Today in 1956, US Patent 2772975 A was issued, an invention of Frank Otto Rickers, assigned to the Geo Wiedemann Brewing Co. Inc., for his “Injecting Of Hops In The Brewing Of Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

It is an object of the present invention to provide for the addition of the hops to a brew kettle in a manner such that the hops will be uniformly distributed through the brew and for greatly increased control over this step of the brewing so any deteriorating effect is prevented by storing in cold temperature so that the loss of hops up the flue will be minimized. Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide process to the end that each successive brew will have undergone the same length of time in the cooking of the same amount of hops.

Briefly, in the practice of my invention I provide means for insuring that the hops, as they are added to the kettle, are wetted down and caused to enter below the surface of the brew in a rather closely confined area and I provide for a localized ebullition and circulation of the brew such that the lumps or fragments of hops are carried by this localized ebullition and circulation down into the bottom of the kettle whence they are uniformly distributed by the general circulation in the kettle.