IMPROVEMENTS IN MASHING AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH."
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Richard Southby, of Gresham House, 24, Holborn
Viaduct, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MASHING AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Richard Southby
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th December 1877.
EDMUND RICHARD SOUTHBY, of Gresham House, 24, Holborn Viaduct, in the
City of London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MASHING AND APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH,"
Maize or Indian corn has been malted, and beer has been brewed from the maize
malt, but owing to the peculiar hard, horny, character of a portion of the grains of
this cereal, a comparatively small proportion of the malt is rendered soluble by the
action of the diastase, and great loss arises from this cause.
Malting the maize renders a greater portion of the grains soluble than when
they are in the unmalted state, but a large proportion still remains insoluble,
notwithstanding the finest grinding and most careful mashing.
My Invention consists in mashing the maize malt, which I sometimes previously
grind. The maize malt may be mashed at the same temperature as barley malt
is usually mashed, and with about the same proportion of water, and for about the
same time. Any unabsorbed liquor or wort may be then drawn off; and the malt,
which has now become thoroughly softened, is ground in any form of mill, which
will reduce all the softened horny portions to a pasty condition. For this purpose
I find smooth rolls to answer well. I sometimes gear these so that they may run
at different speeds. After the grinding, the pasty mass is incorporated with
any worts drawn off, as above described, and the whole brought again to the
mashing temperature, and allowed to stand until saccharification bas proceeded to
the desired extent. Or it may be mixed with an ordinary mash of barley malt.
I sometimes carry out the above process in a conveniently arranged and con-
nected apparatus consisting of a vessel with a conical or sloping bottom, provided
at its lowest point with a water tight slide or valve, and communicating through
Price Ad
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page_text: the latter with a shoot, which may have a perforated false bottom for draining off
the superfluous liquid into the second mash tun placed below.
The shoot conducts the mashod malt to a mill, which may be heated where it
is ground, and from which the pasty mass is conducted to the second mash tun,
where it can be mashed with the drained-off liquor; or it may be previously 5
conducted to one of the forms of mashing machine which mashes outside the tun,
where or in the tun it may be mixed with a mash of barley malt. In this second
tun the temperature is to be maintained at the usual mashing heat, and the mash
is to remain until the starchy matters are saccharified and the desired proportions
of dextrine and sugar produced from them. The wort may then be drawn off and 1
treated in the usual manner for the production of beer, or it can be evaporated to
a syrup or to a solid extract.
By the above process I obtain an equal or even a larger yield of extract from
maize malt to that ordinarily obtained from bailey malt, whereas by simply
inashing maize malt, even when ground very fine and mixed with a large pro- 1
portion of barley malt, only a very poor yield of extract can be obtained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edmund Richard Southby in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th June 1878.
EDMUND RICHARD SOUTHBY, of Grosham House, 24, Holborn Viaduct, in the 2
City of London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MASHING AND APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH."
Maize or Indian corn has been malted, and beer has been brewed from the maize
malt, but owing to the peculiar hard, horny, character of a portion of the grains of
this cereal, a comparatively small proportion of the malt is rendered soluble by the 2
action of the diastase, and great loss arises from this cause.
Malting the maize renders a greater portions of the grains soluble than when they
are in the unmalted state, but a large proportion still remains insoluble, notwith-
standing the finest grinding and most careful mashing.
My Invention consists in mashing the maize malt, which I sometimes previously 3
grind. The maize malt may be mashed at the same temperature as barley malt is
usually mashed, and with about the same proportion of water and for about the
same time. Any unabsorbed liquor or wort may be then drawn off, and the malt,
which has now become thoroughly softened, is ground in any form of mill, which
will reduce all the softened horny portions to a pasty condition. For this purpose 3
I find smooth rolls to answer well. I sometimes gear these, so that they may run
at different speeds. After the grinding the pasty mass is incorporated with any
worts drained off, as above described, and the whole brought again to the mashing
temperature, and allowed to stand until saccharification has proceeded to the
desired extent. Or it may be mixed with an ordinary mash of barley malt..
4

page_text: I sometimes carry out the above process in a conveniently arranged and
connected apparatus consisting of a vessel with a conical or sloping bottom,
provided at its lowest point with a water-tight slide or valve, and communicating
through the latter with a shoot, which may have a perforated false bottom for
draining off the superfluous liquid into the second mash tun placed below.
