IMPROVED MEANS FOR PRESERVING FERMENTED LIQUORS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Medlock, of Great Marlborough Street, in
the City of Westminster, Analytical Chemist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED MEANS FOR PRESERVING FERMENTED LIQUORS."
Sealed the 26th September 1861, and dated the 80th March 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Medlock at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 80th
March 1861.
I, HENRY MEDLOCK, of Great Marlborough Street, in the City of West-
minster, Analytical Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS FOR PRESERVING FERMENTED LIQUORS," to be
as follows:-
My Invention of improved means for preserving fermented liquors consists
in the employment of a solution of sulphurous acid or some salt of sulphurous
acid, which being either added to the fermented liquor, or placed in the casks
or vessels for containing the same before being filled, will have the effect of
preventing acetous fermentation, and will therefore preserve the fermented
liquor, and prevent it from getting sour. The salt which I prefer for the
purposes of my Invention is the bi-sulphite of lime, but other salts will answer
the purpose.
In applying the Invention to beer, for instance, the solution may either be
added to the beer during some stage of the manufacture (I prefer this to be

page_text: done after the alcoholic fermentation has taken place), or the casks, after
being well cleaned and dried may be rinsed out with a small quantity of
the solution, which will be taken up or absorbed by the wood of the cask.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Medlock in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th September 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
MEDLOCK, of Great Marlborough Street, in the City of Westminster, Analytical
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Medlock, Her special license that I, the said Henry
Medlock, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Henry Medlock, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVED MEANS
FOR PRESERVING FERMENTED LIQUORS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Henry Medlock, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed; and
'cause the same 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 Henry Medlock, 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 (that is to say) :-
:-
}
"
My Invention of "Improved Means for Preserving Fermented Liquors
is applicable to the treatment or preservation of beer, wine, cider, lemonade;
ginger beer, and other beverages, in the manufacture of which the process
of fermentation is used. The Invention may be applied to the liquors whether
they be in cask or in bottle, and it consists in the employment of a solution
of sulphurous acid or some salt of sulphurous acid, which being either added

page_text: to the fermented liquor, or placed in the casks, bottles, or vessels containing
the same before being filled, will have the effect of préventing acetous fér-
mentation, and will therefore preserve the fermented liquor, and prevent it
from getting sour. An aqueous solution of sulphurous acid. or solution of
salts containing sulphurous acid may be employed for the purposes of my
Invention; or sulphurous acid gas may be injected into the fermented liquor,
if desired, as my improved process is based upon the principle of adding
sulphurous acid in some form to the fermented liquors. Having tried
sulphurous acid in various forms, or combined with different bases, I have
found that the bi-sulphite of lime is the most suitable and convenient in
practice; other salts however, such, for instance, as the bi-sulphites of soda
and potash, will answer the purpose. The hypo-sulphites and hypo-sulphates
of lime, soda, and potash may also be advantageously employed, and will
produce the desired effect, but I prefer to use the bi-sulphite of lime.
In applying the Invention to beer, for instance, I employ a solution of
bi-sulphite of lime, of a strength of about one thousand and seventy to one
thousand and eighty specific gravity, water being one thousand. The solution
may either be added to the beer during some stage of the manufacture (I
prefer this to be done after the alcoholic fermentation has taken place); or
the casks, after being well cleaned and dried, may be rinsed out with a small
quantity of the solution, which will be taken up or absorbed by the wood of
the cask. I have found that about four fluid ounces of the solution of the
above strength may be added to a cask containing thirty-six gallons, and that
even a larger quantity may be advantageously employed if the beer be required
for export. The solution or a greater portion of it is absorbed by the pores
of the wood of the cask, and the bi-sulphite of lime, which becomes fixed by
combining with the oxygen of the air, and thereby becomes converted into
solid sulphate of lime, will prevent the oxygen from the external atmosphere
from passing through the wood of the cask. The bi-sulphite of lime also
prevents the formation of mould or fungi in the casks, a small quantity of
which would spoil the beer or other fermented liquor.
In order to preserve beer, wine, or other fermented liquors in bottles, and
prevent them from turning sour, the bottles, after washing and draining,
should be rinsed out with a small quantity of bi-sulphite of lime of the above
strength. For bottled beer intended for export, a few drops of the solution
should be allowed to remain at the bottom of the bottle before pouring in
the beer. Bottles for containing ginger beer, lemonade, and other beverages
may also be rinsed out in the same manner, and the liquor will thereby be
prevented from turning sour, as is now frequently the case.

page_text: Having now described my Invention of "Improved Means for Preserving
-Fermented Liquors," and having explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as
aforesaid, the use of sulphurous acid either alone, or in combination with a
base in the form of a salt, for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Medlock, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
HENRY MEDLOCK. (L.s.)