Today in 1889, US Patent 411337 A was issued, an invention of Constantin Hoffmann and Lorenz Ebert, for their “Means for Boiling, Cooling Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
The present invention relates to apparatus for sterilizing and cooling beer-wort, whereby the latter is kept completely protected against any injurious actions of the atmosphere during the whole cooling process-that is to say, from the boiling-copper to the fermenting-vat. According to the present cooling process the beer-wort is cooled either on coolers or by means of special apparatus. This takes place with the admission of ordinary atmospheric air, which has a deleterious effect upon or infects the beer-wort. That such an infection frequently takes place is proved by the many changes in the beer-wort during the cooling processes heretofore practiced, and by the various abnormal phenomena of fermentation which occur despite the employment of sound yeast. In order to obviate these inconveniences, we provide the known cooling apparatus with a casing which can be hermetically closed and bring the beer-wort, which runs boiling hot, and therefore free from germs or sprout, to the cooling apparatus into contact with sterilized air. By the introduction of sterilized air into the casing of the cooling apparatus at a certain overpressure during the cooling the beer wort remains quite free from germs or sprout, and after that the air necessary for the fermentation is introduced according to requirements and the exhalation of the same is effected.
