Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Patent No. 940438A: Beer Faucet

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Today in 1909, US Patent 940438 A was issued, an invention of Theron Davis, for his “Beer Faucet.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention relates to improvements in the type of beer faucet in which a chambered head carries a ball valve which is raised by a finger operated by an exterior lever, so that the beer may flow past the valve, and my invention improves the type of faucet and provides a simple means than has heretofore been employed for guiding the ball, and also provides a very simple` means for removing the washers and guide from the chamber in which the ball valve is located.

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Constellation Brands Buys Ballast Point

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Constellation Brands announced this morning that they will acquire Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits Company for roughly $1 billion. If you’re not familiar with Constellation, they’re “the number three beer company in the U.S. with high-end, iconic imported brands including Corona Extra, Corona Light, Modelo Especial, Negra Modelo and Pacifico. Constellation is also the world’s leader in premium wine, selling great brands that people love including Robert Mondavi, Clos du Bois, Kim Crawford, Rex Goliath, Mark West, Franciscan Estate, Ruffino and Jackson-Triggs. The company’s premium spirits brands include SVEDKA Vodka and Black Velvet Canadian Whisky.”

So far, almost all of the news about the deal is from the press release:

Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ and STZ.B), a leading beverage alcohol company, today announced an agreement to acquire San Diego-based Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits. Ballast Point is one of the fastest growing craft beer companies in the U.S. with a beer portfolio that includes more than 40 different styles of beer, led by its popular Sculpin IPA and Grapefruit Sculpin IPA. The partnership with Ballast Point provides a high-growth premium platform that will enable Constellation to compete in the fast-growing craft beer segment, further strengthening its position in the highest end of the U.S. beer market.

Ballast Point started in 1996 as a small group of home brewers and remains dedicated to the art of making better quality craft beer. Ballast Point will continue to operate as a stand-alone company with its existing management team and employees running the day-to-day operations. The company is one of the most successful and respected craft beer companies in the country, with an expertise in brewing the most premium, highest quality award winning products, and a grassroots approach to innovation that engages beer lovers and home brewers in the process. The Ballast Point team will continue to build on its successful expansion across the U.S., and will now have access to Constellation’s strong financial position and willingness to invest in growth.

“We started this business nearly 20 years ago with a vision to produce great beer that consumers love and to do it the right way,” said Jack White, founder of Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits. “To achieve that vision, we needed to find the right partner. The team at Constellation shares our values, entrepreneurial spirit and passion for beer, and has a proven track record of helping successful premium brands reach the next level of growth and scale.”

“We believe in the vision that Jack and his team have created and we’re excited to welcome Ballast Point, one of the most respected craft brewers in the country, to the Constellation Brands family,” said Rob Sands, chief executive officer, Constellation Brands. “Along with imports, craft beer is a key driver of growth and premiumization within the beer industry, with craft doubling its share of the U.S. beer market in the last five years. Ballast Point has certainly been a key driver of that growth. Their business philosophy and entrepreneurial spirit perfectly align with our culture and we look forward to strengthening our position in the high-end beer segment with what is arguably the most premium major brand in the entire craft beer business.”

Ballast Point is on pace to sell nearly 4 million cases in calendar 2015, which would represent growth of more than 100 percent versus calendar 2014. Net sales for calendar 2015 are expected to approximate $115 million. Volume and net sales growth from calendar 2012 to calendar 2014 averaged over 80 percent. Ballast Point employs more than 500 employees, produces beer in four facilities in the San Diego, CA area, and sells its beer in over 30 states.

Constellation Brands plans to purchase Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits for approximately $1 billion. The purchase price values the acquisition multiple of the projected calendar 2016 Ballast Point EBITDA in the mid-to-high teens range. Constellation estimates that on a comparable basis (1), the acquisition is expected to be neutral to diluted earnings per share for fiscal 2016 and $0.05 to $0.06 accretive for fiscal 2017. The transaction will be financed with cash and debt, and is expected to close by the end of calendar year 2015, subject to customary closing conditions.

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Beer In Ads #1730: Gulpen Bier

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Sunday’s ad is for Gulpen Bier, a pilsner, another one from maybe the 1950s or 60s. I believe it’s a Dutch beer, and the tagline appears to translate to “rich in taste, rich in tradition.” I like that their choice of pairing is nuts and salami, not that it wouldn’t taste good, but surely they could have come up with something better.

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Patent No. 3285365A: Apparatus Particularly For Use In Harvesting Hops

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Today in 1966, US Patent 3285365 A was issued, an invention of Le Roy T. Longton, for his “Apparatus Particularly for Use in Harvesting Hops.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to an apparatus particularly for use in the harvesting of hop vines.

Conventionally, the harvesters of hops stand on a platform of fixed height behind a truck which may move slowly down the rows of hops in a field. The height of the overhead hop trellises varies considerably from field-to-field and may also vary within one field because of ground irregularities and variations in the length of the trellis poles upon which the overhead wires are supported. The result has been that the worker-supporting platform is frequently too high or too low with respect to the vines to be cut by the workers therefore making it difficult for the workers to reach the vines, and generally rendering the operation inefficient. Another problem is the necessity for packing the bulky hop vines in the harvesting truck. conventionally, this has been done by the workers descending from the platform and walking around on the hop vines in the truck to pack or consolidate the vines. This is obviously an inefficient and time-wasting procedure.

