Improvements in the Manufacture of Beer and other Alcoholic Liquors, and in Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1897

page_text: Improvements in the Manufacture of Beer and other Alcoholic
Liquors, and in Apparatus therefor.
We, FREDERICK SPENCER MASTERS, of 573, Seven Sisters Road, South Tottenham.
in the County of Middlesex, Brewer, and JAMES CILARLES SHEARS, of 7, Uxbridge
Road, Surbiton, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the fermentation of liquids for use in brewing, distil-
ling and the like.
The invention consists essentially in carrying on the fermentation process in
closed vessels under pressure and also in apparatus therefor.
Heretofore wort or saccharine liquid has ordinarily been fermented in open
vessels to allow the carbonic acid gas to escape as quickly as it generates and
when closed vessels have been used the carbonic acid gas has been removed by a
pump and afterwards condensed.
According to our invention we ferment wort or saccharine liquids under pressure
due to the carbonic acid gas which it evolves and we thoroughly impregnate it
with the gas. By applying our invention to the brewing of beer we produce good
sound brilliant beer of exhilarating and pungent nature containing all the natural
hop aroma and of superior keeping qualities to beer fermented in the atmosphere
and light; beer brewed according to this invention has the appearance and taste
of beer of much higher gravity free from deposit, and it can be racked direct from
the fermenting tun into carriage casks with less hopping down than is required
in the case of ordinary beer, so that no settling back is required and producing
a sound pitching yeast which will not require pressing.
By this process all classes of beer and alcoholic fermentations can be effected
in one vessel by skimming or cleansing as desired.
For this purpose we construct the fermenting vessels of wood or metal of suit-
able closed form to withstand the gas pressure. The fermenting vessel should
be provided with a pump so arranged that the gas be drawn by it from the upper
part of the vessel and forced through the wort contained in it.
We may provide the closed fermenting vessels with skimming parachutes and
valves with raising and lowering gear to be worked from the outside, also powerful
attemperators. Manholes, pressure gauges, safety valves, content gauges, ther-
mometers, racking, sampling and drain cock or valves should also be provided
and of sufficient strength to stand the pressure.
Dated this 11th day of August 1897.

page_text: Improvements in the Manufacture of Beer and other Alcoholic
Liquors, and in Apparatus therefor.
↓
"
We, FREDERICK SPENCER MASTERS, of 13, Carlton Road, Phillip Lane, Totten-
ham, in the County of Middlesex, (formerly of 573, Seven Sisters Road, South
Tottenham), Brewer, and JAMES CHARLES SHEARS, of 7, Uxbridge Road, Surbiton,
in the County of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The objects of this invention are to produce beer or other alcoholic liquor of
superior quality to that resulting from the ordinary process of fermentation as
regard its clearness or brilliancy, its exhilarating and pungent nature, its keep-
ing properties and its roundness, softness or fulness of palate and its freedom from
deposit and at the same time to lessen the cost of manufacture.
Heretofore wort or saccharine liquid has ordinarily been fermented in open
vessels to allow the carbonic acid gas to escape as quickly as it generates and if
closed vessels have been used the carbonic acid gas has been removed by a pump
and afterwards condensed or stored.
We have discovered that by carrying on the fermentation process in closed
vessels under a pressure of carbonic acid gas we are enabled to produce a rounder,
softer and fuller beer than that fermented by ordinary methods and which has
the appearance and taste of beer of much higher gravity and which has superior
keeping qualities and produces absolutely pure yeast of superior form and strength,
Ordinary fermenting vessels require to be fitted with some form of attemperator
to enable the wort or saccharine liquid to be kept down to the desired temperature
by the circulation of water through the attemperator, or to be placed in a room
in which the temperature can be controlled by artificial means such as refrigerating
machinery, but we have discovered that as the carbonic acid gas evolved from the
fermenting wort or saccharine liquid is colder than the wort that by keeping it
under pressure in the fermenting vessel the temperature of the wort is sufficiently
controlled by the coldness of the gas to enable the fermentation process to be carried
through at a low temperature and maintained without the use of any other cooling
medium.
We have further discovered that by drawing the gas from the top of the fer-
menting vessel by means of a pump and injecting it into the wort in the vessel,
not only is the wort cooled sufficiently to enable the fermentation to be carried
through at a low temperature but also the wort is caused to absorb the gas and
become impregnated with it. This has also the effect of relieving the pressure
and at the same time of subjecting the wort to a most efficient form of rousing
which can only be beneficial to it.
'
The fermenting vessels may be made of any suitable material such as wood,
metal or glass of any convenient closed form and stayed or not to resist the
pressure of the gas; they should be provided with a suitable manhole and door
and if required they can be covered with any suitable form of insulating or non-
conducting material. They may be fitted with yeast skimming parachutes and
valves of the special form hereinafter described or of other suitable form, raising
and lowering gear to be worked from the outside, also with attemperators, pressure
gauges, safety valves, content gauges, thermometers, racking, sampling and drain

