Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

Socialize

Patent No. 1764841A: Fermenting Vat

By

patent-logo
Today in 1930, US Patent 1764841 A was issued, an invention of Hans Kock, for his “Fermenting Vat.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:

My. invention relates to improvements in fermenting vats, and the object of the improvements is to provide a vat which can be used for fermenting beer and other liquors, storing the beer and filling the same into hot ties. With this object in view my invention consists in forming the vat at its top with an opening adapted to have either one of the attachments necessary for fermenting the beer, storing the same and filling the same into bottles secured thereto, and constructing such attachments so that they can be readily mounted on and dismounted from the said vat.

US1764841-0

Patent No. RE22889E: Stationary Type Hop Picking Machine

By

patent-logo
Today in 1947, US Patent RE22889 E was issued, an invention of Florian F. Dauenhauer, for his “Stationary Type Hop Picking Machine.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

Hops are raised on a trellis sixteen to eighteen feet in height. When ripe, the vines are out about four feet from the ground, the strings supporting their upper ends to the wire or trellis overhead being either broken by pulling on the vines or cut. Hand picking of hops, owing to the conditions surrounding the growing of hops, the shortness of the season, scarcity of labor and the like, is very expensive and the best hand picking leaves a large percentage of foreign material in the hops and the necessary sacking, boxing and delay in getting hand picked hops to the dry house often results in the discoloring, bruising and flattening of the hops themselves and entails many objectionable incidents.

My invention is an improvement over Patents Nos. 1,054,119 and 1,054,551 covering an apparatus and method for picking hops. In the patents, the picker drums are arranged in two horizontal rows with the drums in the upper row being disposed vertically above the drums in the lower row. The passage between the two rows of drums in the patented devices is therefore restricted in depth between each pair of drums and is of greater depth between adjacent sets of drums. This results in a passage having varying depths and the vines will be unnecessarily compressed each time they are moved through the restricted portions of the passage. The breakage of parts of the vines takes place more readily because of this. Moreover, the arrangement of the drums in vertical pairs leads to another disadvantageous feature of the machine. The hops are picked only where the vertical pairs of drums occur and no picking takes place between adjacent pairs of drums. The picking operation is therefore not continuous throughout the length of the passage.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a hop picker in which the picking of the hops is continuous throughout the length of the passage through which the vines are moved. A further object of my invention is to provide a passage of uniform depth throughout. A more complete picking of the hops results and there is less breakage of the vines since the vines are carried through a passage of uniform depth rather than through one where the depth varies between each pair of successive drums.

A further object of my invention is to provide a novel vine carrier made of endless cables and carrying vine grasper bars, the bars in turn having vine gripping jaws that are automatically closed on the vines at the feeding end of the machine and are automatically opened so as to free the vines at the exit end of the machine.

USRE22889-0
USRE22889-1

Patent No. 2321631A: Fluid Pressure Controlling Apparatus

By

patent-logo
Today in 1943, US Patent 2321631 A was issued, an invention of Ludvik Sibal, for his “Fluid Pressure Controlling Apparatus.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:

This invention relates to improvements of fluid pressure controlling apparatuses (gases, liquids,
etc.) and it is the principal object of the invention to provide means for adding gas or liquid pressure to containers from which their contents are being discharged at such a rate that the total pressure head at the point where the fluid flows out of said containers remains practically constant even during the discharge period.

This apparatus is constructed with the special object in view of making it applicable to the so called government tanks in the breweries, from which beer is being drawn to the bottle or can filling machines. In these tanks the beer stands under a gaseous pressure (air or otherwise) the level of which is so chosen as to insure a smooth filling process by the filling machine to which the beer is discharged from the government; tanks. The pressure at the filling machine must be kept constant during the filling process and therefore it is necessary and important that the pressure at the point of flow out of the government tanks likewise be kept constant. The total pressure at the point of discharge from the government tanks is composed of two components: (1) the weight of the beer and (2) the gas pressure within said tanks. As the beer is being drawn from the tanks, the total pressure head causing flow at the point of discharge from the tanks is being decreased due to the decreasing weight of the beer. To make up for this loss in pressure head, gas pressure must be supplied to the tanks until the original desired total pressure head is again reached at the point of discharge. This is usually accomplished by a control man whose duty it is to sight the pressure gauge reading or beer level and to adjust the gas valve accordingly.

