CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SEVERAL PROCESSES OF SACCHARINE, VINOUS, AND ACETOUS FERMENTATION
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
JOSEPH CHARLES SHERIDAN, late of Walworth, in the County of Surrey, but
now of Lewisham, in the County of Kent, in Great Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Gracious Majesty King William the Fourth, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, on or about the Twentieth day of October, in the seventh year of
His reign, did give and grant unto me, the said John Joseph Charles Sheridan,
my exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said John Joseph
Charles Sheridan, my exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times hereafter 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 His said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SEVERAL PROCESSES OF SACCHARINE,
VINOUS, AND ACETOUS FERMENTATION;" in which said Letters Patent there is
contained a proviso that I, the said John Joseph Charles Sheridan, shall cause
a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, to be enrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent, as by the same, reference being thereunto had, may more fully and at
large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Joseph Charles Sheridan, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof (that is to say) :-
My Invention of "Certain Improvements in the several Processes of Sac-
charine, Vinous, and Acetous Fermentation" consists, as regards the improve-
ment in the process of saccharine fermentation in my method herein-after
described, of carrying on and effecting the same process of saccharine fermen-
tation within an air-tight vessel capable of resisting the pressure of the
atmosphere, whereby during parts of the said process the same is carried on
under a reduced atmospheric pressure or in a partial vacuum; and my
Invention, as regards the improvement in the process of vinous fermentation,
consists, in my method herein-after described, of carrying on and effecting the
same process of vinous fermentation under a reduced atmospheric pressure or
in a partial vacuum, instead of carrying on and effecting the same process
according to the methods now in use, whereby the materials used in such
process are subjected to the ordinary pressure of the atmosphere; and my
Invention, as regards the improvement in the process of acetous fermentation,
consists in my method of carrying on and effecting the same process of acetous
fermentation, as herein-after described, whereby I effect the carrying on of parts
of the said last-mentioned process under a reduced atmospheric pressure
or in a partial vacuum, instead of carrying on and effecting the same process
according to the methods now in use, whereby the materials used in such
process are subjected to the ordinary pressure of the atmosphere.
And, firstly, I proceed to describe the manner in which I have ascertained
that my Invention of the improvement in the process of saccharine fermenta-
tion can be best performed:-I take a vessel so constructed as to be air-tight,
and capable of resisting atmospheric pressure on a vacuum being formed
within. I find that a vessel made of wrought or cast iron will answer the
purpose best, and the vessel may be either cylindrical, square, or octagonal, or
in any other form capable of sustaining the pressure described; but I prefer a
cylindrical vessel made of wrought iron plates, as being better suited to resist
the pressure of the atmosphere. Such cylindrical vessel I recommend to be
constructed in the following manner (but other well-known modes of attaining
the same end will occur to engineers or workmen who may be employed in
making such vessels):-The vessel should be made of cast or wrought iron
plates, these plates not to be cast or wrought straight or on a level plane, but
each to form a curve or arc of a circle whose radius is equal to half the
diameter of the vessel, and the plates must be cast or wrought, keeping in

page_text: view the directions as to man-holes, pipes, &c., herein-after mentioned. The
four edges of the plates are to lap over (a term well known to mechanics
and engineers) to the extent of three or four inches, and the thickness of these
plates to be not less than half an inch throughout, except the flanges or laps,
which ought to be not less than three fourths of an inch thick. Holes are to
be drilled into the flanges or laps, at the distance of from four to six inches
from each other, for the admission of bolts, and these holes should not be less
than three quarters of an inch in diameter. The first or lower tier or range of
plates forming the sides of the vessels nearest its bottom, and fastened thereto,
are bolted in the form of a cylinder, by means of bolts passing through the
holes in the flanges or laps above described, and all the joints must be caulked
or made tight with iron cement. The lower flanges or laps of the second tier
or range of plates are then bolted on in like manner to the top or upper flanges
or laps of such first or lower tier or range of plates, and the joints must be, as
before, caulked or made tight with iron cement. In consequence of the junc-
tion and bolting together of the flanges or laps of the first and second tier of
plates, additional power against the pressure of the atmosphere is acquired.
