AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR OXIDIZING OR AGING' DISTILLED AND FERMENTED LIQUORS
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
'
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR OXIDIZING OR AGING' DISTILLED AND
FERMENTED LIQUORS." A communication from abroad by Charles William
Ramsay of Brooklyn. New York. United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th November 1880.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR OXIDIZING
OR 'AGING' DISTILLED AND FERMENTED LIQUORS." [A communication from
abroad by Charles William Ramsay, of Brooklyn, New York, United States of
America.]
"
The ordinary method of oxidizing or "aging" liquors is simply to allow them to
stand in casks a sufficient length of time to effect the desired result, and this has
sometimes been accelerated by placing the casks with their contents on board a
ship. The agitation of the casks during the voyage not only breaks up the oil
globules, but also exposes them to contact with any oxygen or atmospheric air
contained in the casks, and the liquor thus becomes oxidized or aged." But it is
evident that both this accelerating operation and the ordinary methods of aging
are quite expensive, the latter by reason of the large annual interest on the
investment, and the former by reason of the added cost of handling, transportation,
and waste. To overcome these difficulties various devices and expedients have
been employed, some of these have been chemical, highly injurious, and often
poisonous to the liquors treated, and others have been mechanical. But none so far
have been efficient, and at the same time beneficial. One of the mechanical means
employed has been to force atmospheric air or oxygen through the liquid to be
treated while the latter was in a compact mass, but such means have been
attended with no valuable results.
The fusel oil contained in distilled liquors is believed to be contained in small
oil sacks, which are distributed throughout the mass, and in order to thoroughly

page_text: oxidize or "age" the liquor these sacks must be broken up and the fusel oil
disseminated throughout the mass.
In this state the oil will decompose into a number of volatile ethers, some of
which will escape by vaporization, and others combined with oxygen will emit a
fragrant perfume or aroma, and in order to produce this result the oil sacks must
be broken up, and the whole mass thoroughly brought into contact with oxygen,
either in the form of atmospheric air or pure oxygen.
This Invention chiefly consists in the treatment of whiskey, brandy, and
other distilled liquors by first vapourizing or atomizing such liquids, then subjecting
them while in the vapourous or atomic state to violent shocks or concussions, and
finally while still in this vapourous or atomic state introducing oxygen, either in
a pure state or in the form of a mixture, such as atmospheric air, so as to permeate
the mass and thoroughly oxidize it.
I do not limit myself to any particular machine or apparatus for carrying my
Invention into practice, but will describe an apparatus which I have employed with
success, that is to say :-
This apparatus has two or more cylindrical chambers placed contiguously to each
other so as to afford a duct to connect the cavities of the two chambers with each
other on or near the level of their axles. Each of these chambers is provided with
a driving shaft, which shafts are geared so as to revolve together. They carry
respectively rotary arms or beaters. The outer ends of these arms widen into
broad beating surfaces, and between these beaters proper and the hubs of the arms
the width of the chambers or cavities may be reduced.
The interior face of one cylinder is serrated for a part of its circumference, and
that of the other cylinder may also be similarly serrated. These serrations form
abutments, against which the material to be treated will be thrown by the beaters
and broken up by impact, and thereby all the particles thereof will receive a severe
shock or concussion. The material to be treated is fed into the top part of the
first treating chamber, through an inlet or duct from any suitable closed reservoir,
and from the bottom part of the last treating chamber the material which has been
treated will be discharged in the form of a cold vapor through an outlet duct into
a suitable receiver, where the vapors should be allowed to re-condense into fluid;
the outlet duct should be placed at the bottom part of the chamber.
The liquid in passing through the first chamber will be partly vaporized or
dashed into spray by means of the beaters, and will be also acted upon by con-
cussion against the serrations, and in the next cylinder the process will be
continued and finished.
The atmospheric air or pure oxygen, which I introduce in the final step of my
process, may be forced into the treating chamber or chambers by any suitable
means, as, for instance, a force pump or air compressor.
In this manner and by this process whiskey, brandy, gin, wine, and other
distilled or fermented liquors may be thoroughly separated into infinitely fine
particles, and any sacks of fusel oil or similar globules will be thoroughly broken
up, and the contents thereof distributed throughout the mass, and then by forcing
the atmospheric air or pure oxygen into the liquor while it is in this cold, vaporous,
or atomic state, the atoms of liquid under treatment will come into contact with the
oxygen present in the treating chamber, and the whole mass will thereby become
thoroughly and immediately "aged" or oxidized. It is an essential feature of the
apparatus employed in my process that it be practically air tight, so as to prevent
loss by evaporation.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, and
of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, filed by the said William Robert Lake
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th May 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR OXIDIZING
OR 'AGING' DISTILLED AND FERMENTED LIQUORS." A communication from
abroad by Charles William Ramsay, of Brooklyn, New York, United States of
America.
