Today in 1989, US Patent 4837156 A was issued, an invention of Leo K. Lampinen, for his “Tilting Lauter Tun.” Here’s the Abstract:

A vessel has a central longitudinal axis, a pair of trunnions defining a tilting axis, and a fixed bottom and a false bottom. The false bottom comprises at least one screen. At least one of the screens is affixed to the vessel by a plurality of hinges so as to allow the screens to freely swing from a first position to a second position as said vessel is tilted about the tilting axis.

Today in 1974, US Patent 3814003 A was issued, an invention of Nickolas Lothar Vacano, assigned to Rainier Companies, for his “Brewing Apparatus.” Here’s the Abstract:

A large size thin-shelled outdoor metal tank, such as for making beer, with a conical metal bottom having a shallow slope of no more than 25 DEG from the horizontal, a conduit communicating with the tank interior at the apex of the conical bottom, a circular cylindrical vertical metal wall joined to the bottom, a metal roof joined to and supported by the vertical wall, insulation exterior of the bottom, wall and roof, a vent opening in the roof, a manifold centrally located in the tank spaced above the bottom and the level of unsuspended solids which may settle therein, said manifold having a plurality of openings through which carbon dioxide gas can exit into liquid in the tank, and a pipe leading from outside the tank to the manifold for supplying carbon dioxide thereto. The tank can have a tubular ring positioned inside the tank adjacent the periphery of the bottom, a pipe communicating with the ring and the exterior of the tank for supplying fluid to the ring, and a plurality of holes in the ring from which fluid under pressure can be ejected along the slope of the bottom to wash solids to the conduit in the bottom for removal.

Today in 1937, US Patent 2082222 A was issued, an invention of Frederick P. Siebel, for his “Brewing Process.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described in the application as an “invention relat[ing] to the art of brewing, and pertains particularly to the preparation of the wort.” I assume this is the same Siebel who led the Institute after it reopened after Prohibition in 1933.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of a process whereby a desired wort may be produced in a condition suitable for immediate cooking, in a period of time very substantially less than is required for the mashing and sparging operations heretofore quite generally employed.

`Another Object is the provision of a process whereby there can be accomplished a substantially higher extraction and conversion of the desired constituents of the malt and other grains than has been the case under commercial brewing procedures heretofore generally employed; this obtaining a more complete utilization and hence a saving, in the raw materials required.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a process which maybe carried on rapidly and with facility for preparation of a wort on a commercial brewing scale, whereby the enzymatic conversion or modification of the grain starches and albumens may be accomplished more completely and rapidly than with commercial procedures heretofore generally employed.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a wort-preparing process of a character such as to permit successive batches to be prepared in rapid succession one after another in the same apparatus.

Yet another object is the provision of a process for wort preparation which may be carried on under very definite and accurate control, for production of a wort of a desired character very rapidly and with very close uniformity as between different batches.