Today in 1894, US Patent 518137 A was issued, an invention of James P. Day, for his “Apparatus for Dispensing Beer.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states that the “invention has reference to [an] apparatus for dispensing liquids, particularly those which are charged with an effervescent gas, and is designed more especially for the dispensing of beer.” Here was the goal:

It has primarily for its object to preserve the freshness of the beer and to keep it palatable and wholesome whereby the reputation of the brewery where the beer, is made is maintained for brewing a high grade of beer and the sales of the retailer are increased so far as the same can be done by establishing a reputation for furnishing fresh and palatable beer to the consumer.