Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Patent No. PP10147P: Hop Plant named `H900322-4`

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Today in 1997, US Patent PP10147 P was issued, another invention of Gene Probasco, assigned to John I. Haas, Inc., for his “Hop Plant named ‘H900322-4.'” Here’s the Abstract:

A new and distinct triploid hop, Humulus lupulus, plant selected from the progeny of USDA `21055` X John I. Haas, Inc. No. `833-53M`, characterized by an unusually high percentage of alpha-acids, coupled with a high yield. This plant also has a high amount of farnesene as a component in the essential oil (8.8% of the total oil is farnesene). None of the USA high alpha-acids varieties has farnesene in the oil. Further, `H900322-4` (hereinafter “H900322-4”) has a higher cohumulone content (44.0%) of the alpha-acids than any of the USA high alpha-acids varieties. Harvest maturity is medium-late, with `Nugget` and following `Galena` by about 1 week. Cone size is medium to large yet compact and ovoid, and easily mechancially harvested. Cones are non-shattering, and have bracts that are of a darker green color than bracteoles, resulting in a striped appearance.

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Patent No. 6659298B2: Polyester Beer Bottle

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Today in 2003, US Patent 6659298 B2 was issued, another invention of Chio Fai Wong, for his “Polyester Beer Bottle.” Here’s the Abstract:

A polyester beer bottle comprising a bottleneck, a body and a bottom of the bottle, which are once blown and shaped with polyester blank, in which arc portion in a vertical section extended from the joint of shaped bottom and body of the bottle to a plane of the bottom has a radius ranging over 15-25 mm; an arc radius in a vertical section of the concave quaquversal portion projecting inwards at a bottom surface of said bottle is in a range of 20-35 mm, and the distance between a top of the concave quaquversal portion to the plane of bottom is in a range of 7-15 mm; an outward projecting support flange portion is formed at the joint between said concave quaquversal portion and the bottom plane of the bottle, a height of the flange portion is in a range of 0.1-5 mm; and a side-face of the bottle is connected to said concave quaquversal portion at the bottom of the bottle via the transition arc portions respectively having different radius, in which the radius of first transition arc is in a range of 3-8 mm, and the second transition arc radius is in a range of 0.5-2 mm. The ratio between the maximum outer diameter of the bottom of the bottle and the diameter of the flange portion on said bottom plane of the bottle is in a range of 1.2-1.7.

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Patent No. EP2258828A2: Improved Grain Kilning Device

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Today in 2010, US Patent EP 2258828 A2 was issued, another invention of Denis Julien, assigned to Malteurop Groupe, for his “Improved Grain Kilning Device.” Here’s the Abstract:

The device (1) for kilning grains in a chamber (3) having controlled atmosphere, comprises a kilning tank (5) having a grid bottom for receiving the grain, and a unit for holding kilning tank inside the chamber so that the grid bottom is raised with respect to a floor of the chamber. The floor of the chamber is made in the form of a floor slab (7). The holding unit comprises legs supported on the floor slab. The grid bottom of the kilning tank rests on each of the supporting legs. The kilning tank has a cylindrical shape and the grid bottom has a circular shape. The device (1) for kilning grains in a chamber (3) having controlled atmosphere, comprises a kilning tank (5) having a grid bottom for receiving the grain, and a unit for holding kilning tank inside the chamber so that the grid bottom is raised with respect to a floor of the chamber. The floor of the chamber is made in the form of a floor slab (7). The holding unit comprises legs supported on the floor slab. The grid bottom of the kilning tank rests on each of the supporting legs. The kilning tank has a cylindrical shape and the grid bottom has a circular shape, while the chamber has cylindrical shape and the floor slab is rectangular or square. The chamber has a sidewall (11) along the floor slab and rising vertically from the floor slab to top of the kilning tank. A platform and a unit for holding the platform in the chamber are arranged in the kilning device so that the platform extends transversely from the side wall to the vicinity of the kilning tank. The kilning tank comprises a sidewall along the grid bottom, in which sealing elements are arranged between the sidewall of the kilning tank and a proximal end of the platform. The grid bottom comprises slab grids each floating with respect to underlying supporting legs. The supporting legs comprise a telescopic body. The chamber further comprises a side wall made in the form of a building wall or a partition, where the side wall has stiffening ribs.

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Patent No. 3545475A: Tap Assembly

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Today in 1970, US Patent 3545475 A was issued, another invention of Marlow W. Dodge and Arthur L. Johnson Jr., for their “Tap Assembly.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

A tap for tapping an initially sealed keg of draft beer and including a draw tube, a gas tube, a tap body, and a coupling constructed as a unitary assembly, the draw tube remaining in the same position relative to the tap body before, during and after tapping of the keg. A yieldable sealing membrane in a plug in the tap hole of the keg is punctured as the draw tube is inserted into the keg, and then seals around the gas tube to establish an automatic seal between the tap and the plug. A taper at the lower end of the tap body wedges into the plug to hold the tap body and the tubes on the keg.

