Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Patent No. 453970A: Bottle Neck

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Today in 1891, US Patent 453970 A was issued, an invention of James Thomas Ford, for his “Bottle Neck.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it states that the “invention consists in an improved form to be given to the necks of bottles, of glass or kind and closed with corks or other stoppers.”

The objects of the invention are, first, to facilitate the fitting of such bottles with ordinary funnels or faucets by permitting free exit to the air during the introduction of the liquid, thereby preventing the splutter and overflow of the funnel and quickening the operation of filling the bottles, more especially with liquids of considerable density, such as oils and sirups of all kinds; second, to prevent effectually the forcing inward of the cork. beyond a certain point during the extraction of it by means of a corkscrew or other implement, so frequent a source of annoyance with corks of inferior quality or slightly loose for the neck of the bottle.

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And here’s the original illustration:
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Patent No. 730651A: Brewing

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Today in 1903, US Patent 730651 A was issued, an invention of Herbert Amos Hobson, assigned to the Concentrated Beer Company Ltd., for his “Brewing.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it states that “this invention relates to a method of brewing in which a hopped wort is produced by first making an infusion or decoction of hops, then running off the infusion or decoction, and after fixing the tannic acid extracted from the hops mashing malt (or malt and grain) in the hop infusion or decoction as the mashing liquor.” Hobson was a British analytical chemist, and obviously he didn’t patent “brewing,” but an improvement on the process. I use the same titles that the grant of application uses, but sometimes they’re a little strange, case in point this one. Anyway, Hobson goes on to describe it great detail:

The invention consists,first, in a methodical process whereby the residual soluble matter contained in the spent malt and spent hops is extracted, the liquor containing such residual extractive matter being used instead of plain water for making the decoction of hops for a fresh brew, so that the residual malt and hop extract obtained from the spent malt and hops left from one brew will be utilized in the next succeeding brew, and so on.

The invention consists, secondly, in withdrawing from the hop extract (after it has been treated to fix the tannic acid, but before it is used for mashing) a portion of the hop liquor, separately heating the liquor thus withdrawn, and returning it to the bulk of the liquor after the mashing of the latter with malt, (or malt and grain,) so as to thereby raise the temperature of the mash without causing dilution thereof, as would be the case were naked steam blown in.

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Patent No. 2083340A: Metal Barrel

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Today in 1937, US Patent 2083340 A was issued, an invention of Herman Merker, assigned to the Pressed Steel Tank Company, for his “Metal Barrel.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it’s explained as follows:

This invention relates to a metal barrel particularly designed and adapted for use as a beer barrel or as a container for similar beverages although also well adapted for other uses. One object of the invention is to provide a barrel with a strong and durable bung structure, one which will stand up under the severe usage to which such a structure is subjected and yet preclude fatigue or distortion of the metal adjacent the bung structure. Another object of the invention is to provide a barrel having a bung structure of the character mentioned and one which does not interfere with easy rolling and handling of the barrel.

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Patent No. 20488A: Apparatus For Manufacture Of Beer

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Today in 1858, US Patent 20488 A was issued, an invention of George Habioh, for his “Apparatus For Manufacture Of Beer.” There’s no Abstract, though the description in the application states that he’s “invented an Improved Apparatus for Brewing or Manufacturing Beer.” What follows is a very lengthy explanation, but here’s the start of a fuller explanation.

For this boiling of the wort I use a closed copper or kettle; its steam I employ for new mashing and increase its pressure by a superincumbent column of water. This steam enters directly into the mash, and the increasing height of the water increases also the boiling point of the wort contained in the copper. This increased temperature manifests itself in stirring up again the wort, after it becomes clear, and finally the wort clears itself of all the coagulated albumen. The only thing to be observed is that the temperature should be sufficiently high, 2′. e. the steam pipe must be closed by a sufficient column of water.

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Patent No. 2472252A: Process For The Preservation Of Beer

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Today in 1949, US Patent 2472252A was issued, an invention of Arthur Henry Hughes, assigned to Messrs. Arthur Guinness Son and Company Limited, for his “Process For The Preservation Of Beer.” There’s no Abstract, though the description in the application states that he’s invented “invention relates to the preservation of beer, which term as used herein includes both ale and stout,” apparently by adding “0.041% by volume of hen egg-whites.”

