Improvements in the Treatment of Hops and their use in Brewing.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd May, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 5th July, 1892-Accepted, 6th Aug., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Treatment of Hops and their use in Brewing.
I, BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of 23 Southampton Buildings, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion, (a communication to me from "The Brewing Improvement Company," a
Corporation organized under the laws of the State of New Jersey, and doing
business at Maywood in the County of Bergen in said State and at 132 Mulberry
Street, New York, in the County and State of New York, in the United States of
America), to be as follows:-
The invention relates to improvements in the method of hopping malt liquors,
and its object is to increase the solubility of the bitter principle of hops, and to
facilitate the fermentation, clarification and finishing of malt liquors.
Hops contain soft resins (oleo-resins), which are the bearers of the aromatic and
the bitter principle of hops. By a protracted cooking of the hops in beer-wort,
which is the general practice, a portion of the resins is extracted, giving the wort
the desired bitter flavor, while the aromatic oil volatilizes and is almost entirely
lost when no special arrangements for regaining it have been made.
On cooling of the wort, the resins separate and are held in suspension only, in
that state more or less interfering with the action of the yeast and sometimes even
paralyzing fermentation. Considerable portions of the resins are carried to the top
of the fermenting vessel by the carbonic acid gas generated during fermentation,
and are either removed by skimming or overflow, or permitted to sink and settle at
the bottom when fermentation declines. Other portions of the resins are gradually
dissolved and held in solution by the attenuating wort which forms a hydro-alcoholic
menstruum, and the bitter flavor of the fermented beer is due mainly to this
solution, which however is not always a saturated one, especially not in malt liquors
produced by the so-called "top fermentation," to which frequently dry hops are
added in order to intensify the bitter flavor, and at the same time to impart a
distinct hop aroma.
The hops of commerce however, as well as freshly gathered
hops, are always more or less covered with micro-organisms which may develop in
the beer, thereby causing obnoxious secondary fermentations. When main
fermentation ceases, malt liquors produced by "bottom fermentation most always
contain an excess of undissolved resins, held in suspension, the presence of which
interferes with speedy clarification.
"
To overcome these difficulties torrefied hops prepared in the following manner are
used for hopping malt liquors.
The hops of commerce, or freshly gathered hops, (strobiles and lupulin), pre-
ferably comminuted, are placed into a suitable vessel or apparatus, in which they
are exposed to the action of a gradually increased dry heat until thoroughly
roasted. For this purpose the final temperature of the hops extends from about
212° Fahrenheit upwards, according to the age and other conditions of the hops,
and to the degree. of. darkening the color and to the amount of empyreumatic
products which it is desired to obtain for preparing special kinds of malt liquors.
By this method of torrefying, the agreeable aromatic principle of good well pre-
served hops, as well as the malodorous products of oxidation contained in old
deteriorated hops, will escape, but may, from good hops, be easily collected and be
used for imparting a specific hop aroma to fermented malt liquors.
The advantages connected with this method of torrefying hops are the following:
Firstly, the resins undergo a chemical change which admits of fully extracting the
bitter principle of hops by repeatedly treating them with water or any other

page_text: aqueous menstruum, whereas the bearers of this principle-the hop resins as they
exist in freshly gathered hops or in the hops of commerce, become the more
insoluble the longer they are treated with water or cooled in beer-wort. Secondly,
the seeds, stems and other parts or constituents of untorrefied hops which are liable
to impart an acrid flavor to wort or beer, are either converted into roasting products
of a grateful taste, or, if of a volatile nature, are so completely eliminated that
even old deteriorated hops will, as far as the extraction of the bitter principle is
concerned, be as useful for brewing purposes as the best hops. Thirdly, that
portion of the resins which otherwise tenaciously remains in suspension in wort or
beer, will quickly subside and thereby greatly accelerate clarification. Fourthly,
the hops torrefied to the described extent can, as already intimated, be repeatedly
used for imparting a bitter flavor to new wort, and it needs only to add to spent
hops a proportionate amount of unextracted torrefied hops and some tannin in order
to supply such extractive and astringent bodies in which spent hops are deficient.
