Today in 1974, US Patent 3812996 A was issued, an invention of Arthur Bunnell, assigned to Carling O’Keefe Ltd., for his “Bottle Carrying Case.” Here’s the Abstract:
Plastic carrying cases for bottles, especially beer bottles, are provided of a structure, in which, when the cases are stacked with bottles therein the tops of the bottles in one case engage the underside of the next upper case so that the load of the stack is supported through the bottles.
Friday’s ad is entitled Picnic at the New Homesite, and the illustration was done in 1951 by Douglass Crockwell. It’s #55 in a series entitled “Home Life in America,” also known as the Beer Belongs series of ads that the United States Brewers Foundation ran from 1945 to 1956. In this ad, an obviously well-to-do family has some choice real estate along the Mississippi River in St. Louis, with a tricked out stone barbecue terrace overlooking a bend in the river. Dad’s making burgers and Mom’s bringing more beer down from the house. Ah, the good old days.
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in which the separation of the yeast intended for further work from the liquor takes place and from which the liquor is withdrawn, thereby leaving the yeast in the clean vessel.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.
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.
Thursday’s ad is entitled Picnic at the New Homesite, and the illustration was done in 1951 by John Gannam. It’s #54 in a series entitled “Home Life in America,” also known as the Beer Belongs series of ads that the United States Brewers Foundation ran from 1945 to 1956. In this ad, two couples are having a picnic in an unlikely spot. At a construction site, where presumably one of their homes is being built, they’re having beer and food while other people are working. It’s the weirdest spectator sport ever.
Today in 1908, US Patent 889140 A was issued, an invention of Joseph Lehnbeuter and Charles R Brunnacker, for their “Bar Counter Box.” There’s no Abstract, though it’s described this way in the application:
Our invention has relation to improvements in bar-counter boxes; and it consists in the novel construction of box more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.
The invention relates to a class of cabinets or refrigerators which are employed in conjunction with a bar counter over which draft beverages are dispensed, the cabinet being known commercially as a novelty-box; and the invention has for its special object to so mount the drip-pan below the dispensing faucet that it may readily be shoved out of the way in making room for the insertion of the cask or barrel inserted into the space or compartment beneath the pan.
Wednesday’s ad is entitled Dad Tries Out The Ukelele, and the illustration was done in 1951 by Douglass Crockwell. It’s #53 in a series entitled “Home Life in America,” also known as the Beer Belongs series of ads that the United States Brewers Foundation ran from 1945 to 1956. In this ad, Dad is playing a ukelele while the family looks on. No wonder they’re all drinking beer.
Today in 2004, US Patent 6739087 B2 was issued, an invention of Isaac Weiser and Margaret Weiser, assigned to Exhart Environmental Systems, Inc., for their “Garden Pest Trap.” Here’s the Abstract:
A pest trap for trapping snails, slugs, and the like comprising a base structure and a decorative cover. The base structure comprises a planar surface, a sloping surface surrounding at least part of the planar surface, two or more recesses formed in the planar surface for retaining a liquid for luring the pests, and a containment surface that is inclined and surrounds each recess. The cover rests over the base structure, preferably mounted on one or more side walls that partially enclose the planar surface and optionally have flanged ends for partially enclosing the recesses. Use and maintenance of the trap of the present invention is thereby greatly simplified and may be environmentally friendly utilizing common beer or other non-liquid luring means.
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.
Here’s a few photos of the system at the Paso Robles brewery in 2012.
Tuesday’s ad is entitled Men’s Night In The Kitchen, and the illustration was done in 1951 by Douglass Crockwell. It’s #52 in a series entitled “Home Life in America,” also known as the Beer Belongs series of ads that the United States Brewers Foundation ran from 1945 to 1956. In this ad, the women — for once — are spectators, while the menfolk temporarily take over the kitchen to cook dinner. How subversive.