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Patent No. 476652A: Beer-Racking Trough

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Today in 1892, US Patent 476652 A was issued, an invention of John Kass, for his “Beer-Racking Trough.” There’s no Abstract, though the description in the application states that he’s invented “a new and useful Beer-Racking Trough,” adding:

My invention relates to beer-racking troughs for barreling beer as the same is taken from reservoirs or vats; and the objects in view are to provide an apparatus of cheap and simple construction adapted to support barrels or kegs during the operation of filling the same, to so construct the apparatus as to permit of observation of the beer during the operation and for conveniently discharging the barrel at the end of each filling and bunging, to facilitate the changing of the position of the pipe with relation to the barrel, and to prevent waste of the beer or contact of the same with the person of the operator during the operation.

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Patent No. 4837034A: Preparation Of Low Calorie Beer

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Today in 1989, US Patent 4837034 A was issued, an invention of Joseph L. Owades and Charles J. Koch, assigned to the Boston Beer Limited Partnership, for their “Preparation Of Low Calorie Beer.” Charles J. Koch was Boston Beer founder Jim Koch’s father, himself a fifth-generation brewer who apparently quit the business in the 1950s when things were looking dark for American beer and even tried to dissuade his son from going into the family business. According to family legend, “his greatest gift [to the Boston Beer Co.] lay in an old trunk stored in his attic. That trunk contained family brewing memorabilia and beer recipes dating back to the 1800s.” And the story goes that he gave Jim a recipe from the trunk created by his great-great grandfather, Louis Koch, which was the basis for their flagship beer, Samuel Adams Boston Lager. Joe Owades was the first to create low-calorie light beer when he was at Rheingold and eventually through M&A it turned into Miller Lite and later in life he did consulting work and helped Boston Beer tweak the Louis Koch’s recipe and make it into their Boston Lager. As I understand it, Owades continued to do work with them from time to time over the years, and that’s likely how Joe and Charles ended up working on the patent which, I presume, eventually became Samuel Adams Light Beer.

Here’s the Abstract:

A low-calorie, all-malt beer characterized by full body and flavor of a conventional all-malt beer and a method of preparing the same without any external enzymes is described. A wort is prepared by blending warm malt mash with hot water under conditions which avoid exposing the blend of hot water and the malt mash to temperature between about 52° C. and 75° C., and the resultant wort is converted to beer by fermenting the wort with Brewer’s yeast. The wort extract is oxygenated with substantially pure oxygen in place of air normally used in the fermentation, and the Brewer’s yeast is added to the wort extract at a rate of about 30 to 60 grams pressed yeast per 100 liters wort so as to absorb, within the yeast cells of the Brewer’s yeast, substantially all harsh and grainy flavor compounds contained in the wort extract.

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Patent No. 4837156A: Tilting Lauter Tun

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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.

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Patent No. 3037431A: Carton Feeding, Erecting And Filling Mechanism

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Today in 1962, US Patent 3037431 A was issued, an invention of Leonard McGihon of San Leandro, California, assigned to the King-O-Matic Equipment Corp., for his “Carton Feeding, Erecting And Filling Mechanism” There’s no Abstract, although there’s a paragraph in the description that summarizes it nicely.

The present invention relates to mechanism for taking respective folded cartons, successively from a stack, opening these cartons to a box-like form with open sides, feeding cans or other containers in groups into the carton through the open sides thereof, and then closing the cartons so as to provide a carry-home pack of the containers in the carton. The various operations take place in sequence and continuously to provide a rapid and efficient method of packing containers in cartons, for example beer cans packed in the familiar six-pack cartons as now commonly on the market. More particularly, the instant mechanism is designed to operate on a carton of a character having a closed rectangular shape with partially open sides, the open sides being provided with connected or continuous side flap portions, the respective adjacent side flaps of each corner being connected by a gusset type fold. In this type of carton, the folding of the flaps attached to the end panels of the carton tucks these flaps behind the containers or cans in the carton and effectively holds the carton closed during shipment and handling, but provides for easy opening by the user.

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