Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Patent No. 20110225686P1: Hop Plant Named ‘HBC 342’

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Today in 2011, US Patent 20110225686 P1 was issued, an invention of Eugene G. Probasco and Jason Perrault, for their “Hop Plant Named ‘HBC 342.’” Here’s the Abstract:

A new hop plant named ‘HBC 342’ is disclosed. The cones of ‘HBC 342’ mature in late September to early October, and yield a crop of 2400 to 3000 pounds per acre. ‘HBC 342’ is used for its late maturity, high alpha acid content and exceptional yield.

Patented one year and a day after ‘HBC 394’ (a.k.a. Citra) by the same pair, this one has yet to be given a name, as far as I know, although it has been used in some commercial beers. For example, Stone Brewing used in a collaboration they did with Jamil Zainasheff and Julian Shrago that was called Beachwood/Heretic/Stone Unapologetic IPA and also a draft beer they brewed at Stone Liberty Station, and called The Lupulin Loop. Also Sacramento’s New Helvetia created Little Beast/Sloppy Sessions IPA with the hop. At least one source says its aromatics give the aroma of watermelon, while HopUnion refers to it as a “High alpha variety with a pleasant aroma,” describing is as exhibting “Mild citrus, tropical fruit and melon notes.”

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Beer In Ads #1678: Thoughts At Quitting Time

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Monday’s ad is for Molson Export Ale, from 1950s. The man in the illustration does look happy. After all, he’s got a “”deep armchair” and the promise of “quiet relaxation.” All he needs is a beer to make his time off perfect … unless of course he’s got a wife and kids that won’t be thrilled about him spending the evening quietly sipping beer in his comfy chair.

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Patent No. 6790112B2: Recreational Floatation Device With Integral Cup Holder

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Today in 2004, US Patent 6790112 B2 was issued, an invention of Donald P. Kirk, assigned to Captain Noodle, Inc., for his “Recreational Floatation Device With Integral Cup Holder.” Here’s the Abstract:

A recreational flotation device (10) is provided which is designed to support a user (S) floating in water while affording a convenient holder for beverage containers. The device (10) comprises an elongated body (12) formed of synthetic resin material and having a density such that the body will float in water (e.g., extruded polyethylene). The body (12) presents a pair of opposed butt ends (14, 16), with at least one of the butt ends (14,16) being recessed to define a receptacle (18) integral with the body (12) for receiving a beverage container (24) therein. A preferred alternative device (110) is provided wherein the body (112) includes a pair of differently dimensioned receptacles (118,120) respectively located at the ends (114, 116) and integrally formed with the body (112).

So this is without a doubt one of the stranger beer-related patents I’ve come across. Who thinks I have to have my beer with me in the pool, it’s just too hard to keep it on the edge of the pool. Although I suppose if you were floating down a river it might come in handy.
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MillerCoors To Close North Carolina Brewery

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Thanks to declines in sales volume, MillerCoors announced today that they will be closing their brewery in Eden, North Carolina, winding it down over the next year with plans to finally close in September of next year.

According to MillerCoors’ website:

Opened in 1978, the Eden facility was the first brewery to produce Miller Genuine Draft back in 1986. Today, it’s a state-of-the-art operation with more than 500 employees and an annual brewing capacity of 9 million barrels. The small, friendly community of Eden lies near Greensboro.

Here’s the press release:

“Today we made the difficult decision to close our brewery in Eden, N.C., in order to optimize our brewery footprint and streamline operations for greater efficiency across our remaining seven breweries,” said Chief Integrated Supply Chain Officer Fernando Palacios.

The decision to close the Eden Brewery was due to significant overlap in distribution between Eden and the Shenandoah, Va., brewery, which is approximately 200 miles away. Eden has been a strong performer over the years. However, Shenandoah is better suited geographically in relation to Northeast markets and is also the newest brewery in MillerCoors network.

The Eden brewery employs approximately 520 employees. In 2014, Eden produced 7.1 million barrels of beer, which were shipped to 280 independently-owned distributors. Brands include Blue Moon seasonals, Coors Light, Miller Lite and Miller High Life. Over the next 12 months, products currently produced in Eden will be transitioned to other breweries, including Shenandoah, Va.; Trenton, Ohio; Fort Worth, Texas; Albany, Ga.; and Milwaukee, Wis.

Since the creation of MillerCoors seven years ago, volume has declined by nearly 10 million barrels. This volume loss is due to a variety of factors, including economic challenges, an explosion of choice and fragmentation within the beer business, and a dramatic change in the way consumers engage with brands. As a result of declining volume, MillerCoors breweries are operating at an increasingly inefficient capacity. While MillerCoors is taking steps to strengthen its overall portfolio to drive long-term growth in volume and share, continued volume declines are expected each of the next few years.

“We take great pride in supporting the communities where we live and work,” Palacios said. “We’ve been proud to be part of the Eden community since we shipped our first products in 1978. We will work with community leaders to make sure we continue to support the community while we are brewing beer in Eden.”

The Milwaukee Business Journal added:

Blue Moon seasonal products will be moving to the Milwaukee brewery, which already produces seasonal varieties for Leinenkugel, said Marty Maloney, a spokesman for MillerCoors. Maloney said each brewery receiving work from Eden will evaluate its own hiring needs, but the shift could add jobs or at least support the existing jobs in Milwaukee.

But decreasing sales — volume has declined by almost 10 million barrels since 2008 and the company expects the trend to continue for the next few years — mean MillerCoors’ breweries are operating inefficiently, and future closures or reductions could be in the big brewer’s future.

