Today in 1938, US Patent 2139029 A was issued, an invention of George E. Miller, for his “Hop Picking Machine.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to a hop picking machine, and especially to improvements in the construction and operation thereof.

The object of the present invention is generally 5 to improve and simplify the construction and operation of hop picking machines; to provide a machine which will not only pick or remove the hops from the vines, but also from arms and clusters broken and pulled off the vines during the picking operation; to provide a machine which employs belts and cooperating drums mounted above them, said belts and cooperating drums .being provided with picking fingers which comb a the vines from opposite sides to remove the hops; to provide an endless flexible diamond-‘ meshed wire screen belt which is disposed below the picking belts, and cooperates therewith, to pick arms and break up clusters; to provide a machine which is divided into two picking zones, 80 one zone’in which the picking fingers are comparatively widely separated and where the major portion of the hops are removed, and a second zone in which the picking fingers are closely spaced to strip the vines of the remaining hops; to provide a picking machine which provides almost immediate liberation or removal of the hops from the picking zones, so as to prevent damage or breakage of the hops after they have been removed from the vines by the picking fingers; to provide a picking machine which tends to flatten out and spread the vines as they pass through and between the picking fingers. so as to insure a more thorough picking or removal of the hops; to provide means for separating the hops from leaves which are accidentally removed during the picking operation; and further, to provide means for automatically releasing and removing the vines from the machine when picked.

Today in 1939, US Patent 2181931 A was issued, an invention of Lyndon D. Wood, assigned to National Hops Lab, Inc., for his “Process for Extracting the Essential Principles of Hops.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My process is essentially as follows:

My first procedure is to suitably prepare the hops by pulverizing them to’ a degree of fineness sufficient to crush all of the seeds which they contain and finely enough so that they will pass a 20 mesh screen or sieve. This may be done in any one of several types of mills which can be adapted for the work such as a ball mill, plate mill, roller mill, or a cutting mill, or a combination of cutting and hammer mill. The mill should be enclosed so that no air current are present in which the aroma of the hops can be dispersed. From the mill the prepared or pulverized hops should be conveyed to a closed tank or receptacle where the solvent is applied.

When old hops are used in which the lupulin has hardened and particularly those in which a rancid odor has occurred from the oxidation of hop oil, I employ activated carbon, which may be made from the vegetable, fibrous material of the hops residue after extraction has been made.

This activated carbon may be used in two ways. (a) By mixing it in finely powdered form with the pulverized hops while they are in a dry state.

When this method is employed ounce of activated carbon will be used to each pound of pulverized hops. The prepared hops should be stirred and shaken until the activated carbon has been thoroughly mixed with them, then be permitted to stand in a closed container for a period of time not less than two hours. The activated carbon experiments have shown restores the odor of fresh hops.