Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Session #102: A Beery Landscape

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For our 102nd Session, our host is Allen Huerta, who writes Active Brewer. For his topic, he’s asking us to look at the big picture, the entire landscape of beer; yesterday, today, and/or tomorrow, or as he more fully explains what he has in mind for the August Session in his announcement, “The Landscape of Beer:”

SURPRISE, SURPRISE! The Landscape of Beer in America is changing. It has even begun influencing beer in countries all around the world. Everyone has their opinion on Local vs Global, Craft vs Macro, and Love vs Business. Those who were at the Beer Bloggers & Writers Conference in Asheville this past weekend had a brief talk about how “Small and Independent Matters”. Something that quite a few people say matters to them, but where is the upper limit? Does a purchase of another brewery still allow a brewery to fall into the Small and Independent camp?

Our topic this month is, “The Landscape of Beer“. How do you see that landscape now? What about in 5, 10, or even 20 years? A current goal in the American Craft Beer Industry is 20% market share by the year 2020. How can we get there? Can we get there?

Whether your view is realistic or whimsical, what do you see in our future? Is it something you want or something that is happening? Let us know and maybe we can help paint the future together.

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Because the weekend’s all but over, I decided — as usual — not to follow instructions per se, and instead found four literal landscapes of beer’s constituent parts in my library of photographs.

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The River Trent, in Burton upon Trent, although the brewing water actually comes from an aquifer deep below the town (but the photo of the aquifer is pretty dull).

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Barley growing in the San Luis Valley of southwest Colorado.

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Hops in the Yakima Valley, Washington.

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Yeast bubbling at White Labs in San Diego.

Patent No. 2948617A: Processing Of Brewers’ Wort

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Today in 1960, US Patent 2948617 A was issued, an invention of Stanley William Thomas Paine, for his “Processing of Brewers’ Wort.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The invention is more particularly concerned with the method which comprises passing the wort in continuous movement from a mash tun as sweet wort to a fermentation vessel as hopped wort, and in the course of that movement raising the temperature of the wort to a high value, holding the wort at the high temperature in a holding vessel, reducing the temperature of the wort and passing it to a hop extraction vessel and then passing the hopped wort to a sedimentation vessel where this is required and thence through a sludge separating device and a cooling device to the fermentation vessel.

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Patent No. 608744A: Process Of And Apparatus For Gasing Beer Or Similar Liquids

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Today in 1898, US Patent 608744 A was issued, an invention of John L. Alberger, for his “Process of And apparatus for Gasing Beer or Similar Liquids.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved process of and apparatus for gasing beer, the special object being to provide a process and apparatus which shall enable the operation to be performed more quickly than by the processes and apparatus previously in use for this purpose.

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Beer In Ads #1642: Cool It With The Friendmaker

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Saturday’s ad is for Reading Premium, from 1969. This is from my hometown brewery, which closed in 1976. But as regular readers will know, it was a “friendly” beer, having used the slogan “The Friendly Beer For Modern People” since the 1950s. It’s probably my favorite beer slogan of all-time. I guess by the late 1960s it was sounding old-fashioned, so they tried to make it sound a little more groovy by calling it the shorter “Friendmaker.” The ad is for a six-pack of pint bottles — “glass cans” — which is “a right beer, a day beer, a night beer … a drink it any time beer!”

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Patent No. 1000086A: Straining-Tank

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Today in 1911, US Patent 1000086 A was issued, an invention of Fred W Goetz and Claes Flodin, for their “Straining-Tank.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

Our invention relates, more particularly, to an improvement in tanks for straining hopped wort from the hops after the wort has been boiled with them for the requisite length of time in the brewing-kettles provided for the purpose.

In the process of brewing beer it is necessary, in order to prevent the beer from becoming bitter, to drain the wort from the hops as quickly as possible, after the boiling operation above referred to has been completed; and it is highly desirable that as much of the wort as is loosely held in the hops by absorption be drained 0H and recovered for further treatment.

