AN IMPROVED MODE OF PRESERVING HOPS, AND FITTING THEM FOR STORAGE AND TRANSPORTATION
Year: 1860

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Edward Newton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
October 1860.-A communication from abroad by James C. Baldwin, of
Waterville, Robert Brayton, of Buffalo, both in the State of New York.
One of the United States of America, and M. D. Baldwin, of Brantford,
Canada.
1, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do bereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF PRESERVING HOPS, AND FITTING
THEM FOR STORAGE AND TRANSPORTATION," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved mode of preserving the cones or cat-
kins of the hop for storage and transportation. by which the natural and
characteristic properties of the plant are retained for any length of time
unimpaired. There are two important principles in hops upon which their
value chiefly depends.
One of these is volatile, and easily escapes if the hops are exposed to the
action of the atmosphere, while the other is decomposed by exposure to
dampness. With the present mode of packing, this essential volatile principle-
almost entirely escapes in from three to six months. The other principle,
which is composed in part at least of essential oil, is acted upon less rapidly,.
but there seems to be a steady depreciation both in flavor and strength from.
the first, until at the end of two years they are almost wholly worthless.

page_text: When the cones or catkins of the hop are first gathered, they contain more
or less moisture from the sap or natural juice of the plant. This is removed
as much as possible by drying slowly in a kiln at a temperature ranging from
ninety degrees Fahrenheit to one hundred and ten degrees. This low tempe-
rature is necessary in order to preserve as much as possible the volatile matter
of the hop from escaping. The loss of moisture will amount to from ten
to fifteen per cent., and when thus dried, they are ready for the next step in
the process.
When the hops are being gathered from the vines, the inferior catkins
should be saved in a separate parcel, and the quantity thus saved should
range from five to eight pounds for every hundred pounds that are dried in
the kiln. From this inferior quantity a strong decoction should be made by
steam in a suitable vessel, and so concentrated that the weight will not exceed
the loss sustained by those that have been dried in the kiln.
The dried hops should now be moistened with a sufficient quantity of this
decoction to restore the original weight before they were dried in the kiln, and
immediately after being thus moistened they are subjected to the action of a
powerful hydraulic press forming them into cakes, say, of five pounds each, of
suitable shape to be made up into larger packages, the whole mass being reduced
by the above-mentioned pressure to about one-fiftieth of the bulk they occupy
in the common mode of packing. A number of these cakes may be formed
into a large package, in which condition they are enclosed in an air-tight case
made of tin or other suitable material, and hermetically sealed or otherwise
secured.