It is the general object of this invention to provide a simplified mobile apparatus which will greatly increase the efficiency of the hops harvesting operation by the provision of worker supporting means which is quickly adjustable vertically and also the provision of an adjustable power-operated means for packing the vines down in the body or box of a truck or wagon.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the above-mentioned character which is constructed as an attachment unit for a farm tractor and readily mountable thereon.

Another object is to provide a hop vine harvesting attachment for tractors which is hydraulically powered and operated from a hydraulic pump on the tractor and a simple control device in a convenient location to be used by the tractor driver.

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Patent No. D352417S: Beer Keg

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Today in 1994, US Patent D352417 S was issued, an invention of Richard A. Petroske and James E. Richardson, assigned to the Miller Brewing Company, for their “Beer Keg.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The ornamental design for a beer keg, as shown and described.

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Patent No. 1008914A: Hop-Picker

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Today in 1911, US Patent 1008914 A was issued, an invention of Emil Clemens Horst, for his “Hop-Picker.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to hop-pickers, or devices for removing the hops from the vines.

The invention is applicable either as a device for picking the hops by hand, or for picking t-hem entirely by machinery; essentially the same principle being employed in either instance.

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Patent No. 2868247A: Bottle Filling Apparatus

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Today in 1956, US Patent 2868247 A was issued, an invention of Aloysius J. Feit and Sydney R. Weisberg, for their “Bottle Filling Apparatus.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

Among the principal objects of the present invention are: to provide bottle filling apparatus where the opening of a valve discharging fluid or other material into a lbottle is initiated by the depression of an actuator member by the bottle as it is positioned below a supply outlet controlled by the valve, where the valve is closed preferably automatically by an automatic timer and, under certain circumstances, upon operation of a manual switch, and where the valve is thereafter prevented from again opening until the bottle is removed from the actuator member and another bottle is moved against the same to depress the actuator member to begin a new filling cycle; to provide bottle filling apparatus of the type above described wherein, although the actuator member may be spring urged to an extended position, the actuator member is held in its depressed position at least during the actual filling operation so that the bottle need not he forced against the actuator member during the filling operation, making the system particularly suitable in the filling of very light bottles where the bottles would otherwise require an externally applied force to keep the bottles in the proper filling position against the actuator member; to provide bottle filling apparatus as just described wherein the aforementioned valve is an electrically controlled valve, such as a solenoid valve, which is associated with a control circuit which selectively provides for controlling the solenoid valve either through an automatic electric timer or a manual switch, and which becomes operative to control the valve after the aforesaid actuator member has been depressed to thereby provide flexibility of operation; to provide apparatus as just described wherein there is further provided during manual or timer operation a means for instantaneously shutting off the valve should this be desired for any reason, such as due to a malfunction in the control circuit or timer control circuit which fails to shut off the solenoid valve; to provide such apparatus where means is provided for readily shifting the position of the supply outlet so that the apparatus may be readily adapted for use with bottles of different sizes; and to provide such apparatus which is inexpensive to manufacture and is reliable in operation.

In accordance with the invention, the aforesaid actuator member is preferably arranged to move the. armature of a relay into a position where the contacts controlled thereby initiate, preferably through electric timer, opening of a control valve, preferably a solenoid valve, and also the energization of the relay which holds the actuator member in its depressed position. In such case, the armature, which is spring biased away from the relay core, does not apply any backward force to the bottle which would tend to push it out of alignment with the supply outlet. Both the solenoid valve and the relay are preferably connected in series with a set of contacts controlled by the electric timer which contacts close for an adjustable interval to open the solenoid valve and energize the relay, and open at the termination of such interval to close the solenoid valve and de-energize the relay. An emergency cut-off switch in series with the solenoid valve is provided for instantaneously shutting off the solenoid valve independently of the timer, where this is necessary or desirable. The electric timer is not re-set for a new cycle of operation until the bottle is removed from the actuator member. Once the bottle is filled, the overall weight of the bottle is usually sufficient to hold the actuator member fully depressed even after the relay is de-energized. The resetting of the electric timer is effected by removing the bottle to return the relay contacts to their normal positions, and, upon subsequent closing of the actuator member, a new timing interval is initiated.

In the interest of system flexibility, switching means are provided for disabling the timer circuit from operation and for inserting the relay in series with its own contacts and also the latter in series with the solenoid valve so that, upon depression of the aforementioned actuator member, a holding circuit is established for the relay and the solenoid valve is opened. Closing of the solenoid valve and defenergization of the relay is effected through manual operation of the switching means.

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Patent No. 3063841A: Method Of Dispensing Liquid

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Today in 1962, US Patent 3063841 A was issued, an invention of Michael Edward Ash, assigned to Guinness Son & Co Ltd, for his “Method of Dispensing Liquid.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

I claim: l. A method of dispensing a beverage under pressure from apressurized system into a drinking vessel so as to ensure a fine, regular and enduring head on the beverage in said vessel which comprises the steps of providing in solution in said beverage a mixture of carbon dioxide and an oxygen-free inert gas and applying a counter-pressure to said beverage which acts to maintain the pressure of the mixed gases in solution in said beverage throughout the dispensing operation without substantial variation of the partial pressure of either of said gases and also acts to expel the beverage from said system through a delivery passage and tap to the outlet thereof.

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