Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Patent No. 2291367A: Device For Warming And Reconditioning Beer

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Today in 1942, US Patent 2291367 A was issued, an invention of Albert A. Bezosky, for his “Device For Warming and Reconditioning Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

This invention relates to a device designed for reconditioning stale beer, or beer which has become flat or too cold for immediate consumption.

An important object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which may be used primarily by bartenders, and one which is of the electrical portable type which may be readily and easily immersed in a glass of beer, by the bartender, thereby replacing the head on the beer, or tempering it to render the beer exceptionally palatable.

An apparatus for treating liquid by submersion, comprising a body of pistol-like construction, electric wires extending through the body and terminating in a socket at one end of the body, said body including a handle extended at right angles with respect to the body, an electric plug adapted to be fitted in the socket, resistance wires extending from the plug and disposed in parallel relation with the handle, said resistance wires being in circuit with the wires extending through the body, and said resistance wires being formed into a loop at the free end thereof.

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From Sewer To Brewer: Making Beer From Urine

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If that headline surprised you, it really shouldn’t have. But like the beer made from John’s beard, or the chicha Dogfish Head made using human spit, it just sounds unappetizing. Until you remember that it’s all sterilized and boiled so the finished product is as sanitary as any other beer.

So when I saw the headline from Reuters, “Belgian scientists make novel water-from-urine machine,” and another, First We Feast, “Scientists Have Finally Discovered a Way to Turn Human Urine Into Beer,” my first thought was “sure, why not.” The story, it turns out, is about a team of researchers at Ghent University who have invented a “machine that turns urine into drinkable water and fertilizer using solar energy, a technique which could be applied in rural areas and developing countries.” The explanation of how it works, from Reuters:

While there are other options for treating waste water, the system applied at the University of Ghent uses a special membrane, is said to be energy-efficient and to be applicable in areas off the electricity grid.

“We’re able to recover fertilizer and drinking water from urine using just a simple process and solar energy,” said University of Ghent researcher Sebastiaan Derese.

The urine is collected in a big tank, heated in a solar-powered boiler before passing through the membrane where the water is recovered and nutrients such as potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus are separated.

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First We Feast added:

The scientists recently put their invention to the test during a 10-day festival in Ghent. Using the hashtag #PeeForScience, the team encouraged festival-goers to stop by their stand and donate to the cause by relieving themselves. The researchers ended up collecting a whopping 1,000 liters of pee from everyone who participated.

The team believe its machine will have its biggest impact in rural areas, wherever water is scarce and throughout the third world. But apparently as in other projects the Ghent team was involved in, they’ll use some of the water collected to make beer. Program director Derese called this part of the plan “from sewer to brewer.”

There’s many old jokes about American beer being horse piss, so maybe now it really can be. If it reduces costs even a little, you know the megabrewers would be willing to give it a try.

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Patent No. 456872A: Process Of Manufacturing Malt

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Today in 1891, US Patent 456872 A was issued, an invention of Frederick W. Wiesebrock, for his “Process of Manufacturing Malt.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

It is the purpose of my invention to provide a novel process for the manufacture of malt to be used in the production of fermented liquors, said process being of such a character that it may be practiced at all seasons of the year. It is my purpose, also, to materially cheapen the production of malt, to render the same independent of skilled labor, and to produce more uniform and better results than have been attainable heretofore.

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Beer In Ads #1985: Hi Fi

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Wednesday’s ad is entitled Hi Fi, and the illustration was done in 1956 by Haddon Sundblom. It’s #116 in a series entitled “Home Life in America,” also known as the Beer Belongs series of ads that the United States Brewers Foundation ran from 1945 to 1956. In this ad, some couples lounge in a pink room, drinking beer, and listening to those old-fashioned vinyl disks that used to hold music in grooves. One woman pages through a book of records, with another woman watching, as if they’re looking at a scrapbook. As usual, they got pretty dressed up to listen to some records at a listening party. Opera, sure. The den? Not so much.

116. Hi Fi by Haddon Sundblom, 1956

Patent No. 2325309A: Process Of Capping Bottles

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Today in 1943, US Patent 2325309 A was issued, an invention of Jan De Swart, for his “Process of Capping Bottles.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

This invention has to do with sealing caps for bottles and the like, as well as bottle sealing methods.

In its more particular contemplates a hard and substantially non-flexible plastic cap which is so constructed, of a plastic capable of being rendered temporarily pliable and remolded, as to be applied in sealing relationship to a bottle without injury to the cap and which not only is capable of sealing the bottle against substantial pressures but which also compensates for the cold flow characteristics prevalent in most plastics.

I am aware that attempts have been made to produce a successful thermoplastic bottle cap but so far as I am aware, no such cap has been produced which is capable of general use to cap bottles containing fluids such as carbonated beverages, beer or the like. Such prior caps have been incapable of maintaining an effective seal where substantial pressures are generated in the bottle; and have been incapable of withstanding the temperatures incident to pasteurization processes. For instance, pasteurization processes commonly utilize temperatures of the order of 160 produced do not maintain a seal under such conditions. Another shortcoming of prior caps has been the fact that they fail to maintain an effective seal after the plastics of which the caps are made have undergone the normal cold flow.

