Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Patent No. 989546A: Bottle-Filling Machine

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Today in 1911, US Patent 989546 A was issued, an invention of Mathias Jensen, for his “Bottle-Filling Machine.” There’s no Abstract, but there’s this description. “invented a new and Improved Bottle-Filling Machine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.”

This invention relates to certain improvements in machines for filling bottles, cans, or other containers with liquid or semi-liquid` substances, and more particularly to that type of machine in which a series of empty containers are continuously delivered to the machine, automatically filled in succession, and continuously delivered thereof. In a filling machine embodying all of the various features of my invention, the containers are conveyed along an endless belt to the machine and the latter operates to remove them from the belt, fill them in succession, and return them to the belt. The machine is so constructed that after filling each bottle, the liquid is removed from the bottle to a predetermined level below the mouth thereof, irrespective of slight variations in the height of successive bottles.

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Patent No. 2503339A: Metallic Beer Barrel

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Today in 1950, US Patent 2503339 A was issued, an invention of Herbert S. Jandus, for his “Metallic Beer Barrel.” There’s no Abstract, but there’s this description. “This invention relates to double walled containers and more particularly to double walled beer barrels made from sheet metal stampings and provided with a removable or permanent liner made of a material suitable as a container for beer,” and then a few more specific reasons for the metal keg design.

By constructing such a barrel with double walls, a number of advantages are gained thereby. A sturdy construction of sufficient rigidity to withstand the hard usage to which these barrels are ordinarily subjected can be formed of relatively thin sheet material by’ stamping methods, portions of the total structure being made in sections which are subsequently secured together, and yet the total weight can be kept within satisfactory limits. To accompany the advantage of using sheet metal suitable for stamping, provision is made for the lining of the inner shell so that the metal itself need not be one that is especially adapted because of its inertness for the reception of beer or other edible Products.

A double walled construction is readily adapted for the provisions of an opening into the interior shell, larger than the usual filling opening or tap rod opening such as are usually provided in wooden barrels, for example. Such an enlarged opening can be used to facilitate the cleaning and the inspection of the barrel, and may also be used for the insertion and removal of a separate removable liner.

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Patent No. 4915959A: Decarboxylation Of Acetolactate To Diacetyl, Enzymatic Reduction To Acetoin

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Today in 1990, US Patent 4915959 A was issued, an invention of Esko Pajunen, Veijo Makinen, Heikki O. Lommi, and Markku S. Loisa, for their “Method for the Continuous Maturation of Fermented Beer” or the “Decarboxylation of Acetolactate to Diacetyl, Enzymatic Reduction to Acetoin.” Here’s the Abstract:

Beer is fermented by the use of yeast and after fermentation the yeast is removed and the maturation or lagering of the beer is accomplished by a continuous maturation process which involves heat treating the beer to convert all or substantially all the alpha acetolactate and other diacetyl precursors present to diacetyl, cooling the beer, and feeding the heat treated fermented beer through a reaction column packed with immobilized yeast cells at a flow rate which effects the conversion of said diacetyl to acetoin in order to lower the concentration of said diacetyl to levels which do not result in tastes normally considered unacceptable for a beer.

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Patent No. 518137A: Apparatus For Dispensing Beer

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Today in 1894, US Patent 518137 A was issued, an invention of James P. Day, for his “Apparatus for Dispensing Beer.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states that the “invention has reference to [an] apparatus for dispensing liquids, particularly those which are charged with an effervescent gas, and is designed more especially for the dispensing of beer.” Here was the goal:

It has primarily for its object to preserve the freshness of the beer and to keep it palatable and wholesome whereby the reputation of the brewery where the beer, is made is maintained for brewing a high grade of beer and the sales of the retailer are increased so far as the same can be done by establishing a reputation for furnishing fresh and palatable beer to the consumer.

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Beer In Ads #1520: The Choicest Product Of The Brewers’ Art

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Thursday’s ad is for the Lemp Brewery of St. Louis, from 1912, and specifically their original Falstaff bottled beer. I especially love the expression of the model in the inset picture, she’s a peach, but it almost looks like she’s taunting us. And that inset picture has its own inset picture, a portrait presumably of the Shakespearean character Falstaff. Or it may be a framed photo of Falstaff on the table. Either way, he’s there there, even though he’s not exactly much of a role model, usually described as being “fat, vain, boastful, and [a] cowardly knight, he spends most of his time drinking at the Boar’s Head Inn with petty criminals.”

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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. 850070A: Beer-Tapper

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Today in 1907, US Patent 850070 A was issued, an invention of Richard B Spikes, for his “Beer-Tapper.” There’s no Abstract, but here’s what the description claims. “My invention relates to that class of devices known ‘beer-tappers,’ which in the nature of appliances for opening and dispensing beer from the keg or barrel. Such devices have heretofore been employed which simultaneously opened an outlet for beer and an interior air.”

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Beer In Ads #1519: A Friend You Can Depend On

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Wednesday’s ad is for Griesedieck Bros. Brewery, from 1939. It’s a bit of a dull ad, and that background is a sickly yellow color. Although I do love that the beer is not just mellow, but double-mellow. It’s “made mellow in the brewing, kept mellow by the removal of air in the bottle.” The ad copy just keeps getting better, which at least partly makes up for the lousy graphics. “It’s always first for thirst, always right for real refreshment.” Just saying the brewery’s name — if you can even pronounce it — is “the passport to pleasure.”

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