Improvements in Processes of Manufacturing Fermented and Distilled Liquors.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Feb., 1896-Accepted, 7th Mar., 1856
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Processes of Manufacturing Fermented and
Distilled Liquors.
I, ANGELO MYERS, residing at 1823 Spring Garden Street, in the City and
County of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, United States of America,
Manufacturer, 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:--
In the manufacture of fermented and distilled liquors, as is well known, a quantity
of grain, selected according to the ultimate product desired, is, to form the mash,
ground or crushed, and cooked at a temperature and for a period well known to
those familiar with the art, and not necessary to be detailed herein. The next
step of the manufacture is to convert the starch contained in the mash into
fermentable eugar, and it is customary to accomplish this by the addition to the
mash of a quantity of malt, which, as is well known, contains an element or
principle adapted for the purpose and known as diastase.
The process of preparing the malt used in the treatment of the mash is,-apart
from the objection that the power of the malt to convert starch to sugar is impaired
by its subjection to the usual kiln-drying,-very expensive because involving the
use of costly machinery and special malting houses, the employment of skilled
labor in the selection and assortment of the materials and the constant supervision
of the process of sprouting, and somewhat uncertain in result because of the
liability of the mass to grow too much or to develope a growth of mola.
Generally stated, it is the object of my invention to simplify and cheapen the
production and cost of fermented and distilled liquors by dispensing with the use
of the malt and substituting in lieu thereof a new process of supplying to the mass
the elements existing in grain which act upon the mash to convert the starch into
sugar.
That part of the grain present in the malt which acts to transform the starch of
the mass of mash into sugar, is in the art termed diastase, and I have discovered
that this element exists in that portion of the grain which is termed the hull or
coat as distinguished from the husk or chaff on the one hand and the kernel or
starchy part on the other, and does not exist in appreciable quantities in said
kernel or chaff,-and further that this hull, which when separated from the
remainder of the grain by ordinary milling processes is commercially known as
bran, does not in this separation lose any of its power of converting the starch,
but on the contrary, the bran taken from a quantity of grain will contain practically
all the diastase originally present in the said grain.
In the practice of my process, I take a selected quantity of bran, from any
desired cereal, and place it, together with sufficient water, in a suitable containing
vessel, and allow the mass, which is to be maintained artificially or otherwise at a
temperature conveniently but not restrictively between sixty and ninety degrees
Fahrenheit, but preferably at seventy-five degrees, to stand for from eighteen i
thirty-six hours.
When the mass has stood for this period of time, nearly all of the starch-
converting elements in the bran will be dissolved and held in solution in the
water

page_text: i
The mash tub having been supplied with mash cooked to the required degree
and brought to the same temperature at which it is held when malt is added to
it in the ordinary process, I proceed by adding to the mash, the water, in
which the bran has been steeped, together preferably with the bran, and thereupon
proceed with the developement of the mash in all other respects in the usual
mánner.
I prefer to add the bran solution, as I term it, to the mash when the latter has
been brought to a temperature of about 155 degrees Fahrenheit, but it is, of
course, practicable to add the solution to the mash when the latter is at any
temperature between 120 degrees Fahrenheit and 160 degrees Fahrenheit,-and
possible to add the solution to the mash with valnable result when the latter is at
any temperature between the extremes of 110 degrees Fahrenheit and 170 degrees
Fahrenheit.
The amount or proportion of the bran solution added to the mash will vary
somewhat according to the character of the bran employed, of the mash, and of the
ultimate product desired.
I prefer in the soaking or steeping of the bran, to employ from one-half to five-
eighths of a gallon of water to the pound of bran,-and in preparing the bran
solution to be added to the mash I prefer to use from six to twelve pounds of bran
to each mash bushel of mash.
As will be understood, in my improved process the diastase when used will be at
the fullness of its strength and not deteriorated by the heat of the kiln-drying
resorted to in the process of making malt; the bran solution, moreover, will, the
bran not being exposed to air, be pure and free from the growth of mold to which
ordinary malt is liable.
My improved process may be conducted by the ordinary operatives of a brewery
as distinguished from expert maltsters, and with no machinery except the steeping
vats; it may, moreover, be carried on at any time of the year, whereas the
manufacture of malt can be conducted for only some eight months of the year,
thus the necessity for places of storage is obviated; in my improved process the
bran of any cereal used for any purpose that makes it necessary to take the bran
off may be utilized, as opposed to the process of making malt in which it is almost
impracticable to use any cereal except barley; in my improved process, finally,
the wasting of the diastase which is, in the ordinary malting process, necessarily
consequent upon the removal and discarding of the water in which the grain is
steeped, is avoided.
I am aware that it has been proposed to form a thick paste of bran of wheat
and water in a warm room at 85 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit and keep it in a closed
vessel for from 24 to 30 hours to form a fermenting agent or improved yeast to be
added to a mash, and to such process, relating as it does exclusively to the
formation of a yeast, I lay no claim.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. In the manufacture of fermented and distilled liquors, the process of
converting the starch contained in the mash into sugar, which consists in supplying
to said mash, when said mash is at a temperature of from 110 to 170 degrees
Fahrenheit, liquid in which bran has, been steeped, substantially as specified.
2. In the manufacture of fermented and distilled liquors, the process of
converting the starch contained in the mash into sugar, which consists in supplying
to said mash, when said mash is at a temperature of from 110 to 170 degrees
Fahrenheit, water and bran which have been standing commingled for from
eighteen to thirty-six hours at a suitable temperature substantially as indicated, as
specified.
3. In the manufacture of fermented and distilled liquors, the process of
converting the starch contained in the mash into sugar, which consists in supplying

page_text: to said mash, when said mash is at a temperature of from 110 to 170 degrees
Fahrenheit, a solution of bran, in the proportion of six to twelve pounds of bran in
the solution to the mash bushel, substantially as specified.
Dated this 17th day of December. A.D. 1895.
Witnesses :-
FREDERIC NORMAN DIXON.
THOMAS KEYS LANCASTER.
ANGELO MYERS.