Today in 1969, US Patent 3441416 A was issued, an invention of Wilhelm Depmer, for his “Method of Pelleting Hops and Then Solvent Extracting.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states that the invention involves a “method of processing hops [that] includes conveying a mass of previously untreated hops to a compressing station, mechanically compressing the mass of hops, and simultaneously converting it into at least one rod, and thereupon subdividing the rod into individual sections or pellets of desired size which are subsequently subjected to solvent extraction.”
Patent No. 2038939A: Method Of Making Prune Beer
Today in 1936, US Patent 2038939 A was issued, an invention of Eberhard A. Klepper, for his “Method of Making Prune Beer.” There’s no Abstract, but the description is below, giving the objects of the invention for making prune beer. The application was filed in October of 1933, just as prohibition was scheduled to end three months later, but not issued until 1936. It’s hard to understand why anyone would have thought prune beer was a good idea at the same time that legal beer was returning after a thirteen year drought.
A few months later, the Milwaukee Sentinel on August 16, 1936 ran a short article about prune beer.
A San Jose newspaper on November 14, 1936 reported that a man in Hollister, California was actually trying to build a brewery to make prune beer using “sub-standard prunes” using the method described in this patent.
I wonder if it ever opened? The last brewery in Hollister I knew about was Bill Millar’s San Andreas Brewing, which is also where Stone’s Mitch Steele got his start. They made a cranberry beer I really liked, Cranberry Noel, but not a prune beer as far I recall. Whatever the fate of prune beer, it doesn’t look like it ever really took off.
Patent No. 1094469A: Beer-Stein
Today in 1914, US Patent 1094469 A was issued, an invention of Thomas P. Pick, for his “Beer-Stein.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states that the “invention relates to improvements in beer steins and the like and has for its object to provide a device of this character with a hinged cover which may be detached therefrom at will.”
Patent No. 1137495A: Apparatus For Dispensing Beverages
Today in 1915, US Patent 1137495 A was issued, an invention of Anton Landgrebe, for his “Apparatus For Dispensing Beverages.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states that the “invention relates to [a] beer apparatus and has particular reference to means for cooling and dispensing beverages and especially beer.”
Patent No. 2115335A: Can Filling Machine
Today in 1938, US Patent 2115335 A was issued, an invention of Samuel A. Hurst and Harrie A. Keck, for their “Can Filling Machine.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states that the “invention relates to an improvement in’ machines for filling cans and other receptacles with various kinds of materials, and more particularly to an improvement in machines for filling receptacles.”
Patent No. 2155947A: Bottle Opener
Today in 1939, US Patent 2155947 A was issued, an invention of Theodore H. Low, for his “Bottle Opener.” There’s no Abstract, but the description summarizes it that the “invention relates to improvements in hand decappers or openers for bottles sealed with crown caps.”
Patent No. 1956218A: Capping Head
Today in 1934, US Patent 1956218 A was issued, an invention of George J Huntley and Harry A Rau, assigned to the Crown Cork & Seal Co., for their “Capping Head.” There’s no Abstract, but the description summarizes it. “The present invention relates to an improvement in capping heads and, more particularly, comprises a means for feeding closure or cap blanks to the capping mechanism of the capping head.”
Patent No. 3729321A: Preparation Of Beer
Today in 1973, US Patent 3729321 A was issued, an invention of N.L. Vacano, assigned to Rainier Companies, for their “Preparation Of Beer.” There’s no Abstract, but the description summarizes it. “This invention relates to the production of beer. More particularly, this invention is concerned with improvements in the process of producing beer starting with the wort, fermenting the wort with yeast to form green beer, aging of the beer and the subsequent finishing operation, as Well as improved apparatus for producing beer.”
Patent No. 672788A: Device For Hoisting And Transferring Bottled Beer In Bottling Establishments
Today in 1901, US Patent 672788 A was issued, an invention of Albert Lieber and August Meimberg, for their “Device for Hoisting and Transferring Bottled Beer in Bottling Establishments.” There’s no Abstract, but in the description summarizes it by stating that they’ve “invented new and useful Improvements in Devices for Hoisting and Transferring Bottled Beer in Bottling Establishments by Means of Air-Hoists and Transverse Carriers.” But below is a more detailed account.
Our invention relates to an improvement in the means for handling of large quantities of bottled beer for the purpose of pasteurizing. During the operation of this process the bottled beer has to be transferred in trays by means of trucks from the place of filling to the pasteurizing-tanks. Arriving at the tanks, the trays loaded with bottled beer must be elevated, so that the tray may be moved over the steaming-tank and then lowered into the same. It has been customary heretofore to perform these operations by means of hand or chain-hoists, necessitating the employment of a large number of men.
Our invention comprehends, in addition to the pasteurizing tank or tanks and the trays in which the bottled beer is contained while being transported and pasteurized, a raising and lowering means which travels on overhead tracks and carries the beer to position over the tank in which it is to be pasteurized and `from said tank after it (the beer) has been pasteurized. The raising and lowering means preferred by us comprises a cylinder having therein a piston-head and provided with a piston-rod having means by which a tray is detachably connected therewith. Said cylinder is also provided with means by which a suitable means or medium, preferably compressed air, is conveyed thereto for the purpose of actuating the piston and raising and lowering the tray with its contained bottles of beer. The construction is preferably such that the compressed air enters the cylinder at points which are both above and below the limits of travel of the piston-head and is conveyed to the inlets by pipes which have their contiguous ends joined by a valve-casing having a suitable valve, actuable to cause the compressed air to enter the upper part of the cylinder in order to drive the piston downward,and thereby lower the tray, with its contained bottles of beer, into the pasteurizing-tank or onto a truck after the beer has been pasteurized and to cause the air to enter the lower port in the cylinder when it is desired to raise the piston, and thereby lift the tray and beer from a truck or from said pasteurizing-tank. This means of raising and lowering the trays, with their contained bottles, by compressed air or other suitable fluid admitted below and above the piston-head, respectively, has especial advantages in the handling of bottled goods, as the action of the piston in both directions of its travel is cushioned by said duid, and said piston, together with the parts carried thereby, is caused to move slowly, steadily, and without jar, whereby the liability of breaking the bottles is reduced to a minimum and is materially less than it would be if the piston were caused to descend by gravity. The means adopted for detachably connecting the hoisting device with the trays are of peculiar construction and include pendent eyes or loops carried by said device to engage hooks on the trays, together with a slidable or movable safety device adapted to prevent accidental disconnection of the parts from each other.
Patent No. 2789654A: Apparatus For Filtering Air Or Gas That Enters Beer Kegs
Today in 1957, US Patent 2789654 A was issued, an invention of David Zurit, for his “Apparatus for Filtering Air or Gas That Enters Beer Kegs.” There’s no Abstract, but in the description summarizes it thusly. “This invention relates to apparatus for filtering the air or compressed gas supplied to a beer keg, and the invention relates more particularly to a construction in which a separate filter, with a replaceable filter cartridge, is connected with each individual beer keg from which draft beer is drawn.”