Fifthly, the hops torrefied by this method will keep infinitely if only protected
against moisture, and will form a useful article of commerce. Sixthly, a variety of
aqueous extracts of hops torrefied by this method can be produced by treating the
hops with water, either by maceration, infusion or boiling followed by expression, or
by any other of the well known methods of extracting vegetable substances, and,
if desired, these aqueous extracts may be concentrated or dried by evaporation,
preferably in vacuo, and be used as articles of commerce. If treated with cold
water only, a practically non-resinous bitter extract is obtained which can be used
for different purposes besides the hopping of malt liquors, but if treated with tepid
or warm water, the more of the resins will be extracted the higher the temperature
of the menstruum, which resins however, if not present in excess, will be dissolved
by the alcohol formed during the attenuation of the beer worts. On the other
hand, the torrefied hops can be fully exhausted when repeatedly treated with hot or
boiling water, preferably under pressure. The extract thus obtained fully
represents the dry hops roasted by the method of torrefying herein described.
The method of hopping malt liquors with torrefied hops consists in simply adding
the hops in their dry state to the beer wort for extraction.
Some modification of this method may be adopted for the purpose of accelerating
the extraction of the hops in the viscous wort by previously digesting them with water
as follows. The torrefied hops are, under agitation, moistened with about ten
gallons of water of ordinary temperature to every hundred pounds of the hops and
left for maceration during a few hours, whereby they gradually increase in bulk
and become softened. After this there may under agitation be added an additional
ten gallons of water of ordinary or higher temperature and the hops be left for
further digestion as long as desired. The whole of the hops, together with the
liquid incidentally obtained, is then united with the wort.
Another obvious modification of the method of hopping malt liquors is the
addition to beer wort of one of the different extracts obtained as hereinbefore
described.
.
As to "dry hopping" of beer, the addition of torrefied hops will prevent the
development of any of the micro-organisms with which fresh or commercial hops
are fraught, for these organisms are fully destroyed by the action of dry heat
required for roasting the hops.
Dated this 23rd day of May 1892.

page_text: Improvements in the Treatment of Hops and their use in Brewing.
I, BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS of 23 Southampton Buildings in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion, a communication to me from "The Brewing Improvement Company," a
Corporation organized under the laws of the State of New Jersey, and doing business
at Maywood in the County of Bergen in said State and at 132 Mulberry Street,
New York, in the County and State of New York in the United States of
America, and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The invention relates to improvements in the method of hopping malt liquors,
and its object is to increase the solubility of the bitter principle of hops and to
facilitate the fermentation, clarification and finishing of malt liquors.
The main constituents of hops (comprising the strobiles and the lupulin) con-
sist, besides the astringent matter, of a hard resin and of different soft resins
(oleo-resins) which latter are intimately associated with the bitter and the aromatic
principles of hops. By a protracted cooking of the hops in beer wort, which is the
general practice, a portion of the resins is extracted giving off to the wort a pro-
portionate amount of the bitter principle, while the aromatic oil volatilizes and is
almost entirely lost when no special arrangements for regaining it have been
made.
On cooling of the wort the resins separate and are held in suspension only, in
that state more or less interfering with the action of the yeast and sometimes even
paralyzing fermentation. Considerable portions of the resins are carried to the
top of the fermenting vessel by the carbonic acid gas generated during fermentation
and are either removed by skimming or overflow, or permitted to sink and settle at
the bottom when fermentation declines. Other portions of the resins are gradually
dissolved and held in solution by the attenuating wort which forms a hydro-alcoholic
menstruum, and the bitter flavour of the fermented beer is due mainly to this
solution which, however, is not always a saturated one, especially not in malt liquors
produced by the so-called "top fermentation" to which frequently dry hops are
added in order to intensify the bitter flavour and at the same time to impart a
distinct hop aroma. The hops of commerce, however, as well as freshly gathered
hops are always more or less covered with micro-organisms which may develop in
the beer, thereby causing obnoxious secondary fermentations. On the other hand,
when main fermentation produced by "bottom yeast" ceases, the malt liquors most
always contain an excess of undissolved resins, held in suspension, the presence of
which interferes with speedy clarification.
To overcome these difficulties, torrefied hops, prepared in the following manner,
are used for hopping malt liquors.
The hops of commerce or freshly gathered hops (strobiles and lupulin) pre-
ferably comminuted, are placed into a suitable kiln, open vessel or apparatus in
which they are exposed to the action of a gradually increased dry heat until at
least heated beyond drying, or parched.
For this purpose the final temperature of the hops extends from 212° F. (100° C.)
upwards according to the age and other conditions of the hops, and to the degree of
browning and the amount of empyreumatic products which it is desired to obtain
for preparing special kinds of malt liquors.
