Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Patent No. 2420708A: Beer Meter

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Today in 1947, US Patent 2420708 A was issued, an invention of Clifford S. Hutsell, for his “Beer Meter.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:

To carry out the principles of my invention, the liquid is passed through a cooling coil which is immersed in some suitable cooling medium, the length of such cell can be varied so that the beer or other liquid can be passed through one loop or many loops of the coil; in this way the beer is brought under constriction in which its velocity is dissipated by frictional losses without the liquid itself being agitated. The liquid is then led through a discharge opening from which it may be drawn into a glass or other receptacle. This whole dispensing action is controlled, except for the adjustment of the length of coil used, by a single operating lever. My device will control the delivery of beer so that its included gas will be properly handled. The volume of the liquid is accurately measured. Each portion dispensed is accurately counted. The control and serving of beer on draught has always presented a difficult problem due to the beers susceptibility to the influence of three ever-present, variable factors; pressure, balance. Beer in its making is charged with carbon dioxide, the retention of such charge is essential to maintain its quality. When the beer is quiescent, at a sufficiently low temperature, the carbon dioxide is inert. This temperature is below the desirable serving temperatures and as the temperature is raised for serving there is a area sufficiently small to form a restriction to the temperature and agitation or tendency to discharge the carbon dioxide from the beer. To offset this tendency to dissipate its included gas and also to raise the beer to the discharge faucet, gas or air pressure is applied to the beer in the keg. The amount of pressure necessary to hold the carbon dioxide charge in the beer is in direct proportion to the tempera considerable degree, destroys the essential quality of the beer and in addition frequently causes excessive foaming at the faucet and a consequent wastage of beer.

A certain degree of refrigeration together with some form of constriction between the beer keg and the discharge tap would effect adequate control of the beer if the composition and condition of the beer were constant. However, no constant amount of restriction of the line is equally effective at all times because the beer may vary in its gaseous content, in its temperature, or it may have been recently agitated.

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Beer In Ads #1916: Amateur Magician

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Thursday’s ad is entitled Amateur Magician, and the illustration was done in 1950 by John Gannam. It’s #47 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, a man is performing magic for his presumably long-suffering wife and their friends. I can only assume it’s his house, because that’s the only way his friends would sit still for a magic show. That, and lots of beer, of course.

047. Amateur Magician by John Gannam, 1950

Patent No. 318306A: Beer Keg Washer

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Today in 1885, US Patent 318306 A was issued, an invention of Adam Schultz, for his “Beer Keg Washer.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:

My invention relates to apparatus or machinery for scrubbing or washing the external surfaces of beer-kegs, barrels, and similar articles, and has for its object the construction of an apparatus in which the entire operation of charging the Same with kegs, scrubbing the kegs, and finally discharging the cleaned kegs from said apparatus shall be accomplished mechanically, without manual labor, and with the smallest possible. consumption of water. The apparatus is also designed to clean the kegs much more rapidly than by any other method of scrubbing with which I am acquainted.

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Beer In Ads #1915: New Member Of The Family

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Wednesday’s ad is entitled New Member Of The Family, and the illustration was done in 1950 by Douglass Crockwell. It’s #46 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, Grandma serves beer to the family as Grandpa shows off the new foal. This will undoubtedly be my daughter’s favorite new ad, since she wants a horse in the worst way. The girl in this ad is far more reserved, keeping a safe distance. My daughter would be right there with the horse.

046. New Member of the Family by Douglass Crockwell, 1950

Patent No. 227867A: Gas-Pressure Regulator And Indicator

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Today in 1880, US Patent 227867 A was issued, an invention of Frederick W. Wiesebrock, for his “Gas-Pressure Regulator and Indicator.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

I have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas- Pressure Regulators and Indicators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of parts, as will be more fully described hereinafter, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a front view of my apparatus, partly in section. Fig. 2 is a view of a cask with my apparatus attached. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the same.

