Today in 1958, US Patent D183727 S was issued, an invention of Odie D. Emberton, for his “Combined Belt Buckle, Bottle Opener, and Can Opener.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
The ornamental design for a combined belt buckle, bottle opener, and can opener, substantially as shown.
Visions of the future are rarely what was predicted or promised. I’ve been waiting decades for my Jetsons space car that fold up into a briefcase, my Rocketeer jet-pack (I’d even settle for the one James Bond used in Thunderball) not to mention that sweet holodeck from Star Trek: Next Generation..
You’ve probably noticed that there’s been a considerable amount of hype over the fact that today — October 21, 2015 — is the date that Marty McFly heads to in the sequel Back to the Future 2, released in 1989. We’re all still waiting for those hoverboards and it’s looking increasingly like the Cubs won’t “sweep series in 5” (wouldn’t 4 wins be all you need for a series sweep?) if they can’t beat the Mets four games in a row to even make to the World Series, much less win it.
Anyway, it seems like lots of people are celebrating the day as “Back to the Future Day,” which I think is great since I’m an unabashed lover of holidays and believe there can’t be too many reasons to celebrate life. A couple of worthwhile stories about Back to the Future Day include one from Popular Science and another from Chicago History Cop speculating why the film’s producers and writers chose October 21.
You may also recall that the film’s time machine, a modified DeLorean, had a California license plate reading “OUTATIME,” which is at least somewhat close to Lagunitas’ session IPA, DayTime, especially if you scribble “Day” on the license plate so it reads OUTA DAY TIME.”
And that’s just what Lagunitas did when they were recently paid a visit by the Northern California DeLorean Motor Club, which they documented with a photo galley, 10/21/15: GOIN’ BACK IN (DAY)TIME. By far, my favorite photo from the day was their arrival at 88 MPH into the brewery.
But check out the rest of the photos, they’re pretty sweet, too.
Today in 1969, US Patent 3473556 A was issued, an invention of Edward G. Akers, Keith M. Johnson, and Robert P. Marine, for their “Beer Keg Tapping Device and Seal.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
The disclosure herein describes a novel seal and more particularly a new beer keg tapping device. The beer keg tapping device described herein includes a tapping valve and an outer fitting with the tapping valve having a beer passageway extending therethrough. The passageway has an outwardly flared portion adjacent the outlet thereof. The tapping valve is releasably secured to the beer keg and a valve element is movable axially within the beer passageway to selectively open and close the beer passageway. The outer fitting includes an elongated probe receivable within the outwardly flared portion of the passageway and engageable with the valve element to move the valve element to open the beer passageway. The probe has a beer passageway therein and a skirt-type seal adjacent the inner end of the probe. The seal is engageable with the outwardly flared portion of the beer passageway of the tapping valve and as the probe is moved axially, the skirt seal is cammed radially inwardly to form a very tight probe-to-tapping valve seal before the beer passageway is Opened. The tapping valve is secured to the beer keg by cooperating lug members on both of the keg and the outer fitting and by a pair of tabs driven through apertures in the tapping valve and engageable with projections or ribs on the keg.
Today in 1952, US Patent 2614406 A was issued, an invention of Oliver W. Carpenter, for his “Drinking Rim for Beer Cans.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
This invention relates to detachable rims for beer cans and the like.
One of the objects of the invention is to provide a detachable rim for a conventional beer can which facilitates drinking of the contents directly from the can.
Another object is to provide a rim which may be disposed on the can and isolate the drinkers lips from any contamination such as germs, or the like, which may be present on the can.
A further object is to provide a rim which is inexpensive in construction, and hence may be discarded after use.
Another object is to provide a rim which will withstand a sterilizing temperature in event the rim is to be reused.
Tuesday’s ad is for Natural Light, from 1980. Today is the birthday of baseball legend Mickey Mantle. In the mid-1970s, Mantle did some commercials, along with fellow Yankees teammate Whitey Ford, for Miller Lite. So when he did this ad for rival Natural Light, they played up his being a switch hitter “who switched to Natural Light.”
Today in 1998, US Patent 5823222 A was issued, an invention of James Edward Minshull and Robert G. Lawrence, assigned to Labatt Brewing Company Limited, for their “Sanitary Sampling Device and Method for Using Same.” Here’s the Abstract:
A sanitary coupling device and a method for its use are described. The sanitary coupling device taps a vessel, such as a brewery tank, without exposing the fluid to the atmosphere. The device can include a coupler that prevents the collected fluid from exposure to the atmosphere. The method for tapping a vessel can include engaging a nipple with a coupler. Then, collecting a sample and disengaging the coupler from the nipple is performed. The invention is desirable for a brewery tank sampling with a clean-in-place connection system.
Today in 1992, US Patent 5156283 A was issued, an invention of Susan R. Sampson, for her “Wooden Stein With Responsive Emblem.” Here’s the Abstract:
A beer stein is made of wood, which imparts no disagreeable flavor to the beer, and creates a faint pleasant aroma. The stein has an insert on its front surface which contains some active display reactive to the environment, such as a thermochromic emblem or a swirling snowflake scene.
Today in 1959, US Patent 2909044 A was issued, an invention of John F. Wilcox, assigned to Superior Products Mfg Company, for his “Spout Cooling Apparatus.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
This invention relates to liquid coolers and dispensers and more specifically relates to apparatus for cooling liquid dispensing spouts or faucets.
This one’s interesting and worth the long read. It’s essentially adjunct brewing, but incorporating soybeans in the process, too. The fact that Archer Daniels Midland owns the rights to the patent is also a bit curious.
Monday’s ad is for O’Keefe’s, from 1949. The ad copy begins: “The seven-league boots of today …,” which I confess made no sense to me. Apparently seven-league boots “are an element in European folklore. The boots allow the person wearing them to take strides of seven leagues per step, resulting in great speed. The boots are often presented by a magical character to the protagonist to aid in the completion of a significant task.” In this case, it’s uniting Canada, by “shrinking time and distance … bringing our peoples closer together … that’s the role of Canadian aviation.” The Rockwell-like illustration was created by a Clare Shragge. It’s an emotionally charged painting, brimming with optimism … and beer.
Today in 1982, US Patent 4355047 A was issued, an invention of William F. Line, Vinod K. Chaudhary, Etzer Chicoye, and Robert J. Mizerak, assigned to Miller Brewing Company, for his “Method of Preparing a Low Calorie Beer.” Here’s the Abstract:
Low calorie beer is prepared by introducing into the brewing process a debranching enzyme (pullulanase) obtained from rice, a traditional brewing material. The debranching enzyme reduces the real extract of the beer by cleaving alpha 1,6 linkages of unfermentable limit dextrins to form alpha 1,4 dextrins which can be converted by alpha 1,4 carbohydrates to sugars that can be fermented by brewer’s yeast. The enzyme may be introduced into the brewing process by adding rice or the enzyme extracted from rice to the mash or to the wort before or during fermentation. The debranching enzyme may be obtained from polished dry milled rice by extraction with an aqueous buffer solution. When malted rice is used as the enzyme source a particularly useful mixture of the debranching enzyme and alpha 1,4 carbohydrates is obtained.
