CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE ART OF BREWING
Year: 1810

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MICHAEL
SHANNON, of Berwick Street, in the Parish of Saint James, in the County of
Middlesex, Architect, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of
March, in the fiftieth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said
Michael Shannon, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, His especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Michael Shannon, my
exors, admors, and assigns, 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, an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE ART OF BREWING," which were made and communicated to me by
a learned foreigner, deceased; in which said Letters Patent there is contained
a proviso, obliging me, the said Michael Shannon, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, to cause a particular description of the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled
in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two calendar months after
the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, relation
being thereunto had, may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Michael Shannon, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained as follows (that is to say):-
:-
In the annexed Drawings, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, each sketch or outline denotes
the same machinery or apparatus seen on different sides, and the parts thereof
are indicated by letters of the alphabet, the same letter everywhere denoting
the same part or thing. A, A, is a boiler or copper, from the lower part of
which a communication is made, through the cock B and pipe C, into D, a
box or chamber, from which there are five communications (namely, firstly,
through the cock Q, when it is required to be emptied; and, secondly, through
the cock I and pipe P to the bottom of the infusing vessel W, W; and, thirdly,
through the cock K and pipe L to the top of the infusing vessel W, W, at M;
and, fourthly, with the pump E, worked by the first mover G, F; and, fifthly,
with the air vessel H, which keeps up a constant reaction, when required. At
S is a cock, communicating from the bottom of the infusing vessel W, W,
through V, for the purpose of drawing off its contents, and also through the
pipe T into the boiler through the mouth or funnel R. A like communica-
tion is made from the top of the infusing vessel, when required, through the
pipe O. W, W, is an infusing vessel or receptacle, which, by preference, is con-
structed of a cylindrical form, but may be made of various other forms, which
local convenience and the nature of the process will clearly indicate, and the
same may be made of wood, or of any other material fit for infusing malt
therein. And the said vessel or receptaclo is provided with two false bottoms,
or perforated partitions within; (that is to say,) one of the two near one end or
extremity of the said vessel or receptacle, and the other near the other end
or extremity thereof, for the purpose of allowing the liquor or worts to pass
more freely into and out of the same during the time of operating, and the
dimensions of the said machinery, and of the parts thereof, with the relative
positions of the same, may also be varied, as convenience may require. X, X,
denote certain apertures or doors at which the malt or the other contents of
the infusing vessel may be put in or taken out; and Y, Y, denote certain screws
of fastenings, by means of which the said ends, caps, or closing pieces and
applied and kept sufficiently liquor-tight in their places; and Z denotes a
stand pipe, which is open at top, and serves to allow the escape of air from
the space or interstices between the malt or grain.
And I do declare that the process or manner of carrying the said Invention
into effect is as follows:-Malt is to be put into the infusing vessel W, W,
which, in most cases, may be filled, or nearly filled, with the same, excepting
the spaces between the false bottoms or perforated partitions and the end
thereof; and water is to be put in due quantity into the boiler or copper A, A,

page_text: •
and heat applied as usual to the same; as soon as the water has acquired
the degree of heat proper for mashing, the cock B, which has two ways,
one through the pipe C, and the other through the pipe 8), (is to be
turned, so as to convey the hot water through C into D, and the cocks Q
and K being shut, the cock I is then to be opened, and also the cock N;.
the consequence of this arrangement will be that the hot water will rise
through the malt in W, W, to the level in the boiler, but it would not
pass through if it were not for the pump E, which is at the same time
to be worked by any adequate and convenient first mover at G, and draws
the water through a lower valve, and at its return stroke forces it through
an upper valve, duly placed within the receptacle D on each side of the
barrel thereof. By this action the hot water is forced gradually through
the malt or grain in a constant stream, the air escaping wholly or in part
through Z, which returns through the boiler by means of the cock and pipe
N and O, and by this means the wort is kept hot, and repeatedly passed
through the grain until the strength of the malt is intirely extracted. And,
moreover, whenever it may be found necessary or expedient to cause the
water, liquor, or wort to pass down the infusing vessel W, W, instead of upwards,
it will then be only necessary that the cocks K and S should be open, and the
cocks I and N shut, and under these circumstances the heated water will be
forced up the pipe L, through M, and downwards through the vessel W, W,
out of which it will pass through S and T into the boiler by a reverse operation,
in which it will be needful to keep the cock I shut until the vessel W is filled,
and liquor appears in Z.
And, lastly, I do declare that, by the said improvements, the wort may bo
made as strong as the proportions of materials will allow, and that the
inconvenient and imperfect operation of mashing is avoided, and that the
spent or exhausted grain may be afterwards drawn out with great facility and
saving of labour, and that a like apparatus may be applied for passing the
wort throug hops instead of boiling, in case the same should be preferred,
either for purposes of economy, or giving a peculiar strength or difference of
flavor to the liquor by this method of hopping.
In witness whereof, I, the said Michael Shannon, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and ten.
MICHAEL SHANNON. (L.S.)

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourteenth day of April, in the
year of our Lord 1810, the aforesaid Michael Shannon came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according to the tenor of the
Statutes made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Eighteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord 1810.
Inrolled the Eighteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord 1810.