Today in 1944, US Patent 2354092 A was issued, an invention of Berthold Stein, for his “Art Of Brewing Beer, Ale, Or Near-Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:

The present invention includes both the process of brewing as hereinafter described, and the beverage or resulting product thereof, and when referring to beer it is intended to include ale and near-beer, and analogous beverages of the same class Beer as well as ale is generally described as a fermented malt liquor with an average percentage of alcohol of from three to four per cent. by weight, or sometimes less, as in near beer, which may have about one-half per cent. It has a mildly bitter and aromatic flavor and odor. The brewers have. always attempted to give the beer an aromatic hop flavor and odor. Up to date, they have not succeeded in doing so. The bitter and so-called aromatic flavor is to be derived from. the hops. which are used in the brewing process. While all kinds of beer and` ales taste more or less bitter, there are no beers brewed which really have an aromatic hop flavor and odor. This is due to the processes and apparatuses which are employed in the brewing of beer and ale. All beers and ales have a more or less pronounced bitter taste, and they often have a disagreeable taste and odor as well. The latter is derived principally from the cellulose matter of the husks of the grain, and the fatty oils contained in the grain, such as barley, corn or rice. These bitter tastes and disagreeable odors are the principal reasons why so many people do not drink beer. It is generally understood that beer and ale is made from malt, and hops. In this country, however, beer and ale is brewed mostly from a mixture of barley malt (about 70%), and cereals unmalted (about 30%), namely, corn, rice, corn. Syrups or sugars, and hops. The hops in the brewing of beer and ales are used as a spice or condiment with a view to overcoming the above-mentioned bad taste and odor.