The shoot conducts the mashed malt to a mill, which may be heated where it is
ground, and from which the pasty mass is conducted to the second mash tun, whero
it can be mashed with the drained-off liquor; or it may be previously conducted
to one of the forms of mashing machine which mashes outside the tun, where or in
the tun it may be mixed with a mash of barley malt. In this second tun the
temperature is to be maintained at the usual mashing heat, and the mash is to
remain until the starchy matters are saccharified and the desired proportions of
dextrine and sugar produced from them. The wort may then be drawn off and
treated in the usual manner for the production of beer, or it can be evaporated to
a syrup or to a solid extract.
By the above process I obtain an equal or even a larger yield of extract from
maize malt to that ordinarily obtained from barley malt, whereas by simply
nashing maize, even when ground very fine and mixed with a large proportion of
barley malt, only a very poor yield of extract can be obtained.
In carrying out my Invention the maize malt may be ground previous to the
mashing, that is to say, steeping at the mashing temperature, or at a temperature
sufficiently high to prevent acid fermentations from being set up, but not high
enough to destroy or render inert the diastase, as is well understood. I find
however that it is generally more convenient and economical in power to mash the
whole grain, that is to say, to steep it at the mashing temperature, as described
above.
When I operate on the whole grain I place it in a tub or vat, the bottom of
which may be conical and provided with a sluice for the removal of the maize
malt after the mashing is completed; or the bottom may be flat, either with or
without a sluice; in the latter case the removal of the malt froin the tub after
the mashing will have to be effected by the aid of shovels, or other mechanical
appliances. The tub should be provided with a perforated false bottom, and it is a
good plan to have a steam coil below this false bottom, in order to maintain the
required temperature, especially in small tubs or vats.
The maize malt having been placed in the tub or vat, whatever may be its form,
hot water is run in until it covers the malt, or the hot water may be run in beforo
the malt, or they may be introduced simultaneously into the tub or vat; in any case
sufficient water must be used to cover the malt, and the temperature of the water
should be such that the mixture of inalt and water is above the temperature at
which acid fermentations are liable to be set up, and below that at which the
diastase is rendered inert. I find that water at a temperature of 170° F. produces
good results. The maize malt should be just completely covered with water at that
temperature, and as the water is absorbed by the malt, fresh quantities must be
added so as to keep the malt always covered; the additional quantities of water
added may be at a rather higher temperature, 180° F. even is not too high provided
the water is run in below the falso bottom, or some other precaution is taken to
mix it equally through the bulk. If in spite of the addition of these small quantities
of hot water the temperature falls bolow 140° F., steam should be passed through
the coil below the false bottom so as to maintain and increase the temperature.
I find that very good results are obtained by maintaining the temperature
at 150° F.
The time during which this mashing or steeping at the mashing temperature
is to be continued varies according to the quality of the maize, and the more or
less perfect manner in which it has been malted, but I find that about two hours
generally gives good results. When this operation of mashing or steeping at a
mashing temperature is completed, the maize malt is to be ground, and this may
be accomplished in any form of mill which will reduce all the softened horny

page_text: portions to the condition of a fine paste or a fine moist meal, according to the
proportion of water that is allowed to pass with the maize malt into the mill.
I find that a mill formed of a combination of four smooth rolls set in pairs
answers well. One pair of rolls is fixed above the other, and so as to feed directly
into the second pair. The upper pair are set so as to roughly crush the maize malt,
and the lower pair are set close together so as to reduce it to the necessary state
of comminution. The lower pair should be geared together so as to drive at un-
equal speeds.
Each roll in both sets must be provided with a scraper on its under side to scrape
off any ground malt that may adhero to it.
