Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Patent No. 534840A: Apparatus For Blowing Glass

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Today in 1895, US Patent 534840 A was issued, an invention of Michael J. Owens, for his “Apparatus For Blowing Glass.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention relates to an apparatus for blowing glass, and has for its object to perform mechanically, what has heretofore been done manually.

The invention consists in providing an apparatus which shall receive a blow pipe and mechanically blow the glass thereon into the desired form.

Heretofore in the art of blowing glass, there has been a blower necessary, who manually blows the article into the desired form, there being a gathering boy to secure the gathering upon the pipe previous to blowing, and remove the moil after the article is formed and removed from the pipe.

This invention has for its object to mechanically blow the glass and dispense with the blower, it only being necessary for the gathering boy to secure the gathering upon the pipe and place it upon the apparatus and remove the same when the article has assumed the desired shape.

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Patent No. 669033A: Mender For Beer-Pipes

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Today in 1901, US Patent 669033 A was issued, an invention of William J. Hayes, for his “Mender for Beer-Pipes.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention relates especially to a device for temporarily unending or stopping a leak in the lead pipe which connects beer or barrels containing other malt liquors with the tap or With an air pressure supply. Frequently a hole is accidentally blown in such pipes and immediate repairs become necessary before artisans can be summoned to effect a permanent sealing. In accomplishing this I form an open cylinder A, of sheet-brass or other flexible metal, somewhat less in diameter than the pipe. This is provided at its edges with ears or lugs b, both of which are tapped and one screw-threaded to receive a take-up screw f. Inside this cylinder is disposed a rubber bushing cylindrical and split at 7L, Fig. 2.

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Beer In Ads #1832: Facts Versus Fallacies #34

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Thursday’s ad is another one for the Pennsylvania State Brewers Association, from 1915, No. 34 in series they did from 1915-17 called “Facts Versus Fallacies.” I have no idea how many were done but some of the them are numbered into low triple digits, suggesting there were a lot of them, all in an effort to stop Prohibition from happening and win over support for beer. This ad, marked “34,” is an odd one, and simply praises a Philadelphia newspaper who had been previously all for prohibition, but who now praised the efforts of the Philadelphia Lager Beer Brewers’ Association in arguing against it and especially its claims that they at least respect those twice-weekly ad. But that is a rather strange way to spend one of their ads. It seems so meta.

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Patent No. 879983A: Tap And Bush For Beer-Kegs

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Today in 1908, US Patent 879983 A was issued, an invention of Harry J. Sandell, for his “Tap and Bush for Beer-Kegs.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention has for its object to provide an improved tap anc bush” especially adapted for application to beer kegs, and to this end it consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

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Red Sox’ Kevin Youkilis To Open Brewery In Los Gatos

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This apparently leaked out last month, but I hadn’t heard about it until a friend mentioned they’d heard a rumor about it, so I started checking it out. Apparently it’s true, and former Boston Red Sox first/third baseman Kevin Youkilis is planning to open a brewpub in the Bay Area. He lives in Monte Sereno and his brother, Scott Youkilis, is a local chef who owns the San Francisco restaurant Hog & Rocks. The two are teaming up and have purchased the Los Gatos Brewery, which has now closed, with the intention of re-opening this summer as the Foglight Alehouse.

According to the Silicon Valley Business Journal:

The 150-seat brewpub will be called Foglight Alehouse — a name chosen for its connotations of the California coast and the fog that rolls over the nearby Santa Cruz mountains. An exact opening date hasn’t been set, but Youkilis is targeting this summer.

The space will be much larger than any of Youkilis’ previous endeavors, and the first time he has taken on brewing. But the owners are tapping into the collaborative brewing community, working with craft beer comrades at Russian River Brewing Co. and Almanac Brewing Co. and the noted brewer and industry consultant Rich Higgins on the venture.

Scott Youkilis describes the food to be served as “simple California comfort food with a twist.” They’re currently looking for a brewer, and posted a listing on ProBrewer in late January. It looks like they may be looking to create some hoppy beers, as one of the requirements listed for the job is “Enjoys Hops.”

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Patent No. 1054121A: Hop-Cluster Machine

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Today in 1913, US Patent 1054121 A was issued, an invention of Emil Clemens Horst, for his “Hop-Cluster Machine.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention relates to means for mechanically picking hops and has particular reference to a machine for picking the hops from. clusters which have been separated from the vine during the earlier picking operations.

This mechanism is in a sense a combination with the machine shown in my co-pending application, filed of even date herewith and entitled separating cylinders. In that application an inclined cylinder of polygonal cross section is shown, there being separating means underneath the cylinder. It was found that many clusters of hops did not pass through the interstices in the cylinder but passed as clusters out of the lower end of the machine.

It is the object, therefore, of the present invent-ion to provide novel mechanism whereby any clusters which pass through the separating cylinder shall enter the cylinders of the present invention and there be finally separated.

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Patent No. 4571920A: Beer Keg Capping Machine

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Today in 1986, US Patent 4571920 A was issued, an invention of Henry P. Roach and Jeffrey W. Gunn, for their “Beer Keg Capping Machine.” Here’s the Abstract:

A keg capping machine primarily for use with beer kegs having protruding neck portions upon which flexible plastic caps are to be fitted. The machine has a capping head attached to the lower end of an inclined cap chute which is attached on its upper end to a cap storing hopper. The capping head has horizontal flanges on its bottom edge which serve as stops and guideways for caps sliding down the chute. The neck of a keg which is carried along a conveyor moves between the guideways and engages the lower portion of a cap forcing it through the capping head. A cap driving rocker within the capping head is employed to force the cap down tightly onto the neck of the keg.

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Beer In Ads #1831: Facts Versus Fallacies #27

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Wednesday’s ad is another one for the Pennsylvania State Brewers Association, from 1915, No. 27 in series they did from 1915-17 called “Facts Versus Fallacies.” I have no idea how many were done but some of the them are numbered into low triple digits, suggesting there were a lot of them, all in an effort to stop Prohibition from happening and win over support for beer. This ad, marked “27,” tackles the idea that even in moderation, alcohol “impairs a man’s efficiency.” As they point out, countless people made their mark on history while consuming alcohol in moderation.

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Patent No. 1527897A: Barrel Or Keg

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Today in 1925, US Patent 1527897 A was issued, an invention of George Eugene Mittinger, for his “Barrel or Keg.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention relates to improvements in barrels or kegs and more particularly to improvements in collapsible barrels or kegs having a novel construction whereby the barrel is held together in its assembled form and being also constructed in such a manner that the unassembled parts of the barrel will stack so that in shipment tonnage can be put in a freight car.

The object of my invention is to provide a collapsible barrel or keg made in a plurality of sections and adapted to be readily collapsed and assembled as desired.

Another object of my invention is to pro vide a barrel or keg made in a plurality of sections and adapted to be collapsed so that the sections can be readily nested or stacked, whereby a vast amount of space is saved in transportation of the empty containers and tonnage can be packed in a car or the like.

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Beer In Ads #1830: Facts Versus Fallacies #22

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Tuesday’s ad is another one for the Pennsylvania State Brewers Association, from 1915, No. 22 in series they did from 1915-17 called “Facts Versus Fallacies.” I have no idea how many were done but some of the them are numbered into low triple digits, suggesting there were a lot of them, all in an effort to stop Prohibition from happening and win over support for beer. This ad, marked “22,” lists several reasons why the then-growing prohibition laws would do little to curb consumption, according to the most recent numbers available for per capita alcohol consumption.

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