IMPROVEMENTS IN BREWING AND DISTILLING
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Steel, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Brewer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREWING
AND DISTILLING."
Sealed the 18th January 1859, and dated the 3rd August 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Steel at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd August
1858.
I, JAMES STEEL, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North, Britain,
Brewer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BREWING AND DISTILLING," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to the rendering continuous certain operations
employed in brewing. In a modification of apparatus for "mashing" on the
continuous system, a horizontal cylindrical vessel is employed, having a screw
working slowly inside it. At one end of this vessel there is a feeding tube,
into the mouth of which the malt is introduced, and also a small quantity of
warm water. If necessary a screw is made to work in the feeding tube to
carry the malt down into the horizontal vessel, along which last it is slowly
conveyed by the action of the screw. At the other end of the horizontal vessel
there is a second tube, up which the malt is elevated by means of a screw,
and from which it.is discharged by a spout. The greater portion of the hot
mash water is introduced at a point a little below the discharge. spout, and

page_text: gradually passes along to the entrance end of the horizontal vessel, taking up
the saccharine matters in its passage, and becoming converted into wort, which
passes off through strainers at that end of the horizontal vessel. In a modifi-
cation of apparatus for carrying out the continuous system in boiling or heating
the wort, the wort is introduced at one end of a vessel heated by a furnace, or,
as is preferred, by steam admitted into a bottom casing, and into a coil of
piping placed a short distance above the bottom casing. The wort is by the
boiling action thrown upon the interior of a kind of inverted funnel, from the
top of which it is vomited. When the vessel is first supplied with a sufficient
quantity of wort, the wort is boiled for a short time, and then gradually drawn
off at one end, whilst fresh wort is gradually introduced at the other end, and
the operation is thus carried on continuously. Diaphragms, partitions, or
other obstructions are, if necessary, arranged in the vessel to retard the flow of
the wort from one end to the other.
The wort on leaving the vessel just described enters a closed vessel in which
it is treated with hops. It passes through the hops which are contained
between two perforated diaphragms, one of these being moveable to accom-
odate itself to the quantity of hops in the vessel. Provision is made for
additionally heating the wort in this vessel, if necessary; vomiting funnels
being introduced to cause the wort to be thrown to the top of the hops for the
purpose of passing through them again. A communication is made from the
upper part of this vessel to the condenser to collect any steam or vapour, and
prevent loss of the aroma given out by the hops. The vessel in which the
wort is heated or boiled may be of various forms and variously modified, pro-
vided arrangements are made for sufficiently heating the wort passing slowly
and continuously through it.
The herein-before described improvements, or some of them, are applicable
in the preparatory processes employed in distilling from grain.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Steel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30
3rd February 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
STEEL, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Brewer, send.
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 35
Patent, bearing date the Third day of August, in the year of our Lord.

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Steel, Her special licence that I, the said James Steel, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Steel, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter 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
BREWING AND DISTILLING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Steel, my executors or adininistrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 James Steel, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, reference being be to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to improved apparatus by means of which certain
operations employed in brewing may be rendered continuous; such improved
apparatus, or a part thereof, being also applicable in the preparatory processes
employed in distilling from grain.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood and
carried into effect, I will particularly describe a modification of apparatus con-
structed according to it, having delineated such modification upon a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings hereunto appended, to which Drawings I shall refer as
I proceed.
Figure 1 on the Sheet of Drawings is a longitudinal vertical section of a
modification of my improved apparatus for "mashing" on the continuous
system. In this apparatus a horizontal cylindrical vessel A, B, is employed,
having a screw C working slowly inside it. The shaft D of this screw C is
mounted in bearings at each end, these bearings being by preference inside
the apparatus; and the shaft is driven by means of a worm wheel E fixed upon
it at one end. A worm (indicated by dotted lines in the Figure, as on the
further side of the worm wheel E,) is fixed on the lower end of a vertical shaft-
F, which passes out through a stuffing box upon the side of the vessel-A, B, and

