IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR FERMENTING PURPOSES IN BREWING BEER, AS ALSO FOR STORING BEER. AND FOR GENERAL PURPOSES OF FERMENTATION
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Wood, of Lewes, in the County of Sussex,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR
FERMENTING PURPOSES IN BREWING BEER, AS ALSO FOR STORING BEER.
AND FOR GENERAL PURPOSES OF FERMENTATION,"
Sealed the 14th January 1862, and dated the 24th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Wood at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
July 1861.
I, ALFRED WOOD, of Lewes, in the County of Sussex, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED
FOR FERMENTING PURPOSES IN BREWING BEER, AS ALSO FOR STORING BEER, AND
FOR GENERAL PURPOSES OF FERMENTATION," to be as follows:-
"
This Invention has reference more particularly to the fermenting tuns
employed in brewing beer, in which "covers
"
or balm separators" are
employed for separating the yeast from the beer as it is formed during the
process of fermentation. Such covers have been variously contrived to act as
attemporators or coolers to the fermenting mass in the tun by being formed of
a hollow metal vessel, through which cold water was made to flow; or they
were formed of wood, with a coil of metal pipes fixed to the under side, which
was consequently immersed just under the surface of the fermenting worts,
[Price 8d.]

page_text: and through which cold water was made to flow; the yeast rising through
small apertures in the cover was deposited upon the upper surface of the same.
All these contrivances have however failed more or less to accomplish the
object for which they were intended, because, in the first place they are
wrongfully made to act as attemporators or coolers to the surface of the
fermenting mass where the yeast is forming, which carries with it particles of
unconverted starch and gluten, and these particles on being thus cooled are
precipitated into the warmer and consequently less dense mass of fermenting
worts, instead of rising to the top of the cover, and being there brought into
contact with the atmosphere.
Secondly, the attemporating action of the upper side of the cover upon the
yeast deposited upon-it is-not-sufficient perfectly to act upon and separate
liquid particles carried up with the yeast.
Thirdly, the openings through which the yeast rises on to the cover are too
small, and consequently the liquid particles and gases are in a great measure
squeezed out of the yeast before it arrives on the cover.
Now, the object of my present Invention is to remedy these defects, and for
this purpose I construct a cover to the fermenting tun consisting, as. before, of
a hollow metal vessel, through which cold water is made to flow, but instead
of allowing the under surface of this vessel to come in contact with the
fermenting mass, I cover it there with wood, or other bad conductor of heat
by which it is prevented from exercising a cooling action upon the surface of
the worts. This cover I prefer to fix in a sloping position a little way down
in the tun, in such a manner that at the side where it is highest a considerable
space intervenes between its edge and that of the tun, whilst at the other sides
it fits close against the tun. At the side where it is highest the cover has a
vertical rim attached to it, and a little in front of this rim I fix a horizontal
metal pipe running parallel with the rim. Through this pipe is made to flow
cold water, and the yeast on rising up from the fermenting mass in the tun
through the opening between the cover and the side of the tun, falls over the
raised rim or edge of the cover, and coming in contact with the cold surface
of the aforesaid pipe, is thereby attemporated or cooled on falling on to the
upper side of the cover. The yeast or fob is still further acted upon by its
cold surface and the atmosphere, and on passing down to the lowest point of
the same, becomes completely separated from the liquid carried up with it.
At the lowest part of the cover openings are formed through the same, and to
these openings are attached pipes leading down to the bottom of the tun.
These pipes serve to conduct the liquid separated from the yeast, and cooled
and otherwise acted upon by the action of the pipe, cover, and atmosphere,

page_text: down to the bottom of the fermenting mass. A shallow metal vessel or double
bottom is attached to the bottom of the tun, through which cold water is made
to flow after the fermentation of the beer is completed, or warm water may be
made to flow through the same to assist the fermentation if it should be
sluggish. As this shallow vessel bas to bear the weight of a man for cleansing
purposes when the tun is empty, and as the metal of the same must necessarily
be thin to be a good conductor of heat, I strengthen the same by providing
the interior with a number of vertical partitions, each successive one having
an aperture or apertures at the reverse end to that in the foregoing one. By
this arrangement also the heat or cold from the water flowing through is more
uniformly distributed over the surface of the vessel. The same construction
may also be applied to the before-described hollow cover. If requisite, the
sides of the tun may also be provided inside with a hollow metal lining, still
further to cool the beer after the fermentation is completed. During the
process of fermentation the quantity by which the fermenting mass is
diminished, through the formation of the yeast, is from time to time made
good by adding quantities of fresh clean beer, which is introduced through
funnels inserted into the before-mentioned openings at the lowest part of
the cover.
I also sometimes still further effect the cooling of the yeast
chamber, or that part of the tun which is above the cover, by placing upon the
top of the same a second hollow cover, through which also cold water is made
to circulate. In this case I make perforations in the sides of the yeast
chamber, so as to allow of the access of the atmosphere. It will be seen by
the before-described arrangements that the attemporation or cooling of the
worts during the fermentation rarely takes place at all in the mass itself, but
only in the yeast chamber. The yeast continually rises freely through the large
opening in the, cover, and on falling on to the upper surface of the same,
comes in contact with the before-mentioned cooling tube, and by the combined
action of this and the cold metal surface of the cover, as also that of the
atmosphere,it becomes effectually cooled, and the beer is completely separated
from the same, passing down again in its cooled state to the bottom of the
tun through the smaller openings and tubes, as before described. This
circulation and separation of the yeast having been continued until nearly the
end of the fermentation, and the beer in the tun having become sufficiently
attenuated, the lower openings in the cover are closed, the beer is drawn off
from the yeast and poured through the funnel, and the tun is filled up to the
proper level with clean beer. Small quantities of yeast will continue to rise
until the fermentation is completed, and the yeasty beer which separates from
yeast and collects on the surface of the cover may be drawn off through a
the