The third tier or range of plates is bolted to the tier immediately below it, in
the mode above described for bolting together the first and second tier, and
If the
any additional tier of plates must be fastened on in like manner.
vessel be of the size of three thousand five hundred to four thousand cubic
feet, which is the size I prefer, although the size may be varied according to
circumstances, then for such dimensions the plates may be four feet by four
feet, exclusive of the flanges or laps, and proportionably smaller or larger
for vessels of a smaller or larger size. The bottom is formed of wrought
or cast iron plates, and may be either flat or semi-sperical, and is bolted
on to the lower flanges or flaps of the first or lower tier or range of
plates. The top is also formed of wrought or cast iron plates, and may
be either either flat or semi-spherical, and the same is bolted on to the
upper flanges or laps of the uppermost tier or range of plates. A coil
of pipe, which I prefer should be of copper, and which should be three
inches in diameter, is fixed within the vessel in the following manner :-
The coil should consist of six or seven rounds of pipe, and these rounds
should be so disposed as to rest on the bottom of the vessel, the outer
round being placed about six inches from the internal sides of the vessel.
One end of the pipe so to be coiled should communicate with a steam boiler,
and the other end of this pipe should pass through the opposite side of the
vessel close to the bottom, or through the bottom, in order to discharge the
In the centre of the said flat or semi-
condensed steam herein-after mentioned.

page_text: A
spherical bottom an air cock, two inches at least in diameter, is fixed.
false bottom is placed immediately above the coils of pipes, but not touching
them, of the same dimensions as the inside of the said vessel, so as to fit
closely into the same, which false bottom must be perforated with small holes
like that of a brewer's mash tun. These holes should not exceed one eighth
of an inch in diameter. The false bottom should be formed of loose plates
made of cast iron or of copper, or of any other suitable metal, which
may be
of the form of sectors of circles in a cylindrical vessel, and a corresponding
shape in other vessel, and the outer edges should be made to rest upon an
iron rim three inches wide, and fixed to the inner circumference of the vessel,
but above the said coil of pipes and air cock as aforesaid; and such plates
should be supported at their apexes or points which form the centre on a
small iron column or support fixed to the first-mentioned bottom, and about
six inches in diameter, and the upper surface of which should be on a level
with the said inner rim supporting the outer edges of such loose plates. This
false bottom may also be made of pieces of wirework similar to those used in
the ordinary drying kilns used by maltsters; but whether these pieces be
made in the form of sectors of circles or in any other form, their lateral edges
should be supported by ribs of wood or of metal resting on the lower bottom
of the said vessel, which ribs should be perforated through their sides with
holes of at least half an inch in diameter and about two inches distant from
each other, so as to allow the air to circulate, as herein-after described, through
the compartments formed by such ribs. The sides of these loose plates or
pieces of wirework should closely fit, so that the whole may form one complete
bottom without any intermediate spaces above the level of the said false
bottom. An oval or round manhole from six to seven square feet in area is
to be formed in the side of the vessel. The lower extremity of such manhole
nearest the bottom of the vessel should be about an inch above the rim which
supports the false bottom. This manhole must have a cover or plate so con-
structed and ground tight as to fit on exactly, and be capable of being her-
metically closed, and of resisting the atmospheric pressure before mentioned.
