Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Patent No. 438328A: Apparatus For Brewing

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Today in 1890, US Patent 438328 A was issued, an invention of William J. Seib, for his “Apparatus For Brewing.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention relates to an improvement in apparatus for use in collecting, condensing, and storing the essential oil and aromatic properties of hops to save them, and which is, therefore, especially serviceable for the particular purpose for which I have invented it namely, that of saving the aforesaid properties of the hops while they are being boiled with the wort in the manufacture of beer.

My present invention is particularly designed to afford an improvement in the construction of an apparatus for the same purpose as that set forth in the application of Carl Hoefner for Letters Patent of the United States No. 301,482, allowed on the 22d day of March, 1890. The construction of the apparatus therein described necessitates that the vapor from the kettle shall pass to the condenser and return by the same course to the storage-reservoir, which impairs the effectiveness of the condensation, since the liquid thereof has to pass under the influence of the rising heated vapor to gain access to the receptacle.

My object is to provide an apparatus for the purpose stated whereby this objection shall be obviated; and to this end my invention consists in the construction hereinafter set forth and claimed.

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Patent No. EP0949328A1: Gluten-Free Beer Containing Rice Malt

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Today in 1999, US Patent EP 0949328 A1 was issued, an invention of Marina Pieranna Bellini, Francesco Collavo, Giovanni Maccagnan, Antonio Pat, and Gian Luca Ragg, assigned to Heineken Italia S.p.A., for their “Gluten-Free Beer Containing Rice Malt.” Here’s the Abstract:

A gluten-free beer obtained from a mixture of starting materials comprising buck wheat, rice malt and optionally a component chosen from the group comprising corn, sorghum, millet and/or syrups thereof; this component is preferably corn syrup; the beer is obtained by saccharifying the above-mentioned mixture, optionally in the presence of amylolytic enzymes and glucanase, and it is particularly suitable for consumption by gluten-intolerant individuals.

Surprising this patent was issued in 1999, a bit before gluten-free became “a thing.” I was taking classes at UC Davis when Anheuser-Busch was sending samples of their gluten-free Redbridge to Dr. Michael Lewis, who had recently discovered he suffered from celiac disease. I ended up doing an article about the science behind gluten-free beer for Zymurgy magazine and did a tasting of gluten-free beers for it at Davis right after A-B debuted Redbridge, and that was in 2006. As far I know, I haven’t seen a gluten-free beer from Heineken, although I seem to recall that their beer is low in gluten.

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Patent No. 2057231A: Beer Faucet

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Today in 1936, US Patent 2057231 A was issued, an invention of Lester J. Dawson, for his “Faucet.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in faucets, and more particularly to faucets especially designed for dispensing gaseous liquids such as beer. An object of the present invention is to provide a beer faucet of simple and inexpensive construction comprising a valve mounted for reciprocal movement which, when opened, is i entirely out of the beer stream so that the beer may flow unobstructedly through the valve substantially without agitation. A further object is to provide a beer-faucet provided with a suitable dispensing nozzle and having a passage therein adapted to be connected to aL beer supply under pressure and a valve being interposed between the beer nozzle and said passage for controlling flow through the nozzle, said valve being so constructed and arranged that the pressure of the carbon dioxide and other gas content of the beer will tend to hold the valve on its seat when closed.

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Patent No. 3152717A: Carbonated Beverage Can

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Today in 1964, US Patent 3152717 A was issued, an invention of Joseph Schwaiger, assigned to Anheuser Busch, for his “Carbonated Beverage Can.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to a novel container or can for carbonated beverages, particularly beer, and also to a method for controlling the corrosion which normally occurs within such a container when filled with a carbonated beverage or other food product.

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Patent No. 7810679B2: Beer Dispensing System With Gas Pressure Reservoir

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Today in 2010, US Patent 7810679 B2 was issued, an invention of Albert W. Wauters, Ian Anderson, and Edward P. Duffy, assigned to Anheuser-Busch Inbev S.A., for their “Beer Dispensing System with Gas Pressure Reservoir.” Here’s the Abstract:

A home beer dispensing apparatus has a keg having a self-contained bag filled with a beer and a pressure system. The pressure system creates a pressurized air space between the keg inner walls and the bag to assist in the dispensing of the beer. The pressure system has a keg one-way air valve mounted to a top wall of the keg to permit entry of pressurized air into the keg. The pressure system has a pressure reservoir mounted in the dispensing apparatus outside the keg and in fluid flow communication with the keg one-way valve. The reservoir stores a charge of pressurized air and supplies at least a portion of this charge to the keg through the keg air valve when the dispensing apparatus is operated to dispense the beer. The reservoir provides a reserved charge of pressurized gas that is on hand to reduce dampening pressure fluctuations during beer dispensing which can result in beer frothing, especially during the early stages of beer dispensing when the air head space in the keg is small. Further, the apparatus may also have a pressure sensing system adapted to measure time rate of pressure change in the keg. The apparatus has a signaling device responsive to the time rate of pressure change in the keg to produce a signal related to volume of beer remaining in the bag. Preferably, the signal is displayed visually on the dispensing apparatus.

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Patent No. 2451273A: Method Of Applying Bottle Caps

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Today in 1948, US Patent 2451273 A was issued, an invention of Elvin M. Bright, for his “Method of Applying Bottle Caps.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to improvements in a method for thermoplastically capping bottles.

