Today in 1999, US Patent 5980959 A was issued, an invention of Bernard Derek Frutin, for his “Methods and Apparatus for Enhancing Beverages.” Here’s the Abstract:

Enhancing the foam head on a bottled beverage where a pressurized container is housed within the neck of the bottle and above the level of the liquid and so arranged that upon opening of the bottle the pressurized container also opens to release the liquid stream therefrom initially to float on the top surface of the beverage in the bottle.

Today in 2005, US Patent 6953256 B2 was issued, an invention of Brent Turner, for his “Illuminated Tap Handle.” Here’s the Abstract:

One object of the invention is to provide an illuminated tap handle including a handle with one end capable of being secured to a tap and a threadable and detachable end allowing the placement of a removable energy source into the handle completing a circuit and illuminating a light source connected to a conducting strip inside the handle when the threadable end is substantially threaded onto the handle and a conducting portion on the threadable end touches the conducting strip and energy source. Another object is where the conducting strip is situated within the tap handle such that when the threadable end is partially or completely unthreaded the tension of the conduction strip is released and situated just above and not touching the energy source, but when the threadable end is substantially threaded onto the tap handle, the conducting strip is again pressed onto the energy source completing the circuit.

Today in 1935, US Patent 2016926 A was issued, an invention of Rees Damon, assigned to Rahr Malting Co., for his “Apparatus For Emptying and Cleaning Beer and Other Pipes.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention relates to methods of and apparatus for cleaning pipes, and other liquid containers and connections.

It is particularly applicable to the pipes, tanks, containers, and connections between the beer kegs and drawing faucets of beer dispensing apparatus, which are usually cleaned at the present time by discharging through the pipes and connections a cleaning fluid, such as water containing a cleaning material, and sometimes also air under pressure.

Before cleaning such pipes and connections, it has been necessary heretofore to draw 01f a considerable amount of beer in the pipes, which ‘was thus wasted. Furthermore, after the dispensing apparatus has been out of use overnight or during holidays, it has been necessary when dispensing was resumed, first to draw off all the beer in the pipes, etc., down to the supply kegs, because the beer becomes stale and otherwise deteriorates when it has been left standing in the pipes for a considerable period of time. All this beer was thus wasted causing considerable loss every day.

My invention comprises first a simple, convenient and effective method of and apparatus for forcing and restraining the beer in the pipes and. connections back into the supply kegs and thus saving all the beer, before cleaning the pipes and also before closing the bar for the night or holidays.

My invention also comprises a simple, convenient and effective method of and apparatus for cleaning the pipes and connections.

My invention also comprises various novel features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Today in 1949, US Patent 2477222 A was issued, an invention of Frederick J. Warcup, for his “Beer Dispenser with Coil Cleaning Means.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to beer distributing systems such as are used in taverns and saloons for conducting beer from kegs, in which the beer is delivered from the brewery, to taps located behind the bar. The length of piping between a keg and the tap includes a cooling coil through which the beer flows.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved beer distributing system in which water can be conveniently introduced into the beer lines and accurately controlled so as to avoid the loss of beer that results from having beer stand in the pipes, from draining of the lines for cleaning, and the loss that occurs when an empty keg is replaced with a full one.

It is another object of this invention to provide means by which tavern operators can clean their own lines without having to connect or disconnect any unions or fittings, and in the preferred embodiment of the invention the system is constructed so that the beer lines can be cleaned without even leaving the bar. The tavern operator can fill his beer lines with water preparatory to cleaning them and all of the usual loss of beer incident to cleaning line is avoided.

Another important saving is effected by this invention when a keg becomes empty and it is necessary to tap a new keg. Whenever the contents of one keg become exhausted, the beer line fills with foam and the first beer from a new keg surges into the line and foams to such an extent that the first glasses drawn after a new keg has been tapped cannot be used because of excessive foam. With this invention the line is filled with water before tapping a new keg and there is no surge of beer into the line.

Today in 1936, US Patent 2043856 A was issued, an invention of Ray Knapp, for his “Apparatus For Dispensing Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it states that the “invention relates to a method and apparatus for dispensing beer, and has for its principal object to afford a structure that employs a cooling chamber made of glass or glass lined material, the beer being retained in the glass cooling chamber and conducted therefrom directly to the dispensing faucet.”