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Patent No. 582769A: Beer-Bottling Apparatus

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Today in 1897, US Patent 582769 A was issued, an invention of Henry Wank, for his “Beer-Bottling Apparatus.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The object of my invention is to provide means for siphoning the liquid in the barrel directly into the bottle without exposing the beer to the air to any extent, which usually deteriorates the quality of the beer, and to reduce the escape of gas in the beer to a minimum.

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Beer In Ads #1914: The Prize Catch

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Tuesday’s ad is entitled The Prize Catch, and the illustration was done in 1950 by Douglass Crockwell. It’s #45 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, a man is showing off his prize catch to the gaping mouth reaction of his companions. Notice that he has smaller fish in his other hand, but he’s not talking about those. Also, this is the first of these ads to feature canned beer, as opposed to bottles.

045. The Prize Catch by Douglass Crockwell, 1950

Beer In Ads #1913: Cooling Off In The Country

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Monday’s ad is entitled Cooling Off in the Country, and the illustration was done in 1950 by Douglass Crockwell. It’s #44 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, three couples are in an incredibly beautiful spot, with the cabin or summer cabin right next to a rushing river. Doesn’t that look like fun. I sure wish I had a place like that, or could afford it, when I was their age.

044. Cooling Off in the Country by Douglass Crockwell, 1950

Patent No. 2348797A: Crown Cap Selecting Machine

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Today in 1944, US Patent 2348797 A was issued, an invention of Louis A. Fischer, assigned to the Schaefer Brewing Co., for his “Crown Cap Selecting Machine.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to crown cap selecting machines, and has for its object to provide means for inspecting the interior of such machines while the same are running, and also provide means for preventing the caps from clogging during the operation of the machine.

In the use of such cap selecting machines, it frequently happens that inspection of the interior of the same becomes necessary and also that certain caps which have become clogged be removed. Also certain foreign matters must be dislodged.

This requires a shutting down of the machine and a re-starting, this requiring several hours of non-use of the machine.

The invention consists of a door closed opening which permits the caps to be ejected from the machine, capable of being opened and closed during the operation of the machine, and the invention also consists in the means for preventing clogging of caps.

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Patent No. 257977A: Beer Chip

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Today in 1882, US Patent 257977 A was issued, an invention of Bernard Rice, for his “Beer Chip.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My said invention relates to the chips or shavings employed by brewers for clarifying the beer in vats or thus previous to kegging it. These chips consist of beechwood, by preference, and have heretofore been used in the form of thick shavings, or of sawed lath-like chips, straight and flat, or of a mixture of the two. Grave objections lie to either form, which it is the design of my invention to obviate. The shavings invariably break in numerous places on the convex side, form ing interstices into which the particles of yeast and impurities settle, rendering it impossible to properly cleanse the shavings in the usual revolving washers. The sawed chips, while not open to this objection, are deficient in superficies, are liable to pack and stick together, and on the whole are inferior to the shavings. The desideratum is a shaving or chip having a large superficies, curved so as not to pack nor adhere to other chips, tough enough to withstand the agitation in the washer without breaking, and one which will not mildew when kept in stock. Such a chip I have succeeded in preparing, and that at a cost less than that of the chips as heretofore made. In practice I cut a sheet of veneer from a revolving login the usual way, choosing by preference the inner portion of the log, which is free from knots, and comparatively free from resin, and thoroughly dry the sheet. Either before or after drying I cut it into chips about eighteen inches long by one and a quarter inch wide, and pass them between heated calender rolls. This process has the effect to compact the fiber and prevent the chips from becoming soggy and sinking in the vats, to toughen them and prevent them from breaking in the cask or washer, and it gives them a. permanent curvature, so that they never straighten out. It also increases the density of the wood, rendering it of substantially the same specific gravity as the beer, whereby the chips do not tend to float exclusively at the surface, but remain suspended in the beer. The calendering, furthermore, dries out the sap and resin.

In order to insure a proper bending of the chips, an extra roller or bender may be attached to the calendering machine; but that is not essential. The rolls may also have embossed figures or lines, so as to indent the chips and increase their superficies.

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