One of our objects is to provide a construction of straining-tank which will enable the hopped wort to be quickly and effectively washed and drained from the hops and cause the latter to be freed, up to the maximum practical extent, of its wort-contents.

Another object is to provide a construction of straining-tank whereby the spent hops may be discharged therefrom in a simple and effective manner.

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Beer In Ads #1641: Wiener Beer

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Friday’s ad is for Blatz, from 1904. Even at a time when people seemed to speak with more poetry, it’s hard to understand how Blatz’s “Wiener Beer” didn’t catch on to become an iconic beer. But the ad copy is pretty hilarious. “The unprecedented popularity of Blatz Wiener is due to its pronounced individuality — that indescribable honest flavor that always means ‘Blatz’ — that delightful Wiener ‘smack’ that goes straight to the spot. Drink it for beer character — For health’s sake drink it.” Pure poetry.

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Patent No. 2758030A: Apparatus For And Method Of Drawing Off The Wort In Making Beer

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Today in 1956, US Patent 2758030 A was issued, an invention of Augusto Z. Metz, for his “Apparatus For And Method Of Drawing Off The Wort In Making Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to the production of beer, and more particularly to an apparatus and a method for drawing off from the tubs or other vessels in which the mashing operation is carried out, the extract or wort which is to be delivered to kettles in which the brewing operation is continued.

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Patent No. 2757785A: Vertical Hop Picker Having Endless Carrier Chain For Hop Vines, Moving In A Vertical Plane

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Today in 1956, US Patent 2757785 A was issued, an invention of Florian F. Dauenhauer, for his “Vertical Hop Picker Having Endless Carrier Chain for Hop Vines, Moving in a Vertical Plane.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

An object of my invention is to provide a vertical hop picker having endless carrier chain for hop vines, moving in a vertical plane, which is an improvement over the vertical hop picking machine shown in my copending application, Serial No. 179,722, filed August 16, 1950, and now Patent No. 2,677,378. In the copending case, I show an endless hop-carrying chain conveyor that has a portion for conveying hop vines between pairs of vertically movable hop picking fingers. The return portion of the endless hop-carrying chain that extends along the hop picking fingers, lies in the same horizontal plane as the portion that carries the vines between the picking lingers, but the return portion is spaced laterally therefrom. Moreover, I also disclose in the copending case, the endless hop-carrying chain as having an inclined portion extending from a hop vine feeding ‘platform up to the hop picking finger part of the machine. Here again, the return chain part passing along the inclined portion is spaced laterally from the inclined hop vine carrying portion. This necessitated the use of cam rails at the feed and discharge ends of the machine for opening the jaws of vine grippers, carried by the chain, for permitting an operator to attach vines to the grippers at the feed end and for automatically releasing the vines at the discharge end of the machine.

In the present case, the endless hop-carrying chain conveyor has both of its reaches lying in the same vertical plane. This causes the jaws of the vine grippers to open automatically at the discharge end of the machine and release the vines that have had their hops removed. The jaws remain in open position as the vine grippers travel from the discharge endV of the machine to the feed end. No cam rails are necessary at the feed and discharge ends of the machine.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described in which a swingable elevator boom is placed at the feed end of the machine for supporting the feed end of the carrier chain for hop vines. The boom can be swung so that its free end can be positioned adjacent to a hop vine carrying truck and this will permit an operator to unload hop vines one at a time, directly from the truck and attach `them to the vine grippers at the feed end of the machine. After the truck has been emptied, the boom can be swung to another truck and the vine unloading and attaching process continued. The unloading platform at the feed end of the machine may be dispensed with if desired.

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Patent No. 544156A: Hop Picker And Cleaner

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Today in 1895, US Patent 544156 A was issued, an invention of Warren H. Clark, for his “Hop Picker and Cleaner.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention has relation to machines for picking and cleaning hops, the object being to provide a machine into which the hops and vines can be fed as they come from the field, and which will not only thoroughly pick the hops from the vines and stems, but Will also effect the complete separation therefrom of the vines, leaves, and stems, the Work being performed in a rapid and reliable manner.

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