Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Patent No. 121902A: Improvement In Preserving And Using Hops In Brewing

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Today in 1871, US Patent 121902 A was issued, an invention of Jacob Seeger and John Boyd, for their “Improvement in Preserving and Using Hops in Brewing.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

It is well known that the active principle of hops is soon dissipated and the flavor changed or lost upon exposure to atmospheric action, and that, therefore, fresh hops command in the market two or three fold the price of hops grown the year previous. They are also readily injured by dampness, and their shipment by water is, therefore, attended with risk.

We propose by grinding or otherwise pulverizing the hops, and by then packing the same in air-tight packages to secure the following advantages in an improved article of manufacture and trade: First, the bulk is reduced at least fifty per cent. in packing the hops after being pulverized. Second, the hops pulverized and packed in air-tight vessels or packages may be stored for an indefinite length of time without deterioration as to quality, weight, or flavor. Third, the expense and labor of transportation is greatly reduced. Fourth, hops pulverized and packed in air-tight packages may be transported by Water-carriage without risk or damage by dampness. For the purpose of retail trade the pulverized hops are packed in cans or packages holding a pound, more or less, while for the convenience of large consumers, breweries, &c., the packages may be boxes or barrels. In packing pulverized hops the contents of an ordinary bale may be reduced to the dimensions of a flour-barrel, and, therefore, the labor of handling and the expense of transportation will be proportionately reduced.

The large consumer is enabled by our method to store his years supply without danger of deterioration as to quality, flavor, or weight, and with a material saving as to quantity required and space occupied. The dealer is enabled by our method to handle his hops and to ship them to any market without risk from atmospheric causes or dampness, which now makes a material advance in the price in markets remote from the place of production; or he can hold his stock over and wait an advance in price. This latter fact will tend to equalize prices and relieve the market of a glut at one time or a dearth at another.

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Anchor Christmas Ale 2002

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It’s day twenty-eight of my eggnoged escape to Christmas featuring all 42 labels from Anchor’s Christmas Ale — a.k.a. Our Special Ale — all different beers (well, mostly different) and all different labels, each one designed by local artist Jim Stitt, up to and including this year’s label.

2002 was the twenty-eighth year that Anchor made their Christmas Ale, and from 1987 through the present day, each year Anchor’s Our Special Ale has included spices, a different combination of them every time. Generally the base beer has been a spiced brown ale, although it has been varied from time to time, as well. This twenty-eighth label was a “Fremont Cottonwood,” or “Populus fremontii.”

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Patent No. 530827A: Beer Drawing And Saving Apparatus

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Today in 1894, US Patent 530827 A was issued, an invention of William R. Dales, for his “Beer Drawing and Saving Apparatus.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

The object of my invention is to produce an apparatus which enables beer to be readily drawn to fill a glass or other receptacle, and which has also an arrangement by which the froth may be sucked from the glass and delivered into a receptacle from which, after it settles, it may be withdrawn in the shape of merchantable beer. The apparatus thus provides for selling beer on draft in the usual way, while cans and such articles may be filled from the receptacle into which the froth has been delivered. To these ends my invention consists of certain features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

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Patent No. 8601936B2: Combined Brewing System

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Today in 2013, US Patent 8601936 B2 was issued, an invention of Ian Stuart Williams and Anders Gordon Warn, assigned to Williamswarn Holdings Limited, for their “Combined Brewing System.” Here’s the Abstract:

A combined brewing system for small scale brewing of fermented alcoholic beverages, particularly beer, and to a method of making fermented alcoholic beverages. The brewing system comprises a single pressurizable vessel. The beer is naturally carbonated to the desired level during fermentation. Sediment is collected and substantially separated from within the vessel and removed from the vessel while the vessel is under pressure. Compressed gas is added for maintaining natural carbonation levels, so that the contents of the vessel can be drawn off at a desired pressure. The vessel has a temperature control system to selectively control the temperature during processing.

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Anchor Christmas Ale 2001

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It’s day twenty-seven of my seasonal sashay to Christmas featuring all 42 labels from Anchor’s Christmas Ale — a.k.a. Our Special Ale — all different beers (well, mostly different) and all different labels, each one designed by local artist Jim Stitt, up to and including this year’s label.

2001 was the twenty-seventh year that Anchor made their Christmas Ale, and from 1987 through the present day, each year Anchor’s Our Special Ale has included spices, a different combination of them every time. Generally the base beer has been a spiced brown ale, although it has been varied from time to time, as well. This twenty-seventh label was a “California Fan Palm,” or “Washingtonia filifera.”

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Patent No. 551167A: Truck For Barrels Or Other Vessels

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Today in 1895, US Patent 551167 A was issued, an invention of Henry A. Kobold, for his “Truck for Barrels or Other Vessels.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

My invention relates to a device for grasping kegs, barrels, casks, and other vessels having projecting flanges or rims at their ends like the chines of kegs and barrels, whereby the same may be conveniently and readily conveyed from place to place or raised and lowered along skids in loading and unloading without the necessity of touching the hands to them.

My invention has for its primary object to provide a device of this nature which Will be capable of readily grasping the vessel in such a manner that the latter may be easily rolled and guided to the desired place, the cylindrical form of the vessel being utilized in giving it locomotion.

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Beer In Ads #2120: Blue Ribbon North American Game Birds

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Friday’s ad is for Pabst Blue Ribbon, from the 1980s. In this ad, a poster by Pabst, entitled “Blue Ribbon North American Game Birds,” it shows illustrations of nine popular game birds. Presumably it was intended to hang in bars frequented by hunters, or perhaps people who love birds. Speaking of which, there are far fewer beer ads using birds that I thought there would be, so this will be the last one for now (not including the many John Gilroy Guinness ads featuring toucans). I must be in the minority, because I love birds.

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Here’s a second view of the poster, though for the life of me I don’t understand why they displayed it on a Coors tablecloth.

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Patent No. 5694787A: Counter Top Beer Chilling Dispensing Tower

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Today in 1997, US Patent 5694787 A was issued, an invention of Robert K. Cleleand and James M. Cleleand, for their “Counter Top Beer Chilling Dispensing Tower.” Here’s the Abstract:

A counter top beer dispensing tower structure including a thermo insulating jacket structure with a top wall, a flat counter top engaging bottom wall, rear and side walls, a flat vertically and laterally extending front wall and a body insulating material at the inner surfaces of the walls, a metal cold plate within the body of insulating material, a plurality of laterally spaced dispensing valve mounting parts carried by and projecting forwardly from the plate and accessible at the front wall, a plurality of elongate tubular beer conducting coils in the plate, each beer conducting coil has a downstream end portion connected with a related valve mounting part and a vertical upstream end portion depending from the plate and bottom wall to extend through a primary opening in a related counter and to connect with the downstream end on of related beer conducting line, and elongate tubular glycol coil unit within the plate and having vertical upstream and downstream end portions depending from the plate and the jacket structure to extend through the primary opening in the related counter and to connect with downstream and upstream ends of related delivery and return sections of an elongate glycol conducting lines a glycol chiller and, plurality of spaced apart elongate vertically extending threaded mounting studs anchored to and depending from tower jacket structure to extend through secondary openings in the related counter; and, nuts on the studs and engaging the counter to draw the bottom wall in to tight engagement with the top of the counter.

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