling packages with liquid and bunging the same expeditiously and securely, the same being especially adapted for the treatment of carbonated beverages, such as lager-beer, which by means of my improved apparatus I am enabled to place in the trade or selling package without material loss of gas or pressure.

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Beer In Ads #1824: Andreas Hofer — The Inn-Keeper Patriot Of Switzerland

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Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1914, No. 7 in another series they did in 1914-15 called the “National Heroes Series.” The seventh one features Andreas Hofer, who “was a Tyrolean innkeeper and drover, who in 1809 became the leader of the Tyrolean Rebellion against the French and Bavarian occupation forces during the War of the Fifth Coalition. He was subsequently captured and executed. Hofer is still today venerated as a folk hero, freedom fighter and Austrian patriot.” Curiously, the ad states he was from Switzerland, while the sources I looked at all said he was born in a part of Austria that today is part of Italy.

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Beer In Ads #1823: William Wallace — Scotland’s Great Patriot

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Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1914, No. 6 in another series they did in 1914-15 called the “National Heroes Series.” The sixth one features William Wallace, who “was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence.

Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in September 1297. He was appointed Guardian of Scotland and served until his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk in July 1298. In August 1305, Wallace was captured in Robroyston, near Glasgow, and handed over to King Edward I of England, who had him hanged, drawn, and quartered for high treason and crimes against English civilians.”

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Patent No. 1128825A: Keg-Soaking Apparatus

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Today in 1915, US Patent 1128825 A was issued, an invention of Rudolph Troehler, for his “Keg-Soaking Apparatus.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention concerns an apparatus used in connection with means and devices provided for cleaning barrels and kegs and more particularly in the manner in which this work is carried on in breweries. Washing and rinsing machines have been provided for this purpose which operate upon the kegs after they have been subjected first to a preliminary soaking whereby water is also admitted to them to clean and rinse them interiorly.

This invention relates more particularly to the apparatus which serves to administer this preliminary soaking to the kegs outside and inside, to introduce water into them and to deliver’ them thereafter to the washing and rinsing devices to be subjected to further treatment by them.

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Beer In Ads #1822: Leif Ericsson — The Discoverer Of America

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Monday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1914, No. 5 in another series they did in 1914-15 called the “National Heroes Series.” The fifth one features Leif Ericsson, who “was an Icelandic explorer considered by some as the first European to land in North America (excluding Greenland), before Christopher Columbus. According to the Sagas of Icelanders, he established a Norse settlement at Vinland, tentatively identified with the Norse L’Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland in modern-day Canada.

Leif was the son of Erik the Red, the founder of the first Norse settlement in Greenland and of Þjóðhildur (anglicized Thjodhild). He was likely born in Iceland, and grew up in the family estate Brattahlíð in the Eastern Settlement in Greenland. Leif had two known sons: Thorgils, born to noblewoman Thorgunna in the Hebrides; and Thorkell, who succeeded him as chieftain of the Greenland settlement.”

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Next Session Raises A Glass Of Porter

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For our 109th Session, our host will be Mark Lindner, who is the Bend Beer Librarian, and writes the By the Barrel in Bend, Oregon. For his topic, he’s chosen the beer style Porter, and wants us to explore what he calls a “highly variable style.” Jon goes on to explain what he means by that in his announcement for the March Session:

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“The history of porter and the men who made it is fascinating, for it deals with the part that beer has played in the development of Western Culture. Conversely, of course, much of porter’s growth was the result of profound changes in the nature of British society. It is also a microcosm of how our industries have developed; events in porter’s history explain the structure of the modern brewing industry, not only in Britain, but in the other major Western countries.

Porter is intimately tied in with the Industrial Revolution, in which Britain led the world. Through the growth it enabled the brewers to achieve, it was instrumental in the development and technological application of a number of important scientific advances” (Foster, Porter, 17).

I am not talking about your long dead relative’s porter—although you might be—but about all of the variations currently and previously available. Hey, feel free to write about the porter of the future or some as-yet-unrecognized sub-style of porter.

There are English porters, Brown porters, Robust porters, American porters, Baltic porters, Imperial porters, Smoked porters, barrel-aged variants of most of the preceding, and so on.

With as many variations as there are it is hard to believe that porter is perhaps a neglected style. Then again, it did disappear for a while [see Foster, Porter, and others]. Of 14 beer people asked about overrated and underrated styles three of them said porter was most underrated and no one suggested it as overrated in our current market climate. [Yes, I know that is from Thrillist; feel free to ignore it.]

I would like you to sit down with one or more porters of your choosing. Pay a few minutes attention to your beer and then use that as a springboard to further thoughts on the style.

Possibilities include:

  • Contrast and/or compare two or more of the styles
  • Contrast and/or compare two or more beers within/across porter styles
  • The history and development of the style
  • Your love/hate relationship with any porter style
  • Baltic porter – ale or Lager or a mixed fermentation?
  • Is hopping the only difference between English and American styles?
  • Food pairings with your favorite porter or style of porter
  • Review the porter(s) you are using as a creative springboard
  • Construct a resource along the lines of Jay Brooks’ Typology style pages, see for example American Barley Wine or Bock [I’ve already collected some of the information below for you.]
  • Recipe and procedures for brewing your version of a great porter
  • …

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So what is your favorite porter? Or do you like them at all? What’s your take? You know what to do? To participate in the March Session, leave the link to your post in a comment to the original announcement on or before Friday, March 4. Or e-mail your URL at mark (.) r (.) lindner (@) gmail (.) com, or tweet your link with the hashtag #thesession and it wouldn’t hurt to add him, too, using @bythebbl.

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Still my favorite Porter, so good he could even make Don Younger smile!

Beer In Ads #1821: Lord Nelson — Old England’s Great Naval Hero

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Sunday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1914, No. 4 in another series they did in 1914-15 called the “National Heroes Series.” The fourth one features Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, more commonly known as Lord Nelson, who “was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. He was noted for his inspirational leadership, superb grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics, all of which resulted in a number of decisive naval victories, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars, (1797-1815). He was significantly wounded several times in combat, losing the sight of his right eye during the campaign in Corsica, and later the brutal amputation of his right arm in the unsuccessful attempt to conquer Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Atlantic’s Azore Islands off northeast Africa. He was shot and killed during his final pivotal victory at the naval Battle of Trafalgar against the combined Napoleonic French and Royal Spanish fleets off the southwest coast of Spain in 1805.”

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Beer In Ads #1820: Kosciusko — “The Greatest Of The Poles”

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Saturday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1914, No. 3 in another series they did in 1914-15 called the “National Heroes Series.” The third one features Tadeusz Kościuszko, who “was a Polish-Lithuanian military engineer and a military leader who became a national hero in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and the United States. He fought in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s struggles against Russia and Prussia, and on the American side in the American Revolutionary War. As Supreme Commander of the Polish National Armed Forces, he led the 1794 Kościuszko Uprising.”

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