Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Patent No. 53692A: Improvement In Beer-Faucets

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Today in 1866, US Patent 53692 A was issued, an invention of Emile Sirret, for his “Improvement in Beer-Faucets” There’s no Abstract, but he describes his invention as “A device for foaming beer and other liquids artificially previous to their being drawn, so as to be able to cause the foaming of the liquid to any degree desired within a common faucet, and that immediately after, when the pin of the faucet is turned so as to open, the liquid will flow from it in a creamy and gaseous state sufficient to fill two or three glasses without renewing the operation.” More specifically:

The nature of my invention consists in having a hollow room or chamber inside a common faucet, between the cross-pin and the end which taps into the barrel. The hole in the faucet running through this chamber will constantly keep it filled with liquid, so that when it is required the foaming operation can be performed, which is done by placing down in the chamber a kind of syringe with a ring of line holes around the lowest end of the tube, this end being fastened to the bottom of the chamber by means of a screw. Ihe upper end of the tube with the piston-rod extending outside is tightly fastened on the top of the chamber, so as to prevent any escape of liquid. The head of the piston-rod extending out of the tube, and running parallel with the head of the cross-pin, enables the same hand to handle both of them with facility. The up-and-down movement of the piston will naturally force in and out of the tube through the small holes all the liquid contained in the chamber, and convert it into a foaming substance.

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Patent No. 671321A: Faucet Or Tapping-Bung For Tapping Beer

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Today in 1901, US Patent 671321 A was issued, an invention of John W. Kinsey, for his “Faucet or Tapping-Bung For Tapping Beer, Etc.” There’s no Abstract, but the description claims that he’s “invented certain new and useful Improvements in Faucets or Tapping- Bungs for Tapping Beer, Ale, Porter, and other Aerated Liquors.” More particularly:

The object of the invention is to produce a faucet or tapping-bung for tapping such kegs containing said aerated liquids in a more convenient and easy manner; also, to produce a hung having an adjustable closing-valve so arranged as to be easy of access and readily operated, thereby dispensing with the use of the cork now required in closing the. end of the faucet or tapping-bung, and which must, after making the tap, be forced down into the keg with the hollow rod through which the beer, ale, &c., is drawn; also, to accomplish this in an easy and expeditious manner-at a small expense, and, finally, to produce the faucet or tapping-bung so that it is not liable to get out of order or that it can be readily repaired if any part shall be broken.

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Patent No. 1996550A: Container Opener Or Church Key

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Today in 1935, US Patent 1996550 A was issued, an invention of John M. Hothersall and Dewitt F. Sampson, assigned to American Can Co., for their “Container Opener.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states that the “invention relates in general to container opening devices and more particularly to a punch opener for producing a substantial pouring opening in containers having projecting end scams or joints.” Essentially it’s a church key that includes a bottle opener, as well. Here’s how this church key is special:

The principal object of the invention is to provide a container opener which at one stroke or turning movement produces a substantial pouring opening in a wall of a container through which the contents, be they fluid or granular, may be readily dispensed.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a container opening punch or cutter adapted to work on the lever principle and which employs a projecting end joint of a container, for example, the end seam, as a fulcrum or pivot point about which the cutter may be rocked into opening position in a single arcuate movement.

Another important object of the invention is the provision of such a rocker punch whose operating parts are all adapted to be formed out of a single piece of steel or other suitable material in a few simple die operations, and which, because of its simplicity of construction, can be produced inexpensively and automatically with a view to supplying the public with an efficient opening tool at small cost.

Still another important object of the invention is the provision of such a punch opener which is adapted to produce a substantial and complete pouring opening quickly at one arcuate movement of the opener. While such rapidly and completely created opening is desirable in connection with containers filled with most products, dry or wet, from the standpoint of the time element, it lends itself exceptionally well to and solves a real problem in the opening of containers filled with effervescent liquids such as beer, where a quick and adequate opening will prevent ebullition and spilling of the contents.

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Patent No. 1996184A: Keg Tapping Seal

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Today in 1935, US Patent 1996184A was issued, an invention of Edward Werthner, for his “Keg Tapping Seal.” There’s no Abstract, and the OCR was taking the day off when they digitized this one. I’ve tried to fix it where I could but some of it is just gibberish:

The usual beer keg is commonly only provided a cupped wooden bung and the dispensing means for discharging the beer as needed includes a tapered tap to be driven into the cupped bung to break out the bung bottom and their wedge fluid tightly into the bung side wall, said tap carrying the usual faucet tube or red; it often happens, however, that the side wall of the bung instead of remaining intact in the bung hole, breaks and will not fit tightly seal around the tap, or that the bung is driven completely into the keg. When such occurrences happen, not only does the keg-tapping person becomes showered with leaking beer squirting under pressure from the keg, but the gas from the beer is lost and the beer soon spoils. It is the object of my invention, however, to overcome such difficulties with the foregoing in-view, the invention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, description being accomplished by reference to the accompanying drawing.