page_text: cock provided for that purpose in the side of the tun. Cold water is now
made to circulate through the double bottom of the tun, cooling and clearing
or fining the beer, and preventing acid fermentation setting in. I sometimes
employ the before-described apparatus for storing beer after the fermentation
is accomplished. This is effected by closing up both the smaller apertures in
the hollow cover, and the space between the cover and the side of the tun,
and then filling the yeast chamber, or that part of the tun which is above the
cover, with cold water, thus enclosing the beer in a perfectly air-tight manner,
and keeping the same at a requisite-low temperature by passing cold water
through the double bottom. By this arrangement, as the same apparatus
serves both as fermenting tun and for storing the beer after the fermentation
is accomplished, a great economy of space and saving in apparatus is effected
Although I have described the hollow cover for separating the-yeast-as-
being fixed in the tun, and in a slanting position, it may also be so constructed
as to float on the surface of the worts, rising and falling with the level of
the same, and it may be placed horizontal instead of slanting.
These improvements may be adapted to any other apparatus besides fer-
menting tuns which serve for fermenting purposes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Wood in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 23rd
January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
Wood, of Lewes, in the County of Sussex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Alfred Wood, Her special licence that I, the said
Alfred Wood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Alfred Wood, 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 APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR FERMENTING PURPOSES IN
BREWING BEER, AS ALSO FOR STORING BEER, AND FOR GENERAL PURPOSES OF

page_text: FERMENTATION,
," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred
Wood, my executors or administrators, 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 Alfred Wood, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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 thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
This Invention has reference more particularly to the fermenting tuns
employed in brewing beer in which "covers" or "barm separators" are
employed for separating the yeast from the beer as it is formed during the
process of fermentation. Such covers have been variously constructed to act
as attemperators or coolers to the fermenting mass in the tun by being
formed of a hollow metal vessel through which cold water was made to flow
or they were formed of wood with a coil of metal pipes fixed to the under
side, which was consequently immersed just under the surface of the fer-
menting worts and through which cold water was made to flow, the yeast
rising through small apertures in the cover was deposited upon the upper
surface of the same. All these contrivances have, however, failed more or
less to accomplish the object for which they were intended, because, in the
first place they were wrongfully made to act as attemperators or coolers to the
surface of the fermenting mass where the yeast is forming, which carries with
it particles of unconverted starch and gluten, and these particles on being thus
cooled were precipitated into the warmer and consequently less dense mass of
fermenting worts, instead of rising to the top of the cover, and being there
brought into contact with the atmosphere.
Secondly, the attemperating action of the upper surface of the cover upon
the yeast deposited upon it was not sufficient to act upon and separate liquid
particles carried up with the yeast.
Thirdly, the openings through which the yeast rises on to the cover were
oo small, and consequently the liquid particles and gases were in a great
measure squeezed out of the yeast before it arrived on the cover.
his
Now, the object of my present Invention is to remedy these defects, and for
purpose I construct a "cover" or "barm separator" to the fermenting
un, of which the under side, which is in contact with the surface of the

