A PROCESS OF MAKING IMPROVED BEER AND ALE
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Schneider, of Williamsburg, King's County,
and State of New York, United States of America, for the Invention of
"A PROCESS OF MAKING IMPROVED BEER AND ALE."
Sealed the 22nd January 1867, and dated the 7th September 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION. left by the said John Schneider at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
September 1866.
J
I, JOHN SCHNEIDER, of Williamsburg, King's County, and State of New
York, United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "A PROCESS OF MAKING IMPROVED BEER AND ALE," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in placing a quantity of hops in an air-tight vessel
and extracting from the said hops the flavoring principle or lupulin by means
of boiling unfermented beer or ale, which I pour on to and filter through the
mass of hops and run the liquid thus produced through a worm or refrigerator
connected with the said vessel. I mix the extract or essence of hops thus
obtained in duo proportions with ordinary beer or ale, whereby I improve the
same in strength and flavor. The beer and ale with which I mix the extract
of hops I manufacture in the usual manner by steeping the barley or malt in

page_text: boiling water and extracting the nutritious matter from the same, which I
boil in coppers or tuns open to the air. During the boiling I put in only
sufficient hops to ensure fermentation of the wort, and boil the hops and wort
together. The hops from which I make the extract being placed in the
middle chamber of an air-tight vessel I take a proportional quantity of the
boiling wort and pour it into the upper chamber of the vessel; this boiling
wort passes through a distributer and rapidly filters through the mass of hops
in the middle chamber and passes downward to the lower or vacuum chamber,
and thence through a worm or refrigerator connected with the said vessel.
Now when the extract of hops and the wort in the tuns are sufficiently cool
I mix the extract or flavor of hops with the wort in proper proportions and
put the same into barrels for use, and thus I produce beer and ale of superior
quality, which can be manufactured for seventy-five per cent. of the cost
of the best article of the kind in the market.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Schneider in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th March 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SCHNEIDER, of Williamsburg, King's County, and State of New York, United
States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Ierself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Schneider, Her special licence that I, the said John Schneider, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Schneider, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Islo of Man, an Invention of "A PROCESS OF MAKING IMPROVED
BEER AND ALE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Schneider, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or. one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to bo performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent

page_text: Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent. .
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Schneider, do hereby declare the
naturo of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The nature of my Invention consists in placing a quantity of hops in an air-
tight vessel and extracting from the hops the flavoring principle or lupulin by
means of boiling unfermented beer or ale, which I pour on to and filter
through the mass of hops, and I afterwards run the liquid through a worm.or
refrigerator, and mix the said extract or essence of hops in due proportions
with ordinary beer or ale, whereby I improve the beer or ale in strength and
flavor, thus producing beer and ale of superior quality, for which Letters
Patent of the United States of America were granted to me on the 17th day
of July 1866, No. 56,453.
The ordinary way of making beer and ale is to steep or mash the prepared
barley or malt in boiling water, and when all the sugar, starch, etc., are
extracted the liquor is run off and boiled in suitable coppers or tuns open to
the air. The hops required to give the beer or ale flavor, and to assist the
fermentation of the wort, are put in during this process and are boiled with
the wort. When sufficiently boiled the wort is run off into vats, also open to
the air, to cool, and is there subjected to the process of fermentation in tuns,
after which it is put into casks for immediate or future use. The great
defect in this process so far as the hops are concerned is, that during the
operations of boiling and cooling the wort a very large per-centage of the
flavor of the hops is lost by evaporation, yet it is absolutely necessary that the
hops should be put into the beer at the particular stage of the manufacture
mentioned, otherwise the liquor would not ferment properly nor undergo the
chemical changes necessary for its conversion into beer or ale....
The manufacturing process by which I produce my improved beer and alo
I will explain as follows:-
1st, I steep my prepared barley or malt in the usual manner in boiling
water, and I extract all the sugar, starch, or nutritious matter from the same,
and the liquor holding these substances in solution I run off and boil in
suitable coppers or tuns open to the air.
2nd, I put into the boiling wort only a moiety of the quantity of hops now
used or required for making beer or ale, yet in sufficient quantity to ensure
the process of fermentation, and boil the hops and wort together in the usual
way.

page_text: 3rd, I place a small quantity of hops (varying in proportion, but generally
in the ratio of half a pound of hops for every barrel of liquor brewing) in the
middle chamber of an air-tight vessel so constructed that the air has no easy
access to the hops, and can be entirely excluded from the same if desired; a
few buckets (or like small quantity according to the weight of hops used) of
boiling wort are then poured into the upper chamber of said vessel and allowed
to flow through a distributor over the surface of the mass of hops; the wort
rapidly filters through the hops in the middle chamber and passes downward
through them and the perforated plate or bottom on which said hops rest,
extracting in its passage the whole, or nearly tho whole, of the flavoring pro-
perty contained in the hops; it is then received into the vacuum chamber or
lower part of said vessel and thence downward by a pipe passing through a
refrigerator; as it passes downward through said pipe it produces a vacuum
in the chamber behind it, and more liquor is thus sucked through the hops in
the vessel to supply the vacuum; from the refrigerator the liquor issues
cold, and may then be added to the beer or ale at any time desired.
4th, I now distribute the liquor in any required proportion through the
great bulk of the boiled wort from which the small quantity used to extract
the hop flavor was taken, but such addition of the hop flavor is made after
the fermentation of said liquor and when there is no longer any danger of its
being lost by exposure to the air. Furthermore I use the boiling wort as
the solvent to extract the lupulin from the hops for the reason that it is
better adapted than water or steam to produce the required changes in the
chemical constituents of the wort brought about by boiling, rendering it
thereby isomeric and particularly capable of disolving the lupulin. The high
specific gravity of the wort causes it to boil only at a higher temperature than
boiling water, and this increases its power of disolving vegitable essences
such as lupulin, and for this reason the conduction of the process in a closed
vessel is essential to its success because of the volatility of the lupulin. From
the above it will be seen hat the manufacture or process of making my
improved beer and ale is not only simple but convenient; that the beer and
ale produced is not liable to sour, but is substantial, well flavored, and
possesses the tonic property of the hops, rendering it as a healthy and
palatable beverage superior to any beer or ale hitherto introduced into the
market, and can be manufactured for 75 per cent. of their cost.
Having described my Invention, what I claim and desire to secure by
Letters Patent is, the above described process and production of improved
beer and ale substantially as described and set forth.
I also claim the peculiar manner of extracting the essence from hops by

page_text: means of the boiling wort or unfermented beer or ale for the purposes
substantially as set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Schneider, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of January, A.D. 1867..
Witnesses,
ARTHUR NEILL,
HENRY D. B. LEFFERTS.
JOHN SCHNEIDER. (L.S.)