Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Patent Nos. 938577A & 938578A: Process Of & Machine For Bottling Beer

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Today in 1909, two patents were issued: US Patent 938577 A for “Process of Bottling Beer” and US Patent 938578 A for “Machine For Bottling Beer.” Both were patented by Rudolf Gull, and the drawings filed with each application are identical, except for the titles. There’s no Abstract for either patent, although in the description it includes this summary:

Patent 938577 A: Process of Bottling Beer

1. The improvement in the method of bottling beer consisting in maintaining in the bottles while they are being filled with beer, and independent of the flow of the beer, a higher gaseous pressure than on the surface of the suplly or column of beer with which the bottles are filled, and changing such hi her pressure at predetermined intervals during the time the beer is entering the bottles, substantially as set forth.

2. The improvement in the method of bottling beer consisting in maintaining successively in the bottles while they are being filled with beer two or more distinctly different gaseous pressures each one of which is successively maintained in a substantially constant proportion to the gaseous pressure on the column of beer, substantially as set forth.

3. The improvement in the method of bottling beer, consisting in maintaining in the bottles while they are being filled a higher gaseous pressure than that on the column of beer from which the bottles are filled, and in maintaining such higher gaseous pressure within the bottles at such a’ proportion to the gaseous pressure on the column of beer that the surplus of pressure in’ the bottle over the gaseous pressure on the column of beer balances the weight of the column of beer above the level of beer in the bottle as soon as the beer in the bottle reaches a predetermined level.

938578 A: Machine For Bottling Beer

Bottling the beer to flow from the tank into the bottles and permitting also the passage of air from the tank, above the beer, to the bottles, so as to have the same air pressure in both tank and bottles at or before the time the valves are opened, thus permitting the beer to flow by gravity from the tank into the bottles the height of the beer column above the end of the filling spout, the width of the filling spout and the size of the air vent through which the air escapes from the bottles when the beer enters regulating the flow of the beer into the bottles.

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Beer In Ads #1726: Grantland Rice For Rheingold

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Sunday’s ad is for Rheingold beer, from 1940. Grantland Rice was a famous sportwriter, apparently known for his “elegant prose.” It’s also his birthday today. He wrote the sentiment that it’s not whether you won or lost, “But how you played the Game,” in a poem entitled “Alumnus Football.” He also did this ad for the “quicker quencher,” an odd nickname if ever there was one.

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Patent No. 20120278959P1: Hop Plant Named ‘HBC 291’

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Today in 2012, US Patent 834491 A was issued, an invention of Eugene G. Probasco and Jason Perrault, for their “Hop Plant Named ‘HBC 291.'” Here’s the Abstract:

A new hop plant named ‘HBC 291’ is disclosed. The cones of ‘HBC 291’ mature in mid September, and yield a crop of 2000 to 2400 pounds per acre. ‘HBC 291’ is used for its unique aromatic and flavor qualities, high alpha acid content and exceptional yield.

While the hop variety has yet to be named, it is available as an experimental hop at HopUnion. And the BA’s Julia Herz wrote about the hop on CraftBeer.com in Birth of a Hop, which in part is about Summit Brewing Co. using it in a Experimental Hop Brews.
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Patent No. D111959S: Design For A Beer Bottle

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Today in 1938, US Patent D111959 S was issued, an invention of Clarence B. Deible, for his “Design for a Beer Bottle,” although he’s more famous for having invented to crown bottle cap. There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this very short summary:

I claim an original and ornamental Design for Beer Bottles.

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Beer In Ads #1725: A Bear, A Beer, A Halloween Party

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Saturday’s Halloween ad is for Schlitz, from 1949. Part of Schlitz’s “I Was Curious” series, each employing a three-panel structure, this one takes place at a Halloween party. A man dressed as a bear spots a table full or Schlitz beer and was apparently thirsty enough to get a beer, forcing him to reveal himself by removing his bear helmet/mask to drink the beer, at which point, the bunny behind the table removes her rabbit head to reveal a fetching blonde, and the two appear to make googly eyes at one another. Which should mean the ad will have a happy ending. But in the first panel, the bunny was holding on onto a tray while a pirate poured beers into glasses, and then briskly goes off to deliver the beers to other guests at the party. That might suggest that he’s one of the hosts of the party, and possibly the bunny’s husband or boyfriend. So maybe this ad is racier than you might think at first glance. Perhaps we’re seeing the start of an affair?

