Improvements in Apparatus for Treating Raw Grain for Brewing Purposes.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 19th June, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 14th Feb., 1895-Accepted, 6th Apr., 1895
TORTUNAT
Improvements in Apparatus for Treating Raw Grain for Brewing
Purposes.
1, ERNEST HORATIO LUDLOW, Brewer, of Langley Green in the County of
Worcester, do hereby declare the nature of my said invention to be as
follows:-
C
The apparatus consists of a suitable vessel, preferably with a parallel cylindrical
portion in the centre and having at each end thereof two conical portions of different
taper, the flatter of the cones being joined to the ends of the acute cones.
The
longer axis of the vessel may be at right angles to the diameter of the cylindrical
portion, and the said axis is preferably placed vertically. At a suitable position,
preferably in the lower part of the cylindrical portion, a shaft is provided. This
shaft may work through stuffing boxes at one or both ends, and be formed with a
large central Loss or bosses to take the rakes. The revolution of the said shaft
may be accomplished by any suitable means. The rakes in the boss or bosses of
said shaft may be three in number and consist, preferably, of long bars forming the
arins, placed at right angles to the axis of the shaft, and fitted on each side with
tines, or blades of convenient form. The rake arms are preferably arranged to
allow an end wise movement in the boss, such movement being controlled by stops
fixed in the arms. The whole or part of the two bottom cones, and also the
cylindrical portion, may be steam jacketted as required, and the vessel may be
provided with a suitable manhole, malt inlet, grain inlet as well as steam and water
connections at the top and bottom. The usual inlet, outlet, safety and indicating
fittings may be provided to the vessel and also the jacket.
The outlet in the bottom of the vessel is preferably formed with a bend piece
and valve, so arranged that the valve shuts close to the bottom of the vessel. The
vessel may be fitted with an external cooling system consisting of a perforated ring
or other suitable pipe for distributing cold water over the external surface of the
two top cones, a suitable gutter being provided on the vessel to drain off the water.
The steam, hot and cold water inlets may all deliver through a rose perforated ring
pipe, or other form of spraying apparatus, both at the top and bottom. This
spraying arrangement may be applied to the hot and cold water only, however, and ·
be fixed to the top inlets only. The inlet for the malt may be fitted with an
external masbing apparatus, preferably of the well known "Steel" type.
A number of fixed or movable rake arms may be provided along the shaft as
desired. The steam jacket may also be fitted with cold water connections for
cooling purposes.
Die 10th Lun 1801

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for Treating Raw Grain for Brewing
Purposes.
1, ERNEST HORATIO LUDLOW, of Langley Green, in the County of Worcester,
Brewer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention and in what manner the
Fame is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
In the process of brewing it is customary to mix with the malted grain employed
from thirty to fifty per cent. of raw or unmalted grain with the malt. The starch
contained in raw or unmalted grain in the treatment to which it is subjected is
gelatinised and subsequently converted into saccharine or fermentable matter and
is thus made of service to the brewer.
The gelatinisation of the raw grain may be accomplished in different ways. It
may be effected by the notion of water and heat with or without high pressure or
by the action of dilute acids and heat; in both cases the gelatinisation is promoted
by agitation. By the treatment described the starch cells are ruptured and the
starch converted into saccharine matter by the action of diastase contained in the
molted grain. The required change in the raw grain is facilitated by crushing
the said grain before using it in the brewing process.
The extract resulting from either of these processes of treating raw grain may be
made to form from thirty to fifty per cent, of the brewer's available extract derived
from what may be termed mash wort.
The difficulties experienced by brewers in the treatment of raw or unmalted
grain have been, first, the uncertain character of the extract obtained. This is
owing to the viscous nature and increased density of the mash and the resulting
worts, yielded by a blend of materials carrying the above percentage of raw or
unmalted grain. The viscous character of the wort causes the filtration to be a
tedious process often involving great loss of extract through the density of the
mash, and consequent difficulty in the extractive or sparging process.
The second of the difficulties referred to is the difficulty of determining with
certainty such a character of wort as shall enable the brewer to turn out a beer of
the required flavour and at the same time be conducive to the healthy reproduction
of yeast during fermentation.
The third of the difficulties referred to is as follows. The use of the raw grain
considerably lessens the bulk of output of mash tun grains owing to the deadness of
goods usually experienced.
The apparatus constituting my invention has for its object to obviate the
difficulties referred to in the treatment of raw grain and consists of the apparatus
hereinafter described whereby the treatment of the raw grain, that is, its mixture
with the malted grain in water heated to a high temperature under pressure, its
rapid agitation, the cooling and removal of the mash produced are efficiently and
expeditiously carried out.
The apparatus constituting my invention consists essentially of a short upright
hollow cylinder of large diameter the top end of which is closed by a hollow conical
cap and the bottom end by a hollow conical cup similar in shape to the cap at top.
The hollow conical cup at bottom fits into an opening in and is supported by the
floor of the room in which the apparatus is situated.
n
Crossing the cylindrical part of the vessel as a diameter is a shaft the said shaft
working in stuffing boxes at opposite sides of the said vessel. At the middle of the
shaft is a boss having in it radial holes in which the stems of rakes or stirrers are
situated, the said rakes carrying blades or times. The stems of the said rakes are
capable of a sliding motion in the holes in the boss so that on the rotation of the
shaft and as the rakes approach the perpendicular they fall into their lowust