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Patent No. 2916421A: Straining Tank

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Today in 1959, US Patent 2916421 A was issued, another invention of Robert C. Gadsby, Joseph Schwaiger and Frank H. Schwaiger, assigned to Anheuser Busch, for their “Straining Tank.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to a straining tank or grain extractor or lauter tub, and more particularly to a new type of straining tank for use in the brewing industry to remove extract from brewers grains.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to increase the efficiency of the extraction of soluble substances from material within a straining tank. Another object is to provide a’straining tank with the shortest exposure and contact time between the wort and grains and between the sparge water and the grains which have substances extracted therefrom, thereby extracting less of the undesired substances from the husks of the grains. This results in a cleaner and milder flavor for the resulting wort. Another object is to eliminate the mechanical agitator formerly required and avoid the formation of channels which the numerous knife .blades previously cut into the grain bed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a straining tank which is relatively small and inexpensive compared to those lauter tubs and mash filters presently used to remove extracts from grains. Another object is to increase .the capacity for removing extracts from grains in a brewing operation, thereby increasing the capacity of the brewery. Another object is to provide a straining device which requires less time per batch and allows more brews per day. Another object is to provide for the fast removal of spent grains from a straining tank which can then be easily and rapidly cleaned.

Still another object is to provide a device which has a smaller initial cost and which requires fewer operators than previously required to efficiently operate a straining tank or mash filter.

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Patent No. 3625843A: Method For Treating Beer

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Today in 1971, US Patent 3625843 A was issued, another invention of Heinz Doevenspeck, for his “Method For Treating Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

It is an object of the present invention to develop this prior art method and, in particular, to render it applicable with advantage to the treatment of liquids, preferably of beer. The method is intended to be developed in a manner as to enable the same to be carried out at temperatures of only about 25 C, thereby to prevent changes in flavor and color of the liquids to be treated and to obtain, at the same time, pasteurization and/or sterilization as well as stabilization of the liquids for the purpose of increasing the durability thereof.

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Patent No. 2336280A: Hop Cluster Stemmer

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Today in 1943, US Patent 2336280 A was issued, another invention of George E. Miller, for his “Hop Cluster Stemmer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to hop picking machines.

Hops grow on vines which are trained vertically on strings attached .to’ horizontal wires suspended about eighteen feet above the ground. At harvest time the vines are pulled down and hauled to a plant where they are run through a machine which picks the hops from the vines. The picked hops are then separated from the leaves, etc.

From the time the vine is pulled down in the hop field to the time it is fed into the picking machine, it receives considerable handling in the course of which clusters become detached from the vine. A cluster comprises an arm or branch of the vine bearing a cluster of hops. Heretofore the only satisfactory way to salvage the hops on these clusters was to pick them off by hand-an expensive, laborious task.

The object of this invention is to provide a machine for doing this work.

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Patent No. 2139029A: Hop Picking Machine

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Today in 1938, US Patent 2139029 A was issued, an invention of George E. Miller, for his “Hop Picking Machine.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to a hop picking machine, and especially to improvements in the construction and operation thereof.

The object of the present invention is generally 5 to improve and simplify the construction and operation of hop picking machines; to provide a machine which will not only pick or remove the hops from the vines, but also from arms and clusters broken and pulled off the vines during the picking operation; to provide a machine which employs belts and cooperating drums mounted above them, said belts and cooperating drums .being provided with picking fingers which comb a the vines from opposite sides to remove the hops; to provide an endless flexible diamond-‘ meshed wire screen belt which is disposed below the picking belts, and cooperates therewith, to pick arms and break up clusters; to provide a machine which is divided into two picking zones, 80 one zone’in which the picking fingers are comparatively widely separated and where the major portion of the hops are removed, and a second zone in which the picking fingers are closely spaced to strip the vines of the remaining hops; to provide a picking machine which provides almost immediate liberation or removal of the hops from the picking zones, so as to prevent damage or breakage of the hops after they have been removed from the vines by the picking fingers; to provide a picking machine which tends to flatten out and spread the vines as they pass through and between the picking fingers. so as to insure a more thorough picking or removal of the hops; to provide means for separating the hops from leaves which are accidentally removed during the picking operation; and further, to provide means for automatically releasing and removing the vines from the machine when picked.

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Patent No. 3290153A: Process And Apparatus For Concentrating Wort

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Today in 1966, US Patent 3290153 A was issued, an invention of Peter D. Bayne and John L. Pahlow, assigned to Schlitz Brewing Co., for his “Process and Apparatus for Concentrating Wort.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The process of the invention, which includes the continuous film evaporation under high temperature and short holding time conditions, prevents degradation or color gain of the wort. On reconstitution, identical or organoleptic properties of the original wort are obtained.

The process of the invention utilizes a continuous flow of wort which is obtained by use of the pair of hot wort settling tanks in combination with the centrifuge so that a continuous supply of wort is available. Thus, it is not necessary to cease openation while waiting for a new batch of wort. l

A provision is also made in the process for automatically adding hop constituents to the Wort in the holding tank. A portion of the hop constituents will be lost during the concentrating process, and to compensate for this loss, a predetermined amount of hop constituents may be empirically added during the concentration process.

In addition, the process employs a density control mechanism which accurately regulate-s the final specific -gravity or concentration of the wort. The wort being discharged from the finishing evaporator passes through the density control mechanism which regulates the heating medium used in the` evaporator so that a uniform degree of Wort concentration is obtained.

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