Into the flat or semi-spherical top a pipe four inches in diameter, which I call
the exhausting pipe, is to be fixed air tight, communicating with a double-
actioned single or double barrel air pump about one foot six inches in diameter,
and of about two foot stroke, which is worked by a steam engine or other
sufficient power. A mercurial pressure guage to ascertain the degree of
rarefaction within the vessel, and two or more thermometers to ascertain the
degree of heat within the vessel at different depths, must be screwed air-
tight into the top of the vessel. The size of this air pump must be propor-

page_text: tionate to to the size of the vessel, so as to be able to produce a vacuum
to the extent of about twenty inches of mercury. A manhole of similar
size and shape to the one at the bottom of the vessel is made or cut
out in its top, and must be likewise fitted with a cover or plate so
constructed and ground tight as to fit on exactly, and be capable of
being hermetically closed, and of resisting the atmospheric pressure. The
grain which it is intended to subject to the process of saccharine fermen-
tation is thrown through the manhole in the top of the vessel on to the false
bottom, and water is then let in upon it in the usual way of steeping. The
grain is allowed to remain in the water for the requisite time, according to
the judgment of the malster, as exercised in the ordinary process, till the
steeping is complete, which time will vary from forty to sixty-five hours.
After the steeping has been carried on a sufficient time, the water is allowed
to run off by the air cock in the bottom before mentioned. The manhole in
the top, which had been opened for the admission of the grain, is now her-
metically closed. The grain is then allowed to remain in the vessel from
twenty-six to thirty hours, when it will have attained the temperature of from
sixty degrees to sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit. Should the grain during this
part of the process exceed or have a tendency to exceed this temperature, in
manner herein-after more particularly described, the air pump must be set to
work and continued to work until the temperature of the grain becomes
reduced and stationary at not exceeding sixty-five degrees of Fahrenheit.
This part of the process produces the same effects as what is known
among maltsters by the name of couching. The operations equivalent to
flooring are commenced by setting the air pump to work for six hours, or
until the vacuum in the vessel is equal to twenty inches of mercury on the
guage, which is the state of rarefaction to be maintained inside of the vessel. By
these, and the other means hereafter stated, the temperature of the grain ought
to be reduced as nearly as possible to forty-five degrees Fahrenheit, or within
a few degrees thereof, but not lower, at which temperature it ought to be kept
for about twenty-four hours. After the lapse of that period, during the con-
tinuation of the malting, up to the period of drying, the temperature must be
as near to fifty degrees Fahrenheit as possible. To keep down the heat to the
degrees of temperature desired, in addition to the action of the air pump, I
adopt the following means when requisite :-I affix a tube or pipe two inches
in diameter to the air cock already described, fixed in the lower bottom of the
vessel. The other end of this tube or pipe is fixed into the top of a small
square or cylindrical iron tank, the size of which may be about six feet deep
and six feet in diameter or square. This vessel is to be filled with cold

page_text: water. Another tube or pipe six inches in diameter is fixed in the top of the
tank, and is open at both ends. The upper end of this latter pipe is fixed by
a collar or flange to the head of the tank, and communicates with the
external air, and the lower end thereof is made to plunge into the vesse
within six inches from the bottom. With the exception of these two tubes
or pipes, the tanks should be hermetically closed. A partial vacuum having
been formed inside of the vessel containing the grain, by means of the action
of the air pump the atmospheric air rushing in at the external orifice of the
tube or pipe last described is drawn up through the cold water, and passes into
the vessel through the brass air cock which has been opened for the purpose.
The air in the vessel is thus reduced to a lower temperature, and is also
purified; and the passing of such air through the body of the grain to the air
pump reduces the temperature of the grain to the degree required. In cold
weather, when the temperature in the vessel containing the grain may have
tendancy to fall below forty-five degrees and fifty degrees respectively before
mentioned, either steam may be introduced into the coil of pipe aforesaid, by
which means a certain proportion of heat is evolved, which is disseminated
through the body of the grain by the action of the air pump, or the
temperature may be encreased by allowing warm air at one hundred degrees
Fahrenheit to enter through the tube or pipe to be affixed to the aforesaid brass
air cock, or to another similar brass air cock fixed in the bottom of the vessel,
and be drawn through the body of the grain by the action of the air pump.
Such are the means I use for regulating the temperature. The continuation of
the process is carried on as follows:-In order to supply the germinating grain
with moisture, I allow a current of air which has psssed through the water in
the tank, and which has absorbed a proportion of moisture, to find its way in
the manner before described into the vessel containing the grain, and which air
is drawn through the body of the grain by the action of the air pump.