I
"
The ordinary method of oxidizing or "aging" liquors is simply to allow them to
stand in casks a sufficient length of time to effect the desired result, and this has
sometimes been accelerated by placing the casks with their contents on board a
ship. The agitation of the casks during the voyage not only breaks up the oil
globules, but also exposes them to contact with any oxygen or atmospheric air
contained in the casks, and the liquor thus becomes oxidized or "aged." But it is
evident that both this accelerating operation and the ordinary methods of "aging
are very expensive, the latter method by reason of the large annual interest on the
investment, and the former by reason of the added cost of handling, transportation,
and waste. To overcome these difficulties various devices and expedients have
been employed. Some of these have been chemical, highly injurious, and often
poisonous to the liquors treated, and others have been mechanical, but none so far
have been efficient and at the same time beneficial. One of the mechanical means
employed has been to force atmospheric air or oxygen through the liquid to be
treated while the latter was in a compact mass, but such means have been attended
with no valuable results.
The fusel oil in distilled liquors is believed to be contained in small oil sacks,
which are distributed throughout the mass, and in order to thoroughly oxidize or
age "the liquor these sacks must be broken up and the fusel oil disseminated
throughout the mass.
some of
In this state the oil will decompose into a number of volatile ethers, some
which will escape by vaporization, and others combined with oxygen will emit a
fragment perfume or aroma, and in order to produce this result the oil sacks must
be broken up, and the whole mass thoroughly brought into contact with oxygen,
either in the form of atmospheric air or pure oxygen.
This Invention consists chiefly in the treatment of whiskey, brandy, gin, and
other distilled liquors by first vaporizing or atomizing such liquids, then subjecting
them while in the vaporous or atomic state to violent shocks or concussions, and
finally while they are still in this vaporous or atomic state introducing oxygen,
either in a pure state or in the form of a mixture, such as atmospheric air, so as to
permeate the mass and thoroughly oxidize it.
I do not limit myself to any particular machine or apparatus for carrying my
Invention into practice, but will describe apparatus which may be advantageously
employed. This apparatus is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in
which,―
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the said apparatus, and
Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same.
This apparatus has two or more cylindrical chambers A and B, placed contiguously
to each other, as shewn in Figure 1, so as to afford a duct a to connect the cavities
of the two chambers with each other on or near the level of their axles. Each of
these chambers is provided with a driving shaft. These shafts are shewn at A¹
and B¹ in the Drawing, and are so geared as to revolve in the direction of the
The said shafts carry the rotary arms or beaters A and B². The outer
arrows.

page_text: ends of these arms are widened so as to form broad beating surfaces at a², 62, the
surface b being clearly shewn in Figure 2; between these beaters proper and the
hubs of the arms the width of the chambers or cavities may be reduced, as also
shewn in Figure 2.
The interior face of the cylinder A is serrated, as shewn at a³, for a part of its
circumference, and the interior face of the cylinder B is preferably also similarly
serrated, as shewn at 63. These serrations for in abutinents, against which the material
to be treated will be thrown by the beaters and broken up by impact, and thereby
all the particles thereof will receive a severe shock or concussion. The material to be
treated is fed into the top part of the first treating chamber through an inlet or
duct C from any suitable closed reservoir, and from the bottom part of the last
treating chamber the material which has been treated will be discharged in the
form of a cold vapour through the outlet duct D into a suitable receiver, where the
vapors should be allowed to recondense into fluid.
It is essential that the outlet duct D should be placed at the bottom part of the
chamber as described.
The liquid, in passing through the first chamber, will be partly vaporized
or dashed into spray by means of the beaters, and will be also acted upon by
concussion against the serrations, and in the next chamber the process will be
continued, and if desired finished.
The atmospheric air or pure oxygen which I introduce in the final step of my
process may be forced into the treating chamber or chambers by any suitable
means, as, for instance, a force pump or air compressor.
In this manner, and by this process, whiskey, brandy, gin, wine, and other
distilled or fermented liquors may be thoroughly separated into infinitely fine
particles, and any sacks of fusel oil or similar globules will be thoroughly broken
up, and the contents thereof distributed throughout the mass; and then by forcing
the atmospheric air or pure oxygen into the liquor while it is in this cold, vaporous,
or atomic state, the atoms of liquid under treatment will come into contact with
the oxygen present in the treating chamber, and the whole mass will thereby
become thoroughly and immediately "aged" or oxidized. It is an essential feature
of the apparatus employed in my process that it be practically air tight so as to
prevent loss by evaporation.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I make no claim to or in respect of the construction of the apparatus
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, which I have shewn merely for the
purpose of clearly explaining the manner of practising the said Invention, but I
claim,―
The process of oxidizing or "aging" distilled and fermented liquors by first
vaporizing the same into a fine spray or attenuated atomic form, then, while in
this form, submitting the vapor to shocks or concussions, and, finally, while still in
the vaporous state, impregnating it with atmospheric air or pure oxygen for the
purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
Luht hundred and eighty que