By this method of torrefying, the agreeable aromatic principle of good well
preserved hops as well as the malodorous products of oxidation contained in old,
deteriorated hops will escape, but may from good hops he easily collected and be
used for imparting a specific hop-aroma to fermented malt liquors.

page_text: :
'
The advantages connected with this method of torrefying hops are the following:
Firstly The resins undergo a chemical change by which their intimate association
with the bitter principle of the hops is broken up, so that the latter can be fully
extracted by repeatedly treating the hops with water or any other aqueous-
menstruum. whereas the resins as they exist in freshly gathered hops or in the hops
of commerce become the more insoluble the longer or oftener they are treated with
water or cooked in beer wort. Secondly: The seeds, stems and other parts or
constituents of untorrefied hops which are liable to impart an acrid flavor to wort
or beer are either rendered tasteless, or are, if of a volatile nature, so completely
eliminated that even old, deteriorated hops will as far as the extraction of the
bitter principle is concerned-be as useful for brewing purposes as the best hops.
Thirdly That portion of the resins which otherwise tenaciously remains in
suspension in wort or beer, will quickly subside and thereby greatly accelerate
clarification. Fourthly: The hops torrefied to the described extent can, as already
intimated be repeatedly used for imparting a bitter flavour to new wort, and it
needs only to add to spent-hops a proportionate amount of unextracted torrefied
hops and, if desired, some tannin in order to supply certain extractive and astringent
bodies in which spent-hops are deficient. Fifthly: The hops torrefied by the
herein described method will keep indefinitely if only protected against moisture,
and will form a useful article of commerce. Sixthly: A variety of aqueous
extracts of hops torrefied by the herein described method can be produced by
treating the hops with water, either by maceration, infusion or boiling, followed
by expression, or by any other of the well known methods of extracting vegetable
substances, and if desired, these aqueous extracts may be concentrated or dried by
evaporation, preferably in vacuo, and be used as articles of commerce. If treated
with cold water only, a practically non-resinous bitter extract is obtained which can
be used for different purposes besides the hopping of malt liquors; but if treated
with tepid or warm water, the more of the resins will be extracted the higher the
temperature of the menstruum which resins however, if not present in excess, will
be dissolved by the alcohol formed during the attenuation of the beer worts. On
the other hand, the torrefied hops can be fully exhausted when repeatedly treated
with hot or boiling water, preferably under pressure. The extract thus obtained
fully represents the dry hops treated by the method of torrefying herein
described.
The method of hopping malt liquors with torrefied hops consists in adding the
hops in their dry state to the beer-wort at any suitable time or times, for the
purpose of extraction.
Some modification of this method may be adopted for the purpose of accelerating
the extraction of the hops in the viscous wort by previously digesting them with
water as follows: The torrefied hops are moistened with about ten gallons of water
of ordinary temperature to every hundred pounds of the hops and left for
maceration during a few hours, whereby they gradually increase in bulk and become
softened. After this there may be added an additional ten gallons of water of
ordinary or higher temperature and the hops be left for further digestion as long as
desired. The whole of the hops, together with the liquid incidently obtained, is
then united with the wort.
Another obvious modification of the method of hopping malt liquors is the
addition to beer wort, of one of the different extracts obtained as hereinbefore
described.
As to "dry hopping " of fermented beer, the addition of torrefied hops will
prevent the developement of any of the micro-organisms with which fresh or
commercial hops are fraught, for these organisms are fully destroyed by the degree
of dry heat required in the herein described method of torrefying.
It is well known that in some parts of Germany, for the purpose of removing
from hops the so-called " grassy taste" the hops are heated in the empty boiling
kettle or pan until aromatic vapors arise (at a temperature of about 180° F. about

page_text: 82° C.) when, for the purpose of preventing charring, a small portion of wort is
added in which the more or less dried hops are stewed until a dark-colored pulpy
mass is obtained to which the balance of the wort is added. It is not desired to
claim this process of drying and stewing which is called "the roasting of hops" ;
neither is it desired to claim the use of simply dried hops.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The herein described method of preparing hops for brewing, which consists in
subjecting the hops to the action of dry heat until heated beyond drying or at least
parched, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
2. The within described method of hopping beer, which consists in adding to the
wort in one of the manners or forms specified, hops subjected to the action of a dry
heat until heated beyond drying or at least parched.
Land
LOND
B. J. B. MILLS,
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings, W.C., Agents.