Another object in making use of this current of air is to carry off the
carbonic acid gas which may be generated during the process of germination,
and to supply atmospheric air to assist in that process, and for this object the
air pumps should be put in action for about ten minutes once in every six
hours, although the state of the temperature should not require it, according to
the directions above given. As another mode of moistening or sprinkling the
grain when it may be necessary, I adopt the following means:-The rose of a
watering pot is fixed in the centre of the top of the malting vessel with the
rose downwards, and which rose should be about a foot in diameter, and the
holes therein should be about the, thirty-second part of an inch in diameter.
The upper part or pipe to the rose should be about two inches, and connected

page_text: with a water cistern, elevated at least ten feet above the top of the malting
vessel. The pipe must be fitted with a cock which will keep the malting
vessel air-tight, and the water is introduced by opening this cock, and keeping
it open a sufficient time to supply the grain with the necessary quantity of
moisture; and in order to disseminate the moisture through the whole body of
the grain, and make use of the air pumps in the following manner :-Between
the false bottom and the lower bottom of the malting vessel I affix a pipe of
about three inches in diameter into the side of the vessel communicating with
the air pumps, and provided with a stopcock to shut off all communication,
when necessary, with the air pumps, immediately after the water has been
allowed to descend through the rose on the grain. I shut off by means of a
stopcock the communication between the air pumps and the pipe inserted into
the top of the vessel, and I open the stopcock or pipe inserted into the
side of the vessel, and having put the air pumps into action, the exhaustion
of the air from the bottom of the vessel causes the water to descend from the
top through the grain, and so much of the water as shall have fallen to the
bottom is allowed to escape through the air cock in the bottom of the malting'
vessel before described. When the process of germination is completed,
which may be judged of by the maltster on his examining the grain by
opening the manhole in the top of the vessel, which should be occasionally
done, that is about every twenty-four hours, it is then necessary to proceed to
drying the malt; for this purpose steam is introduced into the coil of pipe
until the temperature of the whole body of the grain has attained one hundred'
and twenty degrees. The vacuum is then raised to a point from fifteen to
twenty-five inches on the mercury guage, and the moisture of the grain is
expelled in the course of two days or less, after which the malt is discharged
through the lower manhole, and my process is then complete. The moisture
evaporated from the grain during the process of drying is to be condensed
previous to its being drawn into the air pump. This may be effected either
by a condenser capable of condensing about one hundred and fifty gallons'
of water per hour, which condenser is affixed between the malting vessel
and the air pump to the pipe, which establishes communication between them,
or by the usual method of condensation by allowing the necessary proportions
of cold water to run through the pipe from the vessel to the air pump.
any other than a cylindrical shaped vessel is used, and to which I have
confined my description, because I prefer a vessel of that shape, great
care must be taken in its construction, so that it may be properly secured
against the pressure of the atmosphere; and it will require to be fitted
up with all the requisites of the before-mentioned cylindrical vessel.
If

page_text: And as regards that part of my Invention which consists in improvements
in the process of vinous fermentation, I describe the same to be as follows,
that is to say:-The vinous fermentation, or that process by which
saccharine substances in solution are converted into vinous liquids containing
a certain proportion of spirit or alcohel, is also carried on by me in an
air-tight vessel capable of resisting, when exhausted, the incumbent pressure
of the atmosphere. I take a vessel called a back, of the size and dimensions
herein-before described, and in the head of such vessel I fix a pipe about
four inches in diameter (which I call the exhaustion pipe) communicating
as before, and with a condenser, and then with an air pump, and also fix on
the bottom of the vessel, and passing from side to side thereof in manner
before described, a coil of steam pipe communicating with a steam boiler.
A plug is fixed in the bottom of the vessel, to discharge the wash, a term
well known to distillers, and a manhole is made in the top of the vessel.