page_text: cocks or valves and a suitable form of pump for collecting and injecting the gas
and for rousing the liquid during fermentation.
Wort or saccharine liquid can be fermented by this process in closed vessels
by either of the systems known as the skimming or cleansing systems.
In practice it is found sometimes desirable to allow some of the gas to escape
through the safety valve or to be drawn off by a pump to reduce the pressure.
In practice it is also found sometimes desirable to allow attenuation to proceed
to its utmost limit before skimming.
The characteristic feature of the invention consists in fermenting saccharine
liquids in closed vessels under the natural pressure of the carbonic acid gas evolved
by them and using the gas for cooling and carbonating the fermented liquids.
The apparatus for carrying out this process may be modified in form and con-
struction at will, and the temperature may be regulated and the length of operation
varied according to the character of the product required.
The invention is not only applicable to the fermentation of wort or saccharine
liquids for the manufacture of beer and the like but also to the fermentation of
saccharine liquids for the production of vinegar.
In order that our invention and how it may readily be carried into
effect may be fully understood we will proceed to describe the drawings
hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 is a vertical section of a fermenting vessel suitable for the purpose
of our invention. The vessel here represented is adapted for fermenting
beer.
Figure 2 is an elevation partly sectional, showing on a larger scale than Figure 1
the upper part of the screw by which the parachute is raised and lowered and of the
rod which carries the yeast valve.
r is
a is the closed fermenting vessel, bb are stays to resist pressure, e represents
a manhole and cover, d is a yeast skimming parachute which works through stuff-
ing boxes, ee in top and bottom of vessel. f is the yeast valve, g is a pressure
gauge, safety valve, i contents gauge, jj thermometers, kracking cock, sampling
cocks, mm cocks to return samples. is a pump for drawing the gas from the
upper part of the fermenting vessel a and injecting it into the wort in the vessel.
o is the suction pipe to the pump n and p the delivery pipe from the pump.
the screw by means of which the parachute is raised and lowered and s is a hand
wheel for turning the screw. Instead of the screw r being a solid screw as usual,
it is an externally threaded tube or hollow rod so that the yeast valve rod can
work through it.. t is the yeast valve rod passing through the hollow screw r; its
upper end is screw threaded and is fitted with a hand-wheel u; it works through a
stuffing box v.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:-
1. The fermenting of wort or saccharine liquids in closed vessels under pressure
of the carbonic acid gas evolved by them, as set forth.
2. In the fermenting of wort or saccharine liquids, the cooling and carbonating
of the same by the carbonic acid gas evolved therefrom in closed vessels, as set
forth.
3. The method or process of fermenting wort or saccharine liquids which consists
in fermenting the liquids in closed vessels, drawing from the upper part of such
vessels the carbonic acid gas evolved by the said liquids, and injecting this gas
into the liquid in the vessel, as set forth.
4. The construction of the parachute rod in the form of an externally threaded
tube and fitting the yeast valve on the end of a rod which passes through the said
tube the whole being arranged so that they can be raised and lowered from the
outside of the fermenting vessel substantially as set forth.
5. The combination of parts substantially as hereinbefore described and shown

page_text: in the drawings constituting an improved apparatus for the manufacture of beer
and other alcoholic liquids.
Dated this 9th day of May 1898.
J. C. MEWBURN & ELLIS,
55 and 56, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.