The main purpose of this apparatus is to eliminate the human factor of such pressure regulation thus making the regulation as nearly free from all human errors and neglects as is humanly possible. Also my design is such that it is best applicable to breweries and other enterprises where apparatus of this kind must withstand severe mistreatment and where it is necessary to thoroughly wash its interior as well as exterior.

This invention provides an apparatus which, when connected by means of a conduit such as .a pipe or a hose to the point at which the discharge occurs from a tank, throws on or oil? a sensitive snap-action electric (magnetic) mercury switch whenever the pressure head changes slightly in the tank at the point of discharge. This snap action switch is connected by means of electric conduits to a solenoid valve in the gas line leading to the tank, and when contact is made, the solenoid valve is actuated by the electric current so that it opens and admits the gas to flow into the tank thus increasing the total pressure head to the original desired level. As soon as this desired total pressure head is reached, the snap action switch automatically turns off and the gas valve closes.

US2321631-0
US2321631-1

Patent No. 1143243A: Keg Refrigerator

By

patent-logo
Today in 1915, US Patent 1143243 A was issued, an invention of Leopold H. Vogel and John Burrows, for their beer or keg “Refrigerator.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:

This invention relates to an improved refrigerator to he used in connection with a bar for serving liquors and the like.

US1143243-0
US1143243-1

Patent No. 890031A: Malting Kiln

By

patent-logo
Today in 1908, US Patent 890031 A was issued, an invention of John F. Dornfeld, for his “Malting Kiln.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:

I have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Malting-Kilns, of which the following is a specification.

Malting kilns as heretofore constructed comprise buildings of considerable height, in the upper part of which are arranged the malting floor or floors, and in the lower part are introduced the hot gases and. products of combustion from a furnace, together with a quantity of fresh air. No means is provided for mixing the hot and the cold air to produce a uniform temperature throughout the kiln and asa consequence the hot air rises in columns through the cooler surrounding air reaching the top of the kiln and there escaping through the ventilator at a temperature considerably in 4excess of the cool fresh air remaining in the bottom of the kiln.

One of the objects of this invention is to obviate the difficulty mentioned by mixing by mechanical means, the hot air and gases with cool fresh air, making a uniform mixture and introducing said mixture into the Further objects of the invention are to reduce the height of the kiln building, which reduction is rendered possible by locating the furnace outside of the kiln proper, and in other ways to improve the construction of such kiln.

US890031-0
US890031-1

Patent No. 7730912B2: Bottle Filler

By

patent-logo
Today in 2010, US Patent 7730912 B2 was issued, an invention of John Richard Blichmann, for his “Bottle Filler.” Here’s the Abstract:

An improved bottle filler assembly for filling bottles from kegged carbonated or non carbonated beverages without carbonation loss or oxidation that is intuitive to use, sanitize, and keep free of bacteria. In the preferred embodiment, a long hose gradually reduces the pressure of the beverage on the way to the filler. Two tubes are placed inside each other forming an annulus where CO2 can be forced to the bottom of the bottle via a CO2 valve thereby purging the bottle of air (O2). A valve seat placed on the bottom of the tubes allows the beverage to flow into the bottle from the bottom by depressing a trigger.

US07730912-20100608-D00001

US07730912-20100608-D00002

US07730912-20100608-D00003

Patent No. 4836097A: Whirlpool For Coarse Sludge Separation In Brewing Of Beer

By

patent-logo
Today in 1989, US Patent 4836097 A was issued, an invention of Hans Tretter, assigned to Anton Steinecker Maschinenfabrik Gmbh, for his “Whirlpool for Coarse Sludge Separation in Brewing Of Beer.” Here’s the Abstract:

The present invention refers to a whirlpool for coarse sludge separation from the wort in brewing of beer, said whirlpool being being constructed as a circular receptacle provided with a base on which the sludge deposits and with a heating means for heating the wort.