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Patent No. 3436319A: Thin Layer Steam Distillation Of Hop Oil Extract

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Today in 1969, US Patent 3436319 A was issued, an invention of Louis Anton Freiherr Von Horst and Maximilian Kellner, for their “Thin Layer Steam Distillation of Hop Oil Extract.” There’s no Abstract, but it’s described as relating “to a process of producing essential oil of hop preparations, and more particularly to a continuous process of producing such oil of hop, and to products obtained thereby,” with something approximating an abstract:

Improved process of recovering oil of hop from a solvent extract of hops by steam distillation in a novel manner, namely by passing the hop extract downwardly in a thin layer along an externally heated surface counter currently to the upwardly flowing steam in an oxygen-free atmosphere. This process has the advantage of completely recovering the oil of hop from the steam distillate and simultaneously producing a residual hop extract containing other components of said extract in substantially unaltered form. If the temperature of the starting solvent extract of hops is between about 80 C. and about 135 C., partial isomerization of the humulones to the isohumulones which are important brewing additives, takes place.

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Patent No. 3875303A: Preparation Of Beer

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Today in 1975, US Patent 3875303 A was issued, an invention of Josef Hieber, assigned to Interbrew Betriebs Und Beteilg, for his “Preparation Of Beer.” Here’s the Abstract:

Beer is produced from a wort concentrate by a process involving sterilizing and desalting water, providing the sterilized and desalted water with a controlled salt content, dissolving a wort concentrate having at least 80% dry substance content in the water and fermenting with yeast to produce beer. The wort concentrate is dissolved in the water with a jet mixer and fermentation is carried out in a vessel containing a cooling chamber located above a centrifuge drum having therein plates for separating yeast and an impeller for circulating wort.

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Patent No. 4653388A: Small Scale Production Brewing

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Today in 1987, US Patent 4653388 A was issued, an invention of Noel R. Wilkinson, for his “Brewing” process, though specifically more of a “small scale production plant.” Here’s the Abstract:

An improved brewing unit in which energy is saved by providing a mash tun, hot water tank and kettle in a single unit, by partially enclosing the mash tun with the tank and if necessary pre-heating the water supply to the tank by using the heat from wort coolers provided between the unit and fermentation tank; further improvements are provided by constructing the kettle as a combined kettle and whirlpool in a single chamber having a circular wall and a tangential inlet to the wall, a pump and wort boiler being in circuit with the kettle so that wort is continuously circulated through the boiler and tangential inlet to the kettle while the worts are boiled. The combined kettle and whirlpool saves space and enables the process of brewing to be shortened with resultant savings in both energy and brewing time.

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Patent No. 4653290A: Beer Keg Ice Sleeve And Method Of Making Same

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Today in 1987, US Patent 4653290 A was issued, an invention of Shelley R. Byrne, for his “Beer Keg Ice Sleeve and Method of Making Same.” Here’s the Abstract:

An ice sleeve cooler for beer kegs or other beverages comprising a slip-over ice sleeve open at the bottom and open at the top and having inner and outer sleeve members with an ice pocket therebetween. The bottom of the sleeve members are joined in sealed relation and have a draw-string for attachment around the lower side wall of the keg, and both inner and outer sleeve members have top draw-strings for individually attaching these members to the keg. The method of fabricating the ice sleeve cooler from a one-piece sheet of plastic stock involves the steps of folding and sealing the sheet to form the double sleeve members with an integral bottom edge.

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Patent No. 724100A: Wort-Separator

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Today in 1903, US Patent 724100 A was issued, an invention of Max Henius, for his “Wort-Separator.” There’s no Abstract, but in the description claims that the “object is to provide a wort-separator of novel as well as comparatively simple and inexpensive construction, whereby the filtration of wort, both from grains and hops, may be effected more thoroughly and with greater economy both of time and labor than by any other filtering means hitherto employed and of which I am aware.”
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Patent No. 149046A: Improvement In Cooling And Preserving Beer

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Today in 1874, US Patent 149046 A was issued, an invention of Peter Libber, for his “Improvement In Cooling And Preserving Beer.” There’s no Abstract, but this introduction sums it up:

This invention relates to device for cooling and preserving beer and ale and similar substances in the process of manufacture, and which is required to be kept at such a temperature as to prevent its becoming sour in the process of fermentation preparatory to being barreled; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of the cooling float or swimmer employed to regulate the temperature of the beer in the fermenting tubs, as will hereinafter be more fully explained.

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