IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BEER
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BEER."-A communication
from abroad by Eugène Leconte, of Paris, France.
Scaled the 20th October 1871, and dated the 7th August 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 7th August 1871.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BEER," a commu-
nication from abroad by Eugène Leconte, of Paris, France, to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to the employment in the process of brewing
of the starch of maize and rice either in the form of powder or other-
wise.

page_text: It is well known that malt contains a considerable quantity of
diastase sufficient to saccharify not only the starch of the barley itself,
but any other starch which may be added thereto. The result is that
the conversion of the starch of maize or rice into dextrine and sugar
is effected by the malt during the process of steeping in the operation
of brewing. The starch produced from maize and rice being very pure
and free from empyreumatic oils, traces of which are found in potato
starch, will be found very much more valuable than this latter in the
process of brewing, as it is more easily worked and does not contain
the same proportion of oils or other foreign matters, and therefore con-
stitutes the best substitute for malt in the process of brewing.
The starch of wheat and other cereals may also be employed for the
production of beer, although the Inventor prefers to employ the starch
of maize and rice for that purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th February 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
35th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special
license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BEER," a communication to
me from abroad by Eugene Leconte, of Paris, France, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, by an

page_text: 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 John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 :-
The said Invention consists in the application to the manufacture
of beer of the starch of maize and rice, the mode of employing which
I will now proceed to explain.
It is well known that malt or germinating barley contains a con-
siderable quantity of diastase sufficient to saccharify not only the
starch of the barley but also any foreign starch which may be added
to it. The result of this is that the conversion into dextrine and
sugar of the starch of maize and rice is effected naturally during the
operation of steeping under the influence of the malted barley, which
constitutes the base in the manufacture of beer. The starch of maize
and rice being very pure and free from the empyreumatic oils found
in the fecula of potatoes is of the greatest service in the operation of
brewing, it is also more easily employed than the said fecula, and does
not contain the considerable proportion of oils and other foreign
matters which these latter contain, and consequently it forms the best
substitute for malt that can be employed in brewing.
I would remark that the starch of wheat and other cereals presents
the same external appearance as that of maize and rice and may be
substituted for the starch of these latter in the manufacture of beer.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
The application and use of the starch of maize, rice, wheat, and other
cereals, either in the form of powder or in any other form, to and in
the manufacture of beer, where they are converted into dextrine and

page_text: sugar under the action of the diastase of malted barley, as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Seventh day of
February One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.