AN IMPROVED METHOD OF MASHING
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Moritz Hatschek, of. Pesth, in the Empire of
Austria, now residing at No. 32, Lower Belgrave Place, in the County
of Middlesex, Distiller, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
MASHING."
Sealed the 18th November 1863, and dated the 11th June 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Moritz Hatschek at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th
June 1863.
I, MORITZ HATSCHEк, of Pesth, in the Empire of Austria, now residing at
No. 32, Lower Belgrave Place, in the County of Middlesex, Distiller, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
MASHING," to be as follows:-
Before any farinaceous matter, as maize, wheat, corn, barley, oats, or other
similar substance is subject to the usual method of mashing by steam or hot
water, the afore-named substances, as maize, wheat, corn, barley, oats, and
others are subjected by me to a preparatory process by steeping the same in
a mixture of water and sulphurous acid, the quantity of sulphurous acid not
to exceed the quantity of sulphuric acid hitherto used for this purpose.
Before the said substances are so steeped they may be bruised in the usual
manner, or broken by machinery, in which latter case they are, after they
have undergone my steeping process, completely bruised by machinery. The
sulphurous acid which I employ may be produced either by way of wet or dry

page_text: process from any sort of sulphuric acid with charcoal, copper, sawdust, or
similar matters. Before the mash so obtained by me is placed in the steam
apparatus for distilling, the acid contained therein is neutralized by lime or
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Moritz Hatschek in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th December 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MORITZ
HATSCHEK, of Pesth, in the Empire of Austria, now residing at No. 32, Lower
Belgrave Place, in the County of Middlesex, Distiller, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
"Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Moritz Hatschek, Her special licence that I, the said Moritz
Hatschek, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Moritz Hatschek, 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 Isle of Man, an Invention for
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF MASHING," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Moritz. Hatschek, 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 be performed, and cause the safe
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Moritz Hatschek, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
In the manufacture of alcohol it has been a common practice to employ
Indian corn or wheat, 'or rye, or other grain and malt, when mashing, to
produce, sweetworts, then to ferment such sweetworts, and then to distill
alcohol therefrom. Now in'mashing, according to my Invention, when using

page_text: Indian corn, or wheat, or rye, or other grain with malt to produce sweetworts,
in place of using the Indian corn, or rye, or wheat, or other grain as hereto-
fore, if Indian corn or wheat be used, I crack or bruise the grain by passing
the same between rollers. If rye or barley, or other grain be used, I have
not found it necessary to crack or bruise the grain, and I commence the
mashing process by steeping the grain in a solution of sulphurous acid in a
mash tub or suitable vessel, the solution is run on to the grain, and the whole
is well stirred, after which it is allowed to stand. The solution of sulphurous
acid may be prepared in any suitable manner. I, however, usually proceed
as follows: For each twelve gallons of water, which is the quantity used for
steeping one hundredweight of the grain, I employ the acid vapours evolved
from about five or six ounces of concentrated sulphuric acid (SO, + HO),
and about two and a half to three ounces of charcoal, which are, as is well
understood, placed in a retort, and the acid vapours are conducted into the
water. The steeping of the grain in the solution of sulphurous acid generally
takes from 36 to 48 hours, the dry, close, and hard grain taking the longest
time. Care should be observed in the steeping process that every part of the
grain should be fully impregnated or acted on by the solution of sulphurous acid,
at the same time the steeping should not be continued so long as to cause the
grain to become soft, wet, and pasty when crushed; on the contrary, the grain
should, when steeped, be in a condition to remain friable after being crushed
between rollers, and form what may be called damp meal when crushed
between rollers; a workman will, however, after a little practice, with care,
readily be enabled to judge when the grain has been properly steeped. The
Indian corn, or wheat, or rye, or other suitable grain, having been subjected to
the action of the sulphurous acid and crushed into a damp meal, which is
placed in a mash tub or suitable vessel, then the mashing process is to be
continued and finished as when using like grain which has not been treated
with sulphurous acid; but I would state that I have usually employed a
temperature of about 176° Fahrenheit, and which is reduced when the malt
is added, as is well understood by distillers when mashing with unmalted
grain together with malt, and it is preferred when carrying out my Invention
that the reduction of temperature should be to about 151° Fahrenheit. The
mashing having been carried on, the sweetworts are to be drawn off, and they
are to be fermented as heretofore, and then distilled, but previous to the
fermented worts or wash being put into the still the acid is to be neutralized,
which is done by chalk or otherwise. It is preferred that the acid should be
rendered neutral after the worts have been fermented, but this part of the
process may be performed before. By the employment of sulphurous acid in

page_text: treating Indian corn and other grain, and combining malt with the product
obtained when mashing the same, and by afterwards neutralizing the acid, a
greater product of spirit is obtained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Moritz Hatschek, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
MORITZ HATSCHEK. (L.B.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
said Moritz Hatschek in the
presence of
GEO. R. BROWNE,
Clerk to Messrs. Wilkinson, Stevens, & Wilkinson, Sol",
4, Nicholas Lane,
London.