For providing a possibility of treating the wort in a space-saving manner and without any special insulating measures in the wort heating process, the invention is characterized by the features that a rotationally symmetrical inner boiler is provided as a heating means, said inner boiler being arranged in the interior of the receptacle such that it is concentric with the longitudinal center axis of the receptacle and such that its lower side extends in spaced relationship with the base of the receptacle.

US4836097-1

Patent No. 700833A: Manufacture Of Fermented Liquors

By

patent-logo
Today in 1902, US Patent 700833 A was issued, an invention of Joseph Schneible, for his “Manufacture of Fermented Liquors.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:

This invention relates particularly to the carrying on of the fermentation of liquors such as malt beverages, for example and to the culture, propagation, and separation of yeast for further use As the fermentation of such liquors is now commonly practiced the yeast propagated for further use is separated and collected under conditions which are liable to result in contamination of the yeast by contact with air,usually teeming with wild ferments and very often with fungi, and in subsequent injury to the finished product.

It is the object of this invention to provide for the carrying on of the fermentation and the separation of the yeast in such a manner as to avoid exposure of either yeast or liquor to such contaminating and injurious influences, while at the same time the fermentation is carried on under practically normal conditions as to pressure.-

In accordance with this invention the newly-fermented liquor containing the yeast in suspension for further inoculation is transferred from the vessel in which the fermentation was carried on to a clean vessel, in which the separation of the yeast intended for further work from the liquor takes place and from which the liquor is withdrawn, thereby leaving the yeast in the clean vessel. The further quantity of liquor to be fermented is then introduced into the vessel containing the yeast and is inoculated thereby,thus avoiding altogether the removal of the yeast from the vessel in which the same has been allowed to separate from the fermented liquor and avoiding its exposure to the contaminating influences above referred to. This process is carried on successively in the manner referred to, the newly-fermented liquor being transferred from the vessel in which the inoculation has taken place and the main fermentation was carried on to a clean vessel, as before.

US700833-0

Patent No. 1760071A: Centrifugal Separator

By

patent-logo
Today in 1930, US Patent 1760071 A was issued, an invention of Henry George Koepke, for his “Centrifugal Separator.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:

My invention relates to centrifugal separators of the discharge nozzle conical type, primarily constructed for the separation of yeast from most of the associated liquids in which it has been’ propagated.

US1760071-0
US1760071-1

Patent No. 5906151A: Apparatus And Method For Brewing An Alcoholic Beverage

By

patent-logo
Today in 1999, US Patent 5906151 A was issued, an invention of Adam Firestone, Jeffers Richardson, Donald E. Othman, and Michel A. Blom, assigned to Firestone Walker, LLC, for their “Apparatus And Method For Brewing An Alcoholic Beverage and Beverage Brewed by Same.” Here’s the Abstract:

An apparatus for brewing an alcoholic beverage includes a plurality of wooden barrels including at least one first wooden barrel, at least one second wooden barrel, and at least one third wooden barrel; an enclosed trough; a plurality of first conduits providing flow communication between each of the plurality of wooden barrels and the enclosed trough; an enclosed catch pot in flow communication with the enclosed trough; a plurality of second conduits providing flow communication between the enclosed catch pot and each of the plurality of wooden barrels; and devices, such as valves, for controlling flow between each of the plurality of wooden barrels and the second conduit. The at least one first wooden barrel is a new barrel that has been filled with an alcoholic beverage up to 5 times, the at least one second wooden barrel is a middle aged barrel that has been filled with an alcoholic beverage from 6 to 12 times, and the at least one third wooden barrel is an old barrel that has been filled with an alcoholic beverage from 13 to 30 times.

This is essentially a patent for Firestone Walker’s modified Burton Union System that they pioneered when they first started, and then scaled-up when they bought the old SLO Brewery in Paso Robles and increased the size of their beer production. Jeffers, of course, is still there is the Barrelmeister, or Director of the Firestone Walker Barrelworks. That system is one of only two such brewing systems left in the world, the other being at Marston’s in Burton-on-Trent in England.
US5906151-1
US5906151-2
US5906151-3

Here’s a few photos of the system at the Paso Robles brewery in 2012.

P1040642

P1040672