page_text: position and the end pair of blades of the lower series nearly comes in contact with
the apex of the conical cup; the blades of each end pair are inclined to each other
at the same angle as the sides of the couical cup. The shaft herein before referred to
also has a series of fixed rakes on each side of the middle boss, the stems of which
are inclined at such an angle to the axis of the shaft that when brought into their
lowest position they are perpendicular to and their blades nearly touch the side of
the conical bottom of the vessel.
The gearing and bearings for the rake shaft are situated outside the vessel in
which the treatment of the grain takes place.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents in vertical section apparatus
for treating raw grain for brewing purposes constructed according to my invention
and
Figure 2 is a vertical section through the rake shaft, the said section being taken
in a plane at right angles to that of the section Figure 1.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in both figures of the
drawings.
a is the cylindrical part of the vessel or container of the apparatus in which vessel
the grain to be treated is introduced and a², a³ are respectively the conical bottom
and top of the said vessel. The conical bottom is provided with a jacket a into
which steam at high pressure is introduced by the steam valve when it is
required to heat the vessel a, a, a, the condensed steam passing away by a pipe b²
near the bottom of the jacket a'. The jacket a is provided with a pressure
gauge and safety valve 1. When cooling the vessel a, a, a, the supply of steam
to the jacket a' is shut off and cold water is passed into the said jacket by, preferably,
three taps or valves near the bottom of the jacket at one of which is shown and
marked in Figure 1. The overflow cold water passes away by three taps or
valves not shown, at the top of the jacket a'.
The vessel a, a, a³ is provided at top with a steam inlet d, hot water inlet e and
cold water inlet the said steam, or hot or cold water being introduced in the form
of spray through the rose g. A passage for the introduction of steam at the bottom
of the vessel is also provided at h the controlling valve of which is not shown, and
hot or cold water is supplied to the vessel at bottom through the opening i the
valve of which is also not shown. A pressure gauge is provided at and safety
valves, are fitted to the vessel for relieving the pressure within the vessel should
it exceed that at which the apparatus is required to work.
The safety valve 13 may open into a condenser so that the vapour escaping
therefrom may be condensed into water and the oil volatilised from the raw
grain.
Que or more thermometers are fixed in the side of the vessel as well as a
sampling tap and dip gauge. As these appliances are well known and constitute no
part of my invention I have omitted them in the drawings in order that the more
important parts may be the better seen.
The grain and inalt are supplied to the vessel by the "Steels" mashing
machine m or other equivalent apparatus the passage from which is closed during
the treatment of the grain in the said vessel a, a, as by the sliding valve m². The
grain may however be partly introduced through additional grain inlets having
hinged and bolted covers one of which additional grain inlets is shown and marked n
its cover being removed.
For cooling the contents of the vessel in addition to the supply of cold water to
the jacket a hereinbefore referred to, a perforated ring o in connection with a cold
water supply is arranged near the apex of the conical top a the water from which
ring o runs down the conical top and is collected by the gutter o* from which it
passes away by a pipe at some convenient part of the apparatus.
The rake shaft p turns in journals or plummer blocks on the angle iron
supports q, q and in stuffing boxes p³, p at opposite sides of the cylindrical part a
of the vessel a, a³, a'. Only oue raker is shown in the boss p of the shaft p in

page_text: Figure the other rakes working in the holes, as seen in Figure 2. The
inclined fixed rakes, are fixed in snugs 2, on the shaft p.
is the valved outlet at the bottom of the vessel and a is a inanhole near the top
of the vessel.
"
The ruke shaft is driven from the belt shaft e through the toothed wheels p', e
at one or both ends of the said shaft and the shaft of the " "Steels or other
mashing machine is driven from the said belt shaft r by means of the band or
belt 10.
The shafte has fast and loose pulleys as represented for throwing tho said shaft
into and out of gear with the driving power. The said shaft may be provided
with two or more pulleys of different sizes so as to permit of the rotation of the
rake shaft at different speeds.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that I claim as my
invention -
The apparatus for treating raw grain for brewing purposes hereinbefore described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the said apparatus consisting
essentially of an upright cylindrical vessel with conical top and bottom the said
vessel having the necessary malt and grain inlets in the upper part and a valved
outlet, for the wort produced, at bottom, and also steam and hot and cold water
inlets and jackets for heating and cooling the contents of the vessel, the said vessel
also being provided with a horizontal rotating shaft carrying rakes or stirrers
sliding in a middle boss on the shaft the stems of the said rakes sliding auto-
matically in the said boss on the rotation of the shaft, the said shaft being also
provided with fixed oblique rakes or stirrers substantially as described and
illustrated.
Dated the Thirteenth day of February 1895.
ERNEST HORATIO LUDLOW.