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The entrance to the MillerCoors plant in Eden, North Carolina, as close as you can get on Google Maps Street View.

Patent No. PP21289P3: Hop Plant Named ‘HBC 394’ (a.k.a. Citra)

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Today in 2010, US Patent PP21289 P3 was issued, an invention of Eugene G. Probasco and Jason Perrault, assigned to the Hop Breeding Company, L.L.C., for their “Hop Plant Named ‘HBC 394.’” Here’s the Abstract:

A new hop plant named ‘HBC 394’ is disclosed. The cones of ‘HBC 394’ mature in early September, and yield a crop of 1200 to 1600 pounds per acre. ‘HBC 394’ is used in brewing for its bittering and aromatic properties.

You undoubtedly know this hop by its more familiar trade name: Citra. But is as so often the case with new hops, when it was first patented, it had not yet been named. Brian Yeager has a nice write-up of that process, mentioning Citra specifically, from 2011 in All About Beer magazine, entitled Hop Forward, Breeding tomorrow’s hops… today.
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Beer In Ads #1677: The Key To Good Taste

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Sunday’s ad is for Blatz Pilsener Beer, from 1945. This is the second ad in the last week or so using the “B” in Blatz with the barley stalks. In this ad, the “Key To Good Taste” is both the church key about to open the bottle and “the finest ingredients, scientifically controlled and laboratory tested.” Umm, sounds tasty.

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Patent No. 0472298B1: Keg For Draft Beer

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Today in 1995, US Patent 0472298 B1 was issued, an invention of Yutaka Fujimoto, Takaaki Furuhashi, Katsuoki Kawanishi, and Ryo Sakazume, assigned to Sapporo Breweries Limited, for their “Keg For Draft Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

A keg for a liquid to facilitate cooling of the liquid retained in the keg and to keep the temperature of the cooled liquid in the keg, comprising:
   a keg body for retaining the liquid therein and having an upper face (3), a lower face (5), a side face (4) and a mouth piece (2) for providing the liquid into the keg body and ejecting the liquid therefrom, said keg body being formed of a keg inner cylinder (1) for constituting a container for the liquid and a keg outer cylinder (6), said keg inner and outer cylinders being laminated together to form a space and air being removed from the space to form a vacuum adiabatic layer (VL) therebetween; characterized in that the keg outer cylinder (6) substantially covers the keg inner cylinder (1) except one of the upper and lower fades (3, 5) of the keg body, and in that a cooling face (Cz) is formed on said one of the upper and lower faces (3, 5) of the keg body where the inner cylinder (1) is not covered so that the liquid inside the inner cylinder (1) can be cooled through the cooling face and the temperature of the liquid inside the inner cylinder is kept by the adiabatic layer defined between the inner and outer cylinders.

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Patent No. 2481897A: Device For Separating Leaves, Stems, And Other Material From Hops

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Today in 1949, US Patent 2481897 A was issued, an invention of Zack Anderson, for his “Device For Separating Leaves, Stems, and Other Material From Hops.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention pertains to separators and particularly to a machine for separating leaves, stems, and other material from hops.

The present invention relates to a machine for separating the hops from the leaves, stems, and other material more efficiently than has heretofore been accomplished. Due to novel features of the machine the separating action is positive and precise. These novel features also enable the machine to accomplish precise results under varying hop-crop conditions.

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Beer In Ads #1676: All Dressed Up And Going Places

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Saturday’s ad is for Carling’s Black Label and Red Cap Ale, from the 1950s. I guess they were trying to make it look sophisticated with the castle mansion, Rolls Royce and man in a tuxedo. The tickets next to the bottle read “The International Look.” These were apparently their “modern new labels,” and boy howdy does that make the difference in how a beer tastes. This is one approach that the big breweries take that I’ve never quite understood. I understand that packaging is, and should, be updated from time to time, sometimes in small increments and occasionally a complete overhaul. But it’s not really newsworthy, it’s not what consumers care about. I’m arguably more interested in beer labels and packaging than the average beer drinkers, and I find these ads absurd, so how insignificant must they seem to regular folks? Why would they assume it matters that the label has changed? If people notice and sales go up on their own then the new packaging is a success. Telling them they should notice and care that the same beer inside the bottle now has a spiffy new label is, in my opinion, a pretty tough, and pointless, sell.

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But if they’re going for sophistication, take a closer look in the bottom right-hand corner. What the hell is that character? A weird barrel-shaped man with a flat head wearing all-white, except for a black top hat and a striped shirt. That doesn’t look particularly sophisticated to me.

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Patent No. 264185A: Refrigerator

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Today in 1882, US Patent 264185 A was issued, an invention of James Miller of Oakland, California, for his “Refrigerator.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention relates to the class of refrigerators; and it consists generally in the construction and arrangement of peculiar vessels, providing for the holding of the substance to be kept cool, and a surrounding and underlying water-space.

It consists particularly in a deep vessel with vertical sides, and provided with a centrally perforated false bottom, upon which a holding-vessel of smaller diameter and extending above the exterior vessel is placed, whereby a surrounding and underlying water-space is formed.

It further consists in the provision of an airtight cover for the holding-vessel, all of which will hereinafter fully appear.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, economical, and effective refrigerating device for containing any substance or article which should be kept cool.

I can’t say for certain if this was even used by breweries, but the shape seems to suggest that it may have been.
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