page_text: has fast on it a bevil wheel G, by which it is driven by a first motion shaft
not shown in the Figure. At one end of the vessel A, B, there is fitted a
vertical feeding tube H, into the mouth of which the malt is introduced either
direct from the hopper, a portion of which is shown at I, or after it has passed
through a preparatory mashing or mixing cylinder J, of the kind for which
William Steel obtained British Letters Patent, bearing date the 11th day of
November 1853. This preparatory masher or mixer consists simply of a
cylinder J, in which there rotates a centrally disposed shaft K,. fitted with
radiating spikes arranged in four rows round it; the shaft K passing out
through a stuffing box at one end, and having a driving pulley L fixed on it.
A small quantity of warm water is introduced with the malt; this water
being supplied when the preparatory masher J is used by a pipe M entering
this masher at or near the end at which the malt is introduced into it. If
necessary a screw may be made to work in the feeding tube H, to carry the
malt down into the horizontal vessel A, B, along which last it is slowly con-
veyed by the action of the screw C. At the other end of the horizontal vessel
A, B, there is a second vertical tube N, up which the malt is elevated by
means of a screw O, the shaft of this screw passing out through the cover of
the tube, and having a bevil wheel P fixed upon it, by which it is driven.
The tube N is formed with a discharge spout Q at its upper end, and the
greater quantity of the "sparging" or hot mash water is introduced by a
pipe R, at a point just below the discharge spout Q. This water gradually
drains through the malt down the tube N, and along the horizontal vessel
A, B, taking up the saccharine matters in its passage, and becoming converted
into wort, which passes off through a series of strainers S, T, T, T, T, at the
right-hand or entrance end of the vessel A, B. The strainers T, which may
consist of fine wire cloth, are fitted up in a vessel U, forming an extension of
the main vessel A, B; the first strainer S forming a partition between the
two, and being of extra strength, if necessary, to withstand the pressure of the
malt. The vessel U, containing the strainers may be extended outwards of
the full diameter of the main vessel A, B, or it may be gradually contracted,
as indicated by the dotted lines V, W. The bottom of the vessel U is formed
into funnels X, to receive matters deposited from the wort; these deposits
being drawn off by stop-cocks fitted to the bottoms of the funnels.
strained wort passes off by a pipe Y, fitted. with a stop-cock Z.
water passes through the apparatus in the opposite direction to
the screws C and O.propel the malt, and to facilitate its passage the blades of
the screws may be perforated. If necessary, longitudinal blades may be fixed
between the convolutions of. the screw C, to turn over the malt, and insure its
The
The sparging
that in which