The superfluous water which has not been absorbed by the maize malt, during
the mashing or steeping at a mashing temperature, may be run directly into the
mash tun in which the wort from the ground maize malt is to be prepared, or it
may be run through the mill with the maize malt, or it may be utilised in some
other way, such as for making a cheap kind of beer by itself, or mixed with other
saccharine matters. In the latter case fresh water at the mashing temperature must
be substituted for it, and mixed with the maize malt in the mash tun. I find it
generally most convenient to run off this superfluous water, and to pass the maize
malt through the mill in a moist state but thoroughly drained. In any case if the
tub in which the first mashing operation, that is, steeping at a mashing temperature,
is performed be placed at a sufficient height above the mash tun in which the wort
is to be prepared, the mill may be placed at a level between the two, and the maize
malt conducted to the mill by means of shoots and suitable feeding apparatus A
form of feeding apparatus which I find to answer is an ordinary screw conveyer
driven by cone pulleys to vary the speed, as is well understood. The ground maize
malt as it passes from the mill herein-before described, can then be conducted
directly into the mash tun in which the wort is to be prepared. In this tun n
temperature must always be maintained above the point at which acid fermen-
tations are liable to be set up, and until the diastase has converted the starch into
dextrine sugar and intermediate products the temperature must not be allowed to
rise so high as to render the diastase inert. I find a temperature of 150° F. to answer
well.
The maize malt as it passes from the mill may be conducted into any one of
those forms of inashing machine which work outside the mash tun, and mixed in
such mashing machine with any proportion of a mash of barley malt, which is
being made in such inashing machine, or it may be mixed by hand or machine rakes
with a mash of barley malt in the mash tun itself
In any case as I have before stated the maize malt must be maintained during
the whole time of the various operations until the wort is drawn off at such a
temperature as will prevent acid fermentations from being set up, and as where
large quantities of maize malt are operated upon at one time, it is often inconvenient
to have a mill of sufficient power to grind the maize malt and deliver it to the mash
tun or outside mashing machine during the time the barley malt is being mashed ;
it is frequently convenient to deliver the ground maize malt to a supplementary tun
in which it is mixed with a sufficient quantity of water, part of which if desired
may be the superfluous water from the first operation of mashing or steeping at
a mashing temperature. In this supplementary tun the ground maize malt with
sufficient water can be maintained at the necessary temperature by means of a
steam coil.
I find one and a half barrels per quarter a convenient proportion of water
reckoned in addition to the quantity of water absorbed by the malt previous to
grinding, and I also find a temperature of 150° F. to answer well.
In this stage of the operations, if the mash of maize malt is to be afterwards
mixed with a mash of barley malt, I sometimes raise the mash of maize malt to
a much higher temperature, or even boil it, but in that case the temperature must
be lowered to the ordinary mashing heat before the admixture of the tuash of
barley malt.

page_text: When I intend to make the mixed inash of ground maize malt and barley malt by
hand or machine rakes in the mash tun itself, I sometimes grind the maize malt
directly into the mash tun, where I mix it with a sufficient quantity of water for
the whole mash, and this water may be added gradually at such a temperature as
will maintain the temperature of the whole built at the required point.
When the maize malt is used without admixture with barley malt, special filtering
arrangements must be adopted in order to separate the clear wort from the insoluble
portions. This may be accomplished by admixture with materials, such as oats or
chaff, as used in the whisky distilleries, but I prefer to pump the mash through a
bag or filter press, such as Johnson's hydraulic filter press
When a sufficient quantity of barley malt has been mixed with the maize malt,
the worts can be drawn off in the usual manner.
When the maize malt is ground previous to the mashing, that is to say, steeping
att he mashing temperature, the superfluous water cannot be so completely drawn
off after the mashing as when whole maize malt is used, the mash therefore as it
passes from the mill is softer and more adhesive than when whole maize malt is
used, and it is consequently more difficult to cause it to pass along shoots or
conductors.
To obviate this difficulty I sometimes place the mill immediately over the mash
tun, and in other cases I do not draw off any of the superfluous water, but run the
water and maize malt together to the mill and thence to the mash tun; in the latter
case I fix a stirrer in the tub, and keep the maize malt and water uniformily mixed
while they are passing to the mill.
In all other particulars I employ the same methods whether whole maize malt or
maize malt previously ground is employed.
Although I have described apparatus which I have found to be suitable to
carrying out my said Invention for the various purposes herein set forth, I would
have it understood that I do not limit myself to the use of the said apparatus for
carrying the same into effect, as other similar apparatus may be used for the same
purpose.
I therefore claim heating maize malt for the production of saccharine worts by
grinding it after mashing, that is to say, after steeping at a mashing temperature,
or at a temperature sufficiently high to prevent acid fermentations from being set
up, but not high enough to destroy the diastase or to render it inert.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Richard Southby, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
EDMUND RICHARD SOUTHBY. (L.S.)
EDMUND RICHARD SOUTHBY. (L.S.)