Brookston Beer Bulletin

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Patent No. 611003A: Keg Or Barrel

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Today in 1898, US Patent 611003 A was issued, an invention of Joseph C. Roth, for his “Keg or Barrel.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention relates to sheet-metal kegs or barrels, more particularly that class of barrels employed for beer, wines, or other liquors, and it will be fully and clearly hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a beer-keg made in accordance with myinvention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on or about line a a, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a vertical central section through one section of the in-V ner case of the keg or barrel. Fig. 4 represents an enlarged sectional elevation through a portion of a side of a keg, the section passing centrally through the bun g-hole and showing the construction thereof. Fig. 5 represents a detached top view of one of the outwardly-screw-threaded inner rings. Fig. 6 represents a top face View of the improved bung.

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And here’s the original drawing filed with the patent application:
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Patent No. 2196193A: Method Of Aging Alcoholic Liquors

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Today in 1940, US Patent 2196193 A was issued, an invention of Leslie A. Chambers and Edward W. Smith, for their “Method of Aging Alcoholic Liquors.” There’s no Abstract, but the description claims that the “present invention relates to the application of vibratory energy, particularly at supersonic frequencies, to the aging of alcoholic liquors used as beverages, stimulants, etc., for human consumption as, for instance, whiskies, brandies, rums, liqueurs, and to some extent to the so-called lighter or undistilled liquors as wines, cider and champagne and also beer and ale.” That seems like a strange idea to me, but who knows? The application mentions using an oscillator. It must have been too successful, or we’d be using oscillators to age all our beers. It’s certainly an interesting read to hear some of the ideas circa 1940 about aging alcohol.

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Patent No. 914787A: Wooden Barrel Or Keg And Head Therefor

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Today in 1909, US Patent 914787 A was issued, an invention of James W. Brainard, for his “Wooden Barrel or Keg and Head Therefor.” There’s no Abstract, but the first paragraph tells the tale, sort of (the OCR didn’t do the best job and I had to do a fair bit of guessing):

The prime object of the present invention is to equip an ordinary barrel or keg made up of wooden staves, with an improved head which detachably held in plate in a simple and effective manner, without the employment of extraneous fastening means, and is arranged to stiffen and strengthen the barrel without detracting from any of its essential features. It is proposed to form the head from single blank of sheet metal, and to shape the some so as to permit of the convenient application and removal thereof without making the barrel material change or alteration in in this connection, the head is arranged rel. to embrace the chime of the barrel or keg so as to incase the same in a metal shield, which rotc’cts the extremities of the staves when in and on the barrel or keg, particularly when rolling the same.

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Beer In Film #74: How It’s Made — Wooden Barrels

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Today’s beer video is from the documentary series How It’s Made that runs on the Discovery Channel in Canada and Great Britain, and on the Science Channel in the U.S. How It’s Made has been running for 22 seasons, having debuted in 2001. Each half-hour show features around four roughly five-minute segments, so they’ve covered a lot over the course of 286 episodes so far. This show, about Wooden Barrels, was the first segment in episode 123, the 6th episode in Season 10.