page_text: being uniformly acted upon. It is proposed to drive the large screw C in the
main vessel A, B, so as to carry each increment of the malt from one end of
the vessel to the other in about four hours, the elevating screw being driven
at a proportionately faster rate, that is, so as to take up the malt just as it is
delivered to it by the horizontal screw C; in practice, however, this speed may
be modified as may be found suitable. In order that the malt may not carry
an excess of water away with it down the discharge spout Q, a valve a is
fitted to the spout, which valve is pressed by a spring, so that the malt
can only pass under a slight pressure.
Figure 2 on the Sheet of Drawings is a transverse vertical section of a
modification of my improved apparatus for carrying out the continuous system
in boiling, or heating, and concentrating the wort. Figure 3 is a transverse
vertical section, and Figure 4 is a plan of the apparatus. The heater is in
this case an oblong vessel b, formed in this instance of thin sheet copper, and
mounted upon transversely disposed cast-iron standards c, connected by longi-
tudinal tie rods. Heat is communicated by means of steam, which is supplied
from a boiler by the pipe d; this pipe having two branches e, f, upon it fitted
with stop-cocks. One branch steam pipe e supplies a casing g, formed along
the rounded bottom h of the heater, whilst the other branch steam pipe f
enters the heater itself, and supplies a kind of hollow grating composed of
steam pipes i, extending along the heater at a short distance above its bottom.
h. The waste steam or water of condensation from the casing g and pipes i
passes off by two branches j. Above the pipes i there is placed an inverted
funnel k, of an oblong form in plan, which is divided internally by transverse
partitions 1, as is also the lower part of the heater by transverse partitions m,
these last also serving to partly support the pipes i and funnel k. In the
plan, Figure 4, a portion of the funnel k is supposed to be broken away.
Additional partitions are fitted across the heater near each end, and outside
of the funnel k. The wort to be heated and concentrated is received at one
end of the heater, (from the pipe Y, for example,) and being made to boil by
the heat applied, is by the boiling action thrown up the interior of the funnel
k; from the open top of which it is vomited over. When the vessel is first
supplied with a sufficient quantity of wort, the wort is boiled for a short time,
and then gradually drawn off at one end by the valved discharge pipe o, whilst
fresh wort is gradually introduced at the other end, and the operation is thus
carried on continuously. The flow of the wort from one end to the other of
the heater is retarded by the partitions l, m, n, which arrangement insures the
thorough and uniform heating and concentrating of every portion of the wort.
The form and arrangement of the heater may be modified in various ways,

page_text: provided the wort is made to pass gradually through every part of it, from the
entrance to the discharge pipe. Thus, it might probably be rendered more
compact than as shown if constructed in a circular form in plan. Direct
furnace heat may also be employed instead of steam heat, or a combination of
both may be used. If found desirable, the heater may be covered in, and
arrangements may be made for boiling the wort within it, either under pres-
sure or in vacuuo.
The wort on leaving the heater enters a separate closed vessel p, in which
it is treated with hops; it passes downwards through the hops, which are con-
tained between two perforated horizontal diaphragms q, r; one of these, in
this case the upper one q, being moveable to accomodate itself to the quantity
of hops in the vessel. Provision is made for additionally heating the wort in
this vessel, if necessary, a coils of steam pipes being introduced, and vomiting
funnels are fitted between the diaphragms r, q, to cause the wort to be
thrown to the top of the hops for the purpose of passing through them again.
From the vessel p the wort passes by the discharge passage u to the condenser or
cooler, which is, in this instance, represented as consisting of a worm or spiral
coil v, into the bottom of which cold water is introduced, the wort passing
through small pipes inside the worm, so as to be surrounded by the cold water.
The water used for cooling the wort becomes gradually heated, and may be
used for mixing with fresh malt. To this end a pipe w is connected to the
upper end of the worm v, to convey the water thus heated to the branches M
and R, already described, as supplying the mashing apparatus.
At the com-
mencement of operations, hot water will have to be supplied to the masher
from another source, this supply being introduced by the hot water pipe a,
but when the condenser v is in action, and the water which leaves it is suffi-
ciently heated, a separately heated supply will not be needed. A cold water
supply pipe y communicates with the branch M, for reducing the temperature
of the water supplied to the preparatory masher J, when necessary.
In distilling from grain, the mashing apparatus herein-before described and
delineated in Figure 1 of the Drawings may be used in forming the wort.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be used, or carried into effect, I have to state that
I do not restrict myself to the precise details herein described or delineated,
and that I do not claim to have invented every separate detail herein described
and delineated; but that what I believe to be novel and original, and claim as
the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, is,
First, the system of "mashing" or forming a wort in a continuous manner

page_text: in brewing and distilling, as herein-before described; and the application and
use of the herein-before described apparatus designed for carrying out such
system.
Second, the system of boiling and concentrating the wort in a continuous
manner in brewing, as herein-before described; and the application and use of
the herein-before described apparatus designed for carrying out such system.
Third, the system of treating the wort with hops in brewing, wherein it is
passed continuously through a separate vessel containing the hops, as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Steel, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
JAMES STEEL. (L.S.)