Today in 1940, US Patent 2187526 A was issued, an invention of Edouard Thys, for his “Hop Picking Machine.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
This invention relates to hop picking machines the picking of hops in the fields where they are grown.
Friday’s ad is for G.F. Burkhardt’s Bock Beer, from 1877. The G.F. Burkhardt Brewery, of Boston, Massachusetts, was originally founded in 1850 but was effectively closed by prohibition in 1918, never to return after its repeal. The ad shows quite the raucous party in the cellar of the brewery, complete with the requisite goat.
Today in 1980, US Patent 4183226 A was issued, an invention of Stanley R. Moore, assigned to Freeze Sleeves Of America, Inc., for his “Refrigerated Beverage Holder.” Here’s the Abstract:
Means for chilling and insulating a canned or bottled beverage such as beer including a cylindrical sleeve of reusable refrigerant disposed within an insulative beverage can holder and displacing the annular “dead air” cavity between a beverage can situated therein and the side walls of the holder. The reusable refrigerant is a substance which may be frozen in conventional refrigerator freezers whereby the refrigerant in a frozen state will chill and keep chilled beer or the like disposed there within. In this manner, a beverage may be quickly chilled whether initially refrigerated or not and while being consumed out of doors. Moreover, the chilled temperature is normally unachievable in conventional refrigerators and is especially not maintainable for any length of time in conventional “dead-air” insulative holders.
Thursday’s ad is for Bock Beer, again from either the late 1800s or early 20th century. In this one, a statue to the lofty goat has quite literally been put in a pedestal, and four couples are dancing around it. The men are all wearing aprons (I’m going to guess those are bartender’s aprons from that time period) so maybe it’s some bock ritual dance I’m not familiar with. Who knows?
Today in 1992, US Patent 5079927 A was issued, an invention of A. J. Rodino and James R. Kinkaide, for their “Beer Cooling Apparatus.” Here’s the Abstract:
A method and apparatus is provided for dispensing beer from a keg without excess foaming wherein the keg and beer temperatures and fluid pressures are controlled such that beer is dispensed at predetermined temperatures at substantially atmospheric pressures even over a wide range of atmospheric temperatures. Beer is supplied under pressure from the keg to a constricted flow line which abruptly decreases flow pressure. A portion of the constricted flow line is immersed in a refrigerating bath to reduce beer temperature. The length of the constricted flow line to the dispensing nozzle is sufficient long and its internal diameter sufficiently smooth that beer flow therethrough is stabilized to significantly reduce turbulence. Beer pressure drop through the nozzle is minimal and beer flow is relatively laminar.
The portion of the constricted line immersed in the refrigerating bath is formed from coiled tubing. The bath fluid is recirculated and the bath temperature is sufficiently low as to cause ice to form. The constricted line has a constant internal diameter throughout its length, and the dispensing nozzle has that same internal diameter. A portable embodiment includes a wheeled trailer for supporting and sheltering the keg.
Today in 1987, US Patent EP 0208450 A2 was issued, an invention of Ronald Shackleton, for his “Beer Filtration.” Here’s the Abstract:
It has been proposed to filter beer or tank bottoms using crossflow filtration. In accordance with the invention, this crossflow filtration is achieved using ceramic membranes. In a particular form shown in figure 1, a two stage filtration process combines the functions of clarification and recovery from tank bottoms. Beer is drawn from a tank 1 by a centrifugal pump 2 to a primary filtration stage comprising a circuit in- cludinga a circulating centrifugal pump 3, a ceramic membrane filter 4 and a cooler 5. A proportion of the circulating liquid is drawn off by a positive pump 8, and passed to a secondary filtration stage, again comprising a circuit including a circulating positive pump 9, a ceramic membrane filter 11 and a cooler 12. A proportion of the retentate is drawn off via a line 14. This retentate is of a pasty consistency and normally has a commercial value, in that it is free of kieselguhr or other filter aid.
Wednesday’s ad is for Bock Beer, from either the late 1800s or early 20th century. It was produced by the Donaldson Litho. Co. of Newport, Kentucky as a sample of their printing work, complete with pricing information at the top. This is one of several bock-themed samples they produced, and in this one not only can goats fly, they can fly airplanes.
For our 108th Session, our host will be Jon Abernathy, who writes the Brewsite in Bend, Oregon. For his topic, he’s asking us to consider being Snowed In, which is in fact his topic. Jon goes on to explain what he means by that in his announcement for the February Session:
The theme is “Snowed In,” and I want it to be open-ended. It’s the first week of February—we are solidly in the grip of the winter, which means hunkering down from the cold and, depending on where you live, waiting for warmer days to thaw out the ice and snow. But perhaps it’s one of those winters, where the snow starts falling… and falling… and falling some more, and the next thing you know, schools are closed, there’s four or more feet of snow on the ground—and you are effectively snowed in and not going anywhere.
For those of you living in the southern climes who don’t have snow to worry about, perhaps it’s some other stormy situation keeping you indoors—hurricanes or tropical storms, for instance. You tell me—I live northerly!
So what’s next? That is what I want you to write about—as it pertains to beer, of course! Not sure where to start? Here are some suggestions to hopefully inspire some ideas:
- What style(s) of beer do you prefer for this cold weather? Open one up and write about it.
- Do you dip into the stash or cellar, and drink something special? Does the occasion warrant it? Why, or why not?
- When you know the weather’s coming, do you stock up on a favorite or go-to beer? What makes you pick this particular beer?
- Are you a homebrewer? Maybe this is the perfect time for a brew day—what would you brew? Have you brewed in the snow before?
- Alternatively, perhaps you have a hodge-podge of brewing ingredients lying around but nothing definitive—could you MacGyver up a homebrewed beer from only what you have on hand?
- Imagine you were snowed in at a cabin in the mountains for the winter. What one beer would you want with you, and why? (Think “desert island beer” but colder.)
- There’s plenty of time to catch up on reading; what beer book(s) would you read? If not a beer book, what would you be reading—and what beer would you pair with it?
I hope these can get you started, but feel free to write about whatever you like, as long as it has something to do with beer and being snowed in, on Friday, February 5.
So what does winter mean for your beer consumption. Does it go up or down. Does being stuck indoors effect it? And how does the weather change what you choose to drink? Lots of questions but since these beers won’t drink themselves and you won’t find any answers until you start drinking, I guess you know what to do. To participate in the February Session, leave the link to your post in a comment to the original announcement on or before Friday, February 5.
Today in 1988, US Patent EP 0142966 B1 was issued, an invention of Roger John Hyde, for his “Valved Closure for Kegs or Casks.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
This invention relates to valved closures for pressure vessels, such as kegs or casks for beverages dispensed through the valved closure by pressure gas admitted to the keg or cask through the closure.
Tuesday’s ad is for Bock Beer, from before Prohibition. In this one, a group of goats are having a beer-furled outdoor carnival of sorts, with casks of bock, a goat band playing from a stage and front and center the personification of prohibition has been strung up from a tree and is being head-butted around in what appears to be some kind of game. There’s another goat in the foreground chewing on the daily newspaper, no doubt because it’s bringing news about prohibition. There’s a sign on the fence on the left that you can barely read. But what you can see is this: “Mr. Bock, Sherrif Barley County.” It signed by a judge and in the middle, written larger, it says “Yahoo Prohibition.”
