IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING A CONCENTRATED EXTRACT OF HOPS, WHICH THE INVENTOR DENOMINATES HUMULINE
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draftsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifteenth day of February, in the fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said William Edward Newton,
my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all Her
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
OBTAINING A CONCENTRATED EXTRACT OF HOPS, WHICH THE INVENTOR DENOMINATES
HUMULINE". being a communication made to me by Henry Frederick Smoll,
of Paris; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the
said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto. had, will more fully and at
large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Edward Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Inventon, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof
(that is to say):
This Invention of improvements in obtaining a concentrated extract of hops
consists in submitting the plant called the hop (humulus lupulus) to a certain
process, by means of which the extract or essence of the plant is obtained in a
better and more perfect manner than when boiled up with wort in the manu-
facture of beer, as is at present the case. By means of the process hereafter
described (and which may be divided into parts), two separate and distinct
products are obtained, one being the essential oil of the resin (the resinous or
spirituous tincture), the other is the "extract," which is a gummy or aqueous
decoction of the plant. These products are obtained in the following manner :—
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESS.
The hops are dried in a stove or oven heated to about 86° of Fahrenheit's
thermometer, and when brittle or friable they must be rubbed or passed through
a sieve, the meshes of which are not more than the tenth of an inch wide.
The coarse powder is then placed in a closed cylinder, called, by the Inventor,
the displacing cylinder. As much alcohol is then poured into the cylinder as
the powder will absorb, and a further quantity supplied until a layer of about
an inch and a half deep covers the powder. The contents of the cylinder are
then submitted to a considerable pressure, and allowed to remain in this state
for about twenty-four hours, after which time the alcoholic tincture may be
draw off into a tub or other vessel. The alcohol is washed out of the contents
of the cylinder by adding water thereto until the liquor which runs out of the
cock becomes clear and colourless. The same water is again added to the
contents of the cylinder, and the hops are macerated in it for the space of
forty-eight hours; after this maceration the liquor is drawn off, and the hops
again washed with fresh supplies of water, in order that no extract may
'allowed to remain. By this means the following products are obtained, (viz):-
The alcoholic tincture, holding in solution the essential oil, and also the ordinary
decoction, dissolved or held in solution by water. These three distinct products,
(viz), the alcoholic tincture, the essential oil, and the ordinary decoction or
'watery extract, may be united into one homogenous mass, and effected in the
'following manner :-The alcoholic tincture and essential oil are placed in a
'suitable vessel, and subjected to the action of a water bath (balneum mariæ),
which must be furnished with a still-head, and submitted to the process of dis-
be

page_text: extract.
tillation in order to drive off the alcohol, which by this means is obtained
perfectly colourless and limped; and, as such is the case, it proves that all the
essential oil remains in the preparation or residuum, which is a brownish
yellow resin, covered with a layer of yellowish liquor some inches.in depth, and;
composed of a watery extract. The aqueous decoction, to which is added the
above watery extract, which floats on the surface of the resin is then evapo--
rated by an open fire until it becomes of the consistance of a syrup, and then it!
is removed to the water bath and evaporated until it becomes a nearly solid
This extract, which is about the colour of chocolate, and of the.
agreeable bitter taste, the characteristic of hops, is mixed with the resin, which
has been previously softened or melted by means of the water bath. By this.
method of preparing the hop about thirty-two to thirty-four per cent. of extract
is obtained from good hops, and all that the plant contains of those substances
necessary for the manufacture of beer is drained out or otherwise obtained, the
residue having neither taste nor smell; and no further decoction or extract can
be obtained even by boiling for a considerable time. The humuline, when
prepared in this manner, assumes the form of a nearly, solid extract, of a
blackish brown colour, with a pungent smell similar to the hop, the taste being
at first bitter, and afterwards of an acrid taste. In order to preserve the
humuline it must be softened or melted by the application of heat, and poured
into tin or earthen vessels previously well dried. It must be then left to cool,
gradually, and a small quantity of alcohol poured on to the surface, just suf-
ficient to cover it. Upon allowing this small quantity of alcohol to evaporate.
the surface of the humuline in the vessel will be covered with a thin coating,.
film, or skin, which, as long as it remains unbroken, will effectually prevent the
humuline from becoming mouldy or otherwise injured by exposure to the air.
When the humuline is required for the manufacture of beer a sufficient quan-
tity of the gummy extract is taken from.the vessel containing the same, and is.
placed in an earthen vessel, and to every two pounds of the extract add about
one pint and a half of hot water; then place the earthen vessel in a water:
bath in order to dissolve the gummy extract. The resinous extract is to be
dissolved in a small quantity of alcohol, and when the two solutions are once
quite limpid they are to be mixed, and added to the wort at any moment.
required. The humuline is added to the beer in about the following pro-
portions: Two pounds weight of humuline in place of six pounds weight of
common hops. If the two extracts are not previously mixed, the brewer may
at his discretion mix them in any proportion that may be required, as it is well
known that when the resinous extract is added in two great quantities it gives
a disagreeable acridity to the beverage.

page_text: I also obtain a valuable extract from hops by placing them, either in a pul-
verized or whole state, in a closed cylinder, and submitting them to the action
of steam, either under considerable pressure or at the mean pressure of the
atmosphere; and, by the partial condensation of the steam which will take
place, a liquid extract of hops is obtained, the watery particles of which may,
if required, be evaporated to the same consistence as the humuline, and pre-
served in a similar manner.
I will now proceed to point out some of the principle advantages which will
result from the employment of the humuline. The first advantage is economy,
as, by employing the humuline, the brewer obtains from fifteen to twenty per
cent. more of the hop than when employing the plant itself and boiling it in
the wort. This will be easily understood by persons practically acquainted
with the process of brewing, as it is an acknowledged fact that even after hops
have been boiled in the wort for some hours they contain (when taken out of
the boiler) a considerable quantity of essence, which is ultimately lost; and
besides this loss, there is another which must by no means be overlooked,
namely, the loss by evaporation, as during the long process of boiling a great
portion of the essential oil and aroma of the hop is driven off and wasted;
whereas, when the humuline is employed it need not be boiled more than
twenty minutes. Another advantage is the superior quality of beer which is
produced by employing the humuline in place of the ordinary hop. The next
advantage is the practicability of the brewer availing himself of a good crop of
hops, as he may buy a large quantity when they are good and the market is
overstocked; and, by reducing them to humuline, he is enabled to keep them
any length of time without being liable to spoil, as is the case when the plant
is kept longer than a year. A further advantage consists in the small space
which the essence or useful qualities of this plant occupies, thus rendering it
eligible for sea voyages, in which it would be extremely useful for making
beer, and as a remedy against scurvy. There are many other advantages
resulting from its use, but it is not necessary to mention them here.
Having now described the Invention communicated to me, and the manner
in which the same is to be carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that I
claim the methods above described of making or producing a concentrated
extract of hops.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-one.
WILLIAM E. (L.S.) NEWTON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Eleventh day of August,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid William Edward Newton came
before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Speci-
fication aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the Fourteenth day of August, in the year above written.