Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

Socialize

Patent No. EP 0645094A1: Improvement Of Gas And Alcohol Production By Yeast

By

patent-logo
Today in 1995, US Patent EP 0645094 A1 was issued, an invention of Rooijen Rutger Jan Van, Peter Johannes Schoppink, and Ronald Baankreis, for their “Improvement of Gas and Alcohol Production by Yeast.” Here’s the Abstract:

Introduction of futile cycles in the glycolytic pathway of yeast strains enables enhanced gas production and ethanol production under stress conditions, e.g. in a sugar-rich dough having a sugar content of higher than 3% weight percentage based on flour, e.g. 20%, or at high ethanol concentration in an industrial ethanol production process.

EP0645094A1

Patent No. EP 0645342A1: Safety Dispensing Valve

By

patent-logo
Today in 1995, US Patent EP 0645342 A1 was issued, an invention of Robert Bernard Harwood Cook, for his “Safety Dispensing Valve.” Here’s the Abstract:

A spear valve assembly (5) has a valve body (14) for engagement with a keg neck (3) and a skirt (17) on the valve body (14) including openings (18) for the throughflow of beer during filling. A downtube assembly (12) is movable relative to the valve body (14) and the skirt (17) and includes a downtube (12) for projecting into beer in a keg. A locking member (7) is carried by the downtube assembly (12) and is arranged to project through at least one further opening (19) in the skirt. In use, the locking member (7) normally prevents the spear valve assembly (5) from being ejected from a beer keg by engagement behind the keg neck. However, for removal of the spear valve assembly (5) the downtube assembly (12) is tilted relative to the skirt (17) to retract the locking element (7).

EP0645342A1-imgf0001
EP0645342A1-imgf0002
EP0645342A1-imgf0003

Beer In Ads #1508: Saturday Night

By


Saturday’s ad is another one for Budweiser, this one from, I think, the early 1960s. It’s another ad from their “Where there’s life” series, this one is called “Saturday Night.” A couple are out for dinner on, presumably, a Saturday night, or maybe just having drinks, as there’s only a basket of bread on the table. Those are some large looking glasses of beer.

budweiser-3

Patent No. 1177529A: Beer-Faucet

By

patent-logo
Today in 1916, US Patent 1177529 A was issued, an invention of Frederick Marquardt, for his “Beer-Faucet.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states that the “invention is to provide a faucet especially adapted to be used for dispensing beer, ale orthe like, and the faucet is provided with a meter which is operated by the passage of the liquid through the same to register the quantities of liquid drawn through the faucet.”
US1177529-0

Patent No. 3311267A: Measuring Attachment For Beer Keg Or The Like

By

patent-logo
Today in 1967, US Patent 3311267 A was issued, an invention of James E. Houston, Ryals E. Lee,and George M. Norman, for their “Measuring Attachment for Beer Keg or the Like.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states that the “invention relates to the dispensing of liquids including beer from closed opaque kegs or containers subjected to pressure to discharge the contents and with regard to which it is desirable to be able to determine the amount of liquid contained at any particular time between the initial dispensing and exhausting of the contents of such keg or container.” There’s not much more, but they explain its object:

It is an object of the invention to provide a simple, practical, readily usable, measuring attachment for a beer keg or the like, which can be quickly applied and removed, and by means of which an immediate reading of the contents can be made at any time.

US3311267-0

Beer In Ads #1507: Next Time

By


Friday’s ad is still another one for Budweiser, this one from 1959. It’s another ad from their “Where there’s life” series, this one is called “Next Time.” It’s hard to see what’s going on in this ad. A couple in a darkened room, their faces shiny from the dark red light. They’re dressed up, but he’s taken off his jacket and has his sleeves rolled up. On the counter, bar, table or whatever they’re leaning on, there’s a newspaper, a bag of potato chips and an ashtray, while the woman is pouring a can of beer into a pilsner glass. By the looks of it, if she doesn’t stop right this second, that glass is going to overflow, and with a pretty solid stream still coming out of the can, it may happen anyway.

budweiser-where-there-is-life-there-is-bud-next-time-1959

Patent Nos. 2546250A & 2546251A: Process Of Concentrating Yeast Slurries & For Drying Yeast

By

patent-logo
Today in 1951, US Patents 2546250 A and 2546251 A were issued, both inventions of Stanley L. Baker, for his “Process of Concentrating Yeast Slurries” and “Process for Drying Yeast.” There’s no Abstract for either, but the description for the first is an “invention relat[ing] to the concentration of dilute suspensions or slurries of yeast and especially of brewers yeast slurry which will be referred to hereinafter as an example although it will be understood that the invention is not restricted thereto.”
US2546250-0

His second patent is described as an “invention relat[ing] to drying dilute suspensions or slurries of yeast and especially brewers yeast slurry which will be referred to hereinafter as an example, although it is to be understood that the invention is not restricted thereto.” You may have noticed that this description is exactly the same as the first. What’s clear is while these are two different patents, they are vey similar and are both about roughly the same yeast process. Even the drawings are only slightly different from one another.
US2546251-0

Patent No. 2740049A: Method And Apparatus For Destruction Of Live Yeast Cells In Beer

By

patent-logo
Today in 1956, US Patent 2740049 A was issued, an invention of William C. Stein Sr., for his “Method and Apparatus for Destruction of Live Yeast Cells in Beer.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states that the “invention relates to a method and apparatus for destroying live yeast cells in beer.” When he lays out the various objects for the invention, it’s clear that the yeast is destroyed when “the beer is cascaded over violet ray tubes,” allowing for the “continuous treatment of the beer.” It apparently differs from how this was accomplished beforehand, as using this method “the beer will be subjected to a pre-carbonation pasteurization whereas under prior process the beer was pasteurized after carbonization.”
US2740049-0
US2740049-1
US2740049-2
US2740049-3

Beer In Ads #1506: Nothing Like It

By


Thursday’s ad is yet another one for Budweiser, this one from 1961. It’s another ad from their “Where there’s life” series, this one is called “Nothing Like It.” A man eating a pizza by himself is having a beer poured for him by a uniformed waitress. I love how everyone dressed up to eat pizza. We do that at home, too. I find it best to wear a suit whenever we order a pizza for delivery. But I usually choose a different beer.

budweiser-where-there-is-life-there-is-bud-nothing-like-it_1961

Patent No. 1995626A: Manufacture Of Minim Alcohol Beverage

By

patent-logo
Today in 1935, US Patent 1995626 A was issued, an invention of Karl Schreder, for his “Manufacture of Minim Alcohol Beverage.” There’s no Abstract, as far as I can tell, Minim means low-alcohol. I wonder if that was a common term back then? It’s not one I hear these days. Curiously, although the invention relates to what they call “low alcohol beverages,” the percentage of alcohol is never discussed, which strikes me as odd. Here’s what is revealed:

It has been found that Termobacterium mobile (Lindner) (Pseudomonas Lindneri-Kluyver) discovered by Professor Dr. Lindner is particularly suitable for the manufacture of beverages containing a low proportion of alcohol.

A process for the manufacture of beverages of this kind forms the subject-matter of the present application.

For obtaining a high grade end product it is essential that the preparation of the malt and of the wort be carried out carefully.

Okay, but what is the “high grade end product?” Is it non-alcoholic or near beer below 0.5% a.b.v.? Or something that might be considered a session beer with an alcohol percentage lower than a beer of typical strength?
US1995626-0