No false bottom is necessary here, nor any manhole in the side. A mercurial
guage is fixed on the head of the vessel, to ascertain the the internal pressure,
and a thermometer dipping half way into the wash is screwed air-tiglit into
the head of the back, with the scale outside of the same. On the external
circumference of the back, and opposite to each other, two vertical pipes five
inches in diameter, and fixed with elbow flanches to the bottom of the back,
and inserted into the same so as to communicate with the inside of the same.
These pipes ascend to about two feet above the head of the back. The upper
orifices of these pipes are hermetically closed by caps screwed on the same, and
in the centre of each of these caps an air valve opening inwards is fixed; weights
are suspended from beams attached to the valves, so that on the same being
lifted the atmosphere enters the pipes. Into each side of the back, about the
spot or point up to which the wash is originally poured or filled up to, pipes,
also five inches in diameter, are fixed, communicating with the inside of
the back, so as to allow the escape through them of the head or froth of
the wash in manner herein-after mentioned. The latter pipes are fixed with
flanges the corresponding exterior vertical pipes before mentioned, and running
into the same. The improved process of vinous fermentation is performed
in this back as follows:-The vessel called a back is filled from about two
thirds to three fourths full, with worts of the usual gravities. All the yeast
intended to be used is either added at once, or only a portion of it, and
the rest afterwards as the distiller thinks proper. The heat of the worts
when set should be about seventy degrees in the winter and a few
degrees lower in the summer, with such variation as the state and tem-
perature of the atmosphere in the usual way require, all which is well
.

page_text: known to distillers. The wash enters into fermentation, and is left to con-
tinue fermenting spontaneously for about eight to ten hours. The back
is now hermetically closed, and the air pump is set to work, and continues
at a vacuum of fifteen inches for the first twenty-four hours, and about
twenty inches from the expiration of these twenty-four hours until the end of
the process. The pressure is regulated by a small valve on the pipe commu-
nicating with the air pump or in the head of the back, with weights to it, so as
to admit the atmosphere whenever a vacuum exceeding the limits last before
mentioned is created inside of the back. When the wash in the back has
entered into fermentation, the head or froth upon the wash, which consists
chiefly of yeast and the purest parts of the same, rises, and in the present
method, in consequence of the continual discharge of carbonic acid gas, this
head or froth is continually kept on the surface of the liquid, where its effects
are useless, but in my process the supernatant yeast finds its way into the five-
inch pipes in the sides of the vessel, and by lifting for five or six minutes the
weights attached to the valves in the caps of the vertical pipes once every four
hours, the pressure of the air on rushing in suddenly propels the yeast to the
bottom of the back, where it mixes again and acts upon the wash. The
opening of these valves for these short periods admits at the same time a
certain proportion of atmospheric air, which is indispensible. When the
fermentation has proceeded about twenty-four hours, the temperature of the
back is, by means of steam carefully injected through the coil of pipe at the
bottom of the vessel, raised gradually during the space of six or eight hours to
one hundred and ten degrees Fahrenheit, at which heat by the same means it
is kept till the process is completed. At this temperature and below it
the spirits, or alcohol generated during the fermentation, carried on as before
described in a partial vacuum, separate from the wash, and are vaporized a
they are formed, and escaping by the exhaustion pipe are liquified by means
of the condenser attached to such pipe, as before mentioned. The temperaturė
may even be raised to one hundred and thirty degrees Fahrenheit, but in that
case the heat must not be communicated altogether by steam pipos in immediate
contact with the wash, but partially by steam pipes as before mentioned which
ought not to be allowed to produce of themselves a greater heat than one hun-
dred and ten degrees Fahrenheit, and that heat gradually only, and partially
by heating the room in which the fermentation is being carried on to one hundred
and thirty degrees of Fahrenheit. The alcohol or spirit thus condensed is
allowed to run from the condenser into the ordinary receivers or vats.