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Patent No. 636210A: Beer-Faucet

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Today in 1899, US Patent 636210 A was issued, an invention of Auguste Liese, for his “Beer-Faucet,” although he’s more famous for having invented to crown bottle cap. There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, efficient, and inexpensive beer-faucet which is adapted to be connected so that, by the use of a single turn-cock, beer, ale, or other liquor may be drawn either from a tank or directly from the wood and so that the same can be tempered by simultaneously drawing off more or less gas, as desired. A further object of my invention is to construct the beer-faucet so that the beer or ale maybe admitted from the barrel to a storage tank and so that any excess of gas may be exhausted from the upper part of the cock instead of blowing the same off through the usual outlet.

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Everything We Think We Know About Addiction Is Wrong

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Regular readers know that I’m frequently at odds with both the prohibitionists and the addiction community, usually meaning the people and organizations who profit from the status quo viewpoint like AA and others. As I’ve written before, I don’t think alcoholism is something everyone is at risk for and I definitely don’t agree that total abstinence is the answer. If you want any background to what I’m talking about, check out Tipping The Sacred Cows Of Addiction, What Is Addiction?, America’s Addiction Treatment Goal: Perpetual, Lifelong Abstinence or Recent Addiction News Roundup.

I’ve often argued that, from my own experiences, that there as many societal and individual factors for why any individual becomes addicted to something, and it seems to be that it’s the mind rather than genetics or biology that more often determines or causes it.

Here’s yet another powerful denunciation of the prevailing view, entitled Everything You Thought You Knew About Addiction Is Wrong, which looks at ‘experiments in the 1970s by famed professor of psychology Bruce Alexander,” which revealed “that more times than not, the real culprit in addiction is a lack of human connection.”

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And that makes perfect sense to me, as I’ve observed it’s usually something wrong in an individual’s life that causes them to become addicted to something, and the addiction is the result of that, not the problem in and of itself. The conclusion of the study was essentially “addiction is just one symptom of human disconnection,” and that it’s a more “complex disease” then simply “just say no” can address. Obviously, the video below uses heroin and cocaine as examples, but it’s just as applicable for any addiction, alcohol included. And frankly, it makes more sense than almost anything else I’ve read or heard, and yet seems curiously removed from the addiction debate even though apparently its findings are from the 1970s.

It was created by Kurzgesagt as part of a series for Patreon, and was “adapted from Johann Hari’s New York Times best-selling book ‘Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs.'”

Patent No. 4123561A: Method For Processing Hops For Brewing

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Today in 1978, US Patent 4123561 A was issued, an invention of Herbert L. Grant, assigned to S.S. Steiner, Inc., for his “Method For Processing Hops For Brewing.” Here’s the Abstract:

There is provided a method of processing hops for brewing in which the hops and particularly the alpha acids in the hops are stabilized against deterioration, the process broadly comprising forming an intimate mixture of the hops or hop extracts with one or more oxides of a divalent metal or metals and maintaining the mixture under suitable conditions, preferably at an elevated temperature, e.g., 40°-100° C., until stabilization is substantially completed. In another aspect, the alpha acids present in the hops are converted to their isomerized products, which are desirable for brewing. The process is especially suitable for use in pelletizing operations.

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Patent No. 834491A: Hinge For Beer-Cases

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Today in 1906, US Patent 834491 A was issued, an invention of John P. Reily, for his “Hinge For Beer-Cases.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention consists of certain new and useful Improvements in Hinges for Beer-Cases, of which the following is a specification containing a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive hinge which is particularly adapted for all manner of boxes, trunks, and chests wherein the lids swing entirely over against and into a plane parallel with the wall of the box to which the hinge is fixed.

By my improved construction of hinges the lids to which they are fixed can be swung all the way back without pulling out the retaining-screws of the hinges or breaking the lids.

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