It is among the aims of my invention to overcome those shortcomings and, generally speaking, I accomplish this by providing a cap preformed of a cold-setting plastic capable of being rendered temporarily pliable and then reformed and re-hardened about the neck of a bottle. An important characteristic of my improved cap resides in the fact that its side Wall presents a peripheral bead of relatively thick cross-section and having a. relatively low setting rate which, after being temporarily softened, is remolded to aspects, my invention the contour of the external marginal bead forming a part of the conventional beer or carbonated beverage bottle. This bead portion undergoes cap into sealing relationship with the neck or more and thermoplastic caps heretofore l the provision of a plastic cap having a construction which provides a double seal.

Another object is the provision of a cap having a guiding formation to guide it onto a bottle during capping.

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Patent No. 1348139A: Stem Picker

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Today in 1920, US Patent 1348139 A was issued, an invention of Horst Emil Clemens, for his “Stem Picker.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

This invention relates to a stem picker and especially to a machine for separating stems from hops and the like.

Picking of hops by machinery is resorted to at the present time in several of the larger hop; growing districts and is becoming more and more a necessity due to the scarcity of labor and troubles connected therewith. Hops picked in this manner contain a considerable quantity of leaves and stems and other foreign matter, the major portion of which are removed by separators of various types. It happens however that while the leaves are comparatively easily removed that there still remains a considerable quantity of stems and it is the purpose of the present invention to provide a machine which is particularly adapted for removing the stems. The invention briefly stated involves a longitudinally extending inclined draper belt from the surface of which projects the hops, from which it is series of pins are delivered desired to remove the stems, to one end of this draper belt and will, during the travel of said belt, tend to roll off the belt and to a conveyer which removes them from the stem picking machine, stems` and other similar material being hung up on the pins and later removed as will hereinafter be described.

The invention also involves a mechanism for maintaining the draper in a state of continuous vibration thereby insuring a perfect removal of the hops deposited thereon While in no way impairing the action of the stem separating mechanism.

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Beer In Ads #1984: Weekend In The Ski Country

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Tuesday’s ad is entitled Weekend In The Ski Country, and the illustration was done in 1955 by Haddon Sundblom. It’s #115 in a series entitled “Home Life in America,” also known as the Beer Belongs series of ads that the United States Brewers Foundation ran from 1945 to 1956. This is another duplicate, and it was used the previous year as #90 with only a slightly different title, Weekend in Ski Country, everything else is exactly the same. The only difference is that extra “the.” As I wrote about it the last time, a new couple is arriving at the cabin at the ski resort for the weekend. They must be younger, because in my experience older women do not rush up and hug one another, grinning like cheshire cats, and touching cheeks. The rest of the party is already settled in, drinking beer and eating popcorn by the fire. Out the window, the sun is going down, and skis and poles lean against the cabin, ready for tomorrow’s adventures.

115. Weekend in the Ski Country by Haddon Sundblom, 1955

Patent No. 2124959A: Method Of Filling And Closing Cans

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Today in 1938, US Patent 2124959 A was issued, an invention of William Martin Vogel, for his “Method Of Filling And Closing Cans.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

This invention relates to cans and a method of making and filling the same, and has for its object the provision of means whereby a maximum quantity of air may be evacuated from the can prior to the sealing operation.

At the present time beer is being packed in cans and one of the greatest difficulties encountered is that of completely or at least nearly completely evacuating the maximum quantity of air from the can. The failure to uniformly evacuate the air results in lack of uniformity of the contents of the can. In some cases an opened can produces beer of a decidedly fiat appearance and taste; while in other cases, an extremely frothy, aerated fluid emanates. Experiments have shown that this lack of uniformity in canned beer is apparently due to the failure to eliminate or evacuate the greatest possible amount of air from the can during or after the filling operation, and prior to the sealing of the can.

The primary object therefore, of this invention, is to provide a can of such a construction, together with a method of filling and sealing such a can, which will eliminate the maximum quantity of air from the can, thereby completely, or nearly completely, filling the can with the liquid contents only. More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of a can initially formed with an outwardly distended or dished bottom,

arranged to be reversely curved or distorted under pressure after the can is filled, thereby causing the liquid contents of the can to be bodily shifted toward the top of ‘the can, causing said contents to displace and eject the air out of the can just prior to the sealing of the top of the can.

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Patent No. 2124565A: Liquid Container

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Today in 1938, US Patent 2124565 A was issued, an invention of Frank D. Goll and James K. Wareham, assigned to the Aluminum Co. Of America, for their “Liquid Container,” essentially a keg. There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

This invention relates to metal vessels for storing and shipping liquids. It relates especially to the construction of metal barrels and similar vessels for the storage and transportation of liquids, such as beer and the like.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved metal barrel. Another object is to provide a strong but light metal barrel which may be used either with or without an insulating cover of rubber or other material. A further object of this invention is to provide improved fittings for metal barrels of the type specified.

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Beer In Ads #1983: We Won!

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Monday’s ad is entitled We Won!, and the illustration was done in 1955 by Haddon Sundblom. It’s #114 in a series entitled “Home Life in America,” also known as the Beer Belongs series of ads that the United States Brewers Foundation ran from 1945 to 1956. This is another duplicate, and it was used the previous year as #100 with a different title, After the Game, everything else is exactly the same. The only difference is, this time we know they won. As I wrote about it the last time, the kids are back from the football game, and Mom has the salad and jello mold ready for them. Thankfully, someone also set out beer, which is the only thing on the table they really want.

114. We Won! by Haddon Sundblom, 1955