It is an important object of the invention to provide a method and means of capping a bottle which, to a large extent, will make use of standard existing bottle capping equipment and will provide a cap which will not interfere with the handling, processing, merchandising, and use of the bottle and its contents in accordance with conventional procedure.

From the standpoint of the process involved, a very important objective is to soften a thickened margin of the bottle cap blank without softening the remainder thereof, and to mold such thickened margin around the cap-receiving bead of the bottle and immediately to harden it thereon. In this connection I propose to utilize infra-red rays or other radiant heat for softening the flange of the bottle cap blank while shielding and thermally insulating the top of the blank from such rays. Infra-red rays are preferred because of the ease with which they may be directed and controlled.

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Patent No. 2331556A: Process For Purifying Wort

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Today in 1943, US Patent 2331556 A was issued, an invention of Hans Olof Lindgren, for his “Process For Purifying Wort.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The object of the invention is to provide a method of purifying, cooling, and aerating the wort, the main part of which is carried out as a continuous process, which is free of the above objections. The warm Wort leaving the hops boiler, at a temperature which is usually above 85 C. (185 FJ, and which should not be below ’70 C. (158 F.), or above 100 C. (212 F), is strained with a view to removing the coarsest impurities. It is then purified in a centrifuge f1 om which the purified Wort is discharged continuously. The wort is then passed through a cooler of such a construction that it cannot therein come into contact with the atmosphere. The cooled wort is conveyed to tanks, e. g., similar to the fermenting vats above described, in which the cool sludge is removed from the wort by finely divided air which has been mixed therewith at some step of the Process at which the wort is hot enough to sterilize the air, and which in the tank 6 lifts the .cool sludge to the surface. The air and the impurities, together with a small amount of wort, there form a layer of froth which may be skimmed off. If a suitable amount of air is used, a satisfactory purification is obtained at the same time, as the amount of wort contained in the froth is so small that it is unnecessary to take any measures for recovering it. The finely divided air need not be sterile unless it is introduced into the stream after the Wort has been partly or wholly cooled.

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Patent No. 6953256B2: Illuminated Tap Handle

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Today in 2005, US Patent 6953256 B2 was issued, an invention of Brent Turner, for his “Illuminated Tap Handle.” Here’s the Abstract:

One object of the invention is to provide an illuminated tap handle including a handle with one end capable of being secured to a tap and a threadable and detachable end allowing the placement of a removable energy source into the handle completing a circuit and illuminating a light source connected to a conducting strip inside the handle when the threadable end is substantially threaded onto the handle and a conducting portion on the threadable end touches the conducting strip and energy source. Another object is where the conducting strip is situated within the tap handle such that when the threadable end is partially or completely unthreaded the tension of the conduction strip is released and situated just above and not touching the energy source, but when the threadable end is substantially threaded onto the tap handle, the conducting strip is again pressed onto the energy source completing the circuit.

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Patent No. 4053653A: Method Of Obtaining Lupulin-Rich Products From Hops

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Today in 1977, US Patent 4053653 A was issued, an invention of Junjiro Miyata and Yasushi Kikuchi, assigned to Asahi Breweries, Ltd., for their “Method of Obtaining Lupulin-Rich Products from Hops.” Here’s the Abstract:

A method of obtaining lupulin-rich products from hops, which comprises: subjecting frozen hop cones to coarse crushing by a first crusher equipped with a screen having width of openings in the range of 6 – 15 mm and sieving fragments of crushed hops passing therethrough to obtain a first lot of lupulin-rich product as accumulated beneath the sieve; and then subjecting the portion which passed over the screen of the sieve to recrushing by a second crusher equipped with a screen having narrower openings than that of the first crusher a screen having width of openings in the range of 3 – 6 mm, and sieving fragments of recrushed hops passing therethrough to obtain a second lot of lupulin-rich product as accumulated beneath the sieves.
The method is performed on hops and particles thereof maintained in the frozen condition.

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Patent No. 3346167A: Insulated Reclosable Beer Carton

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Today in 1967, US Patent 3346167 A was issued, an invention of Trueman L. Schmidt, assigned to the Olympia Brewing Company, for his “Insulated Reclosable Beer Carton.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

It is the main object of the present invention to provide an insulated carton for filled beer cans or similar containers, which carton has a handle, allowing it to be readily carried about, and which carton can be opened to remove one or more cans Without exposing all the cans, and which carton can thereafter readily and effectively be reclosed to retain the cool temperature of the remaining filled beer cans, to enable subsequent consumption thereof by the purchaser and his friends.

The insulated reclosable carton of the present invention is characterized by having a sleeve type outer carton member and a box type inner carton member slidably received by the outer carton member in snug relation thereto. The outer carton member has a handle by which it, together with the inner carton member, can be readily carried. The inner carton member is provided with one and preferably two hatch flaps in the side walls of the inner carton member, the hatch flaps being openable to provide an opening through which one or more can be removed from the carton. The hatch flaps are then readily flipped back to their closed positions and maintained in such closed position by the outer carton member when the inner carton member is again slid back into the outer carton member. The hatch flaps are located in staggered relation and near the end margins of their respective side wall panels so that the inner carton member does not have to be completely removed from the outer carton member in order to remove one or more cans, and, by staggering the hatch flaps, it is immaterial which Way the inner carton member is moved relative to the outer carton member because one of the hatch flaps will be exposed regardless of which way it is shifted. The inner carton member and outer carton member are so constructed that the inner carton member is releasably retained in its fully surrounded condition by the outer carton member to avoid accidental displacement of the inner carton member relative to the outer carton member.

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