:
And as regards that part of my Invention which consists in the improvements
in the process of acetous fermentation, I describe the same as follows (that is to

page_text: say) The acetous fermentation, or that process by which vinous or spirituous
liquids are converted into acetic acid or vinegar, is also carried on by me in air-
tight metal vessels, as are above described; but the inside of such vessels must
contain wooden vessels of about one inch and a half thick, fitted tightly to the
These
internal circumference of such metal vessels by means of cement.
vessels must have tops or heads, and these tops must be made of similar
metal, with wooden tops or heads cemented to and within such metal heads.
The wooden parts of the vessels I make use of in order to keep the vinegar,
wash, or vapour arising therefrom from coming in contact with the metal,
which would spoil the vinegar. I use the vessels or backs in pairs. A con-
denser is placed between the two, and connected with each other by pipes.
This condenser must be made either of pure tin or of pure tin mixed with one
tenth of copper. A coil of pipe formed of the same metal for the introduction
of steam lies on the bottom of each back, and passing through each from side
to side. A coil of pipe formed of the same metal, perforated with small holes
of the diameter of the thirtieth part of an inch, lies also on the bottom of each
back. Each back has a tin pipe four inches in diameter, fixed on the head,
which communicates with an air pump, and such last-mentioned pipe is fitted
with a stopcock, and has also a tin pipe of four inches in diameter fixed to the
top, and plunging through the top of the other back into the middle of it to
within six inches of the bottom, and by these latter pipes a communication is
established between the two vats or backs. The improved process of acetous
fermentation is performed in these backs or vessels as follows:-I fill the same
backs or vessels with wash, a term well known to vinegar makers, to the extent
of three fourths of each vessel. The temperature of one of the vats is increased
to one hundred and fifteen degrees Fahrenheit by means of the injection of
steam through the coil of pipe not perforated. The air pump is set to work at a
vacuum of twenty inches of mercury, and an air cock fixed outside of the vessel
to the perforated coil is then opened. Air, previously raised to the temperature
of one hundred and fifteen degrees, is admitted through the air cock. The cock
ought to be opened at such bores as will admit the air in a state of rarefaction
sufficiently high not to reduce the vacuum below twenty inches. The action of
the air pump throws the warm rarified air from the bottom through the body
of the wash. From the surface of the wash in the vat, which has been heated
to one hundred and fifteen degrees, the air and a portion of the alcohol of the
same vat ascend through the pipe already described, and plunging into the
vat which has been kept cold, the alcohol is condensed in the liquid, and
the air thus freed from the alcohol is drawn off through the air pump. The
consequence of the action of the pump is, that the wash in the heated vat

page_text: loses its spirit, which is know to prevent the progress of the acetous fermenta-
tion, and by impoverishing the said wash renders it more apt to turn acid.
The effect of the hot rarefied air is to cause absorption of the oxygen to take
place. The motion occasioned by the regular admission of the air through the
small holes in the coil places the whole of the wash in constant contact with
the atmospheric air, which is indispensable for the purposes of acidification.
When the air pump has thus been worked for about twelve hours, the vat,
previously heated, is left to cool for four or five hours, and the second vessel is
raised to the temperature of one hundred and fifteen degrees Fahrenheit by
the means already mentioned, and the air pump being set to exhaust from the
vessel previously heated but now cooled, the alcohol and air admitted as before
pass through the plunging tube through the body of the wash. The air leaves
the spirit behind, impoverishing the wash in the heated vessel, and promotes
acidification, so that by alternately extracting the alchohol from one vessel
to another, and by the application of the warm air, and motion under a
reduced pressure of the atmosphere, the acetous fermentation is completed in
a much shorter time.
Now I do not claim any of the articles above mentioned separately, such as
the vessels, vats, backs, pipes, tubes, cocks, &c., or the mode of putting them
together; but I claim the said several processes of saccharine, vinous, and
acetous fermentation, as carried on under a reduced atmospheric pressure, or
in a partial vacuum, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Joseph Charles Sheridan, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.
J. J. C. (L.S.) SHERIDAN.