page_text: fermenting liquor, is formed of wood or other good non-conductor of heat
whilst the upper surface of the same, upon which the yeast is deposited as it
rises from the fermenting liquor, is formed of a flat hollow metal vessel through
which cold water is made to flow. The yeast, which rises freely through a
large aperture formed in the cover at one end of the tun, is thus acted upon by
the cold upper surface of the cover, whilst the surface of the fermenting liquor
is effectually protected from any such cooling action by the intervening non-
conductor of heat, and the precipitation of yeasty particles into the fermenting
liquor is by this means prevented. I prefer to fix this cover in an inclined
position, and at the lowest side of the same I provide pipes for conducting the
beer which is separated from the yeast on the cover, back again to the bottom
of the tun.
On the bottom surface of the tun I form another hollow
metal casing through which, when the fermentation of the liquor is nearly
completed, I allow cold water to pass, by which the beer is cooled and acid
fermentation prevented from setting.in. In some cases where the fer.
mentation of the liquor is sluggish, I accelerate the same at the commence-
ment by passing hot water through the double bottom of the tun; or if
the fermentation should proceed in two violent a manner, I cheque the
same to any required extent by passing more or less cold water through
the double bottom during the process of fermentation. By this arrange-
ment of attemperation at the bottom of the tun, and by the before-described
arrangement for attemperating the yeast and beer carried up with it in the
some tun with the fermenting liquor, but yet quite independently of the
liquor, the process of fermentation is carried on in the most perfect and
economical manner, and is always perfectly under the control of the brewer.
But in order that my Invention may be perfectly understood and readily
carried into effect, I will now describe the best means I am acquainted
with of performing the same.
Figure 1 on the accompanying Drawing shews a longitudinal section through
my improved fermenting tun; Figure 2 shews a transverse section through the
same; Figure 3 shews a plan of the same; and Figure 4 shews a sectional plan
on line X, X. The saine letters indicate the same parts in all the Figures.
Near the top of the fermenting tun A, which may be of any ordinary con_-
struction, I fix a cover B, formed of wood or other material which is a bad
conductor of heat; this cover is fixed in a slanting position in the tun, as shewn
and fits close to three of the sides of the tun, thus forming a yeast chamber A¹.
At the fourth side where the cover is highest, a space C is left between it and
the tun. At this edge of the cover I fix a vertical rim D, and upon the
upper surface of the cover B, I place a shallow metal vessel or casing E, the

page_text: top surface of which may either be plain or corrugated, and inside which a
series of transverse partitions F, F, are fixed in such a manner that every
following one has an aperture at the reverse end to that in the preceding one,
as seen more clearly at f,f, in Figure 3, where a portion of the top plate of
the casing is removed, and in some cases I fix other small partitions G, G, as
shewn, to the other partitions. Cold water is made to flow into this casing
at H, and is caused by partitions F and G to flow backwards and forward
over the entire area of the same, and eventually escapes through the pipe I.
A short distance in front of the vertical rim D, I fix a metel pipe J, through
which also cold water is made to flow. By this arrangement, if the tun is filled
with the fermenting liquor up to the under side of the cover B, the yeast as it
is formed will rise up freely through the wide opening C, will fall over the
edge of the rim D on to the cold surface of the metal casing E, coming in
contact at the same time with the cooling surface of the metal pipe J, and
then gradually descending upon the inclined surface of the attemperating metal
casing in a thin layer, will thereby be thoroughly acted upon both by the cold
surface of the casing and by the atmosphere. The yeast becomes by this means
perfectly separated from the beer that is carried upalong with it, and the latter
passing down to the lowest point of the cover finds its exit through the small
pipes K, K, which conduct it back down to the bottom of the tun. On the
bottom surface of the tun I form another hollow metal casing L, constructed
with partitions M, M, having openings m, m, similarly to the before-described
yeast attemperator E, and through which at a certain period of the process
of fermentation I cause cold water to flow, the partitions M, M, serving
both to cause the water to circulate over the whole surface of the casing, as
also to strengthen the same so that it can bear the weight of a man when
the tun is emptied for cleansing purposes. In some cases I also employ
other small partitions, as shewn at Q, Q, in Figure 4, still further to promote
the circulation of the water.
The mode of operation in my improved fermenting tun is as follows:-The
wort is pitched with yeast in the usual manner, and the tun is filled up to the
under side of the cover to the height indicated by the dotted line in Figure 1,
so that a certain quantity of the worts lies upon the top of the cover, owing to
the communication formed by the pipes K, K. On the fermentation setting
in, the yeast as it is formed, accompanied by unconverted particles of starch
and gluten, and containing at the commencement a large amount of essential
pils of the hops, rises through the opening C and falls over the rim D
on to the attemperator E, as already described, it passes down the surface of
he same, and the liquid becoming separated from it finds its way in a ccoled

page_text: state through the pipes K, K, to the bottom of the tun. During the earlier
stages of the fermentation I prefer to rouse the thin yeast into the liquor
upon the cover and to pass the same down into the tun through the funnel N
inserted in the openings of the pipes K. This is an important feature in
this Invention, as by this means the essential oil of the hops which passes
up with the yeast becomes fixed in the liquor instead of being volatilized and
lost as was heretofore the case, thus effecting a great saving in hops and
improving the flavour of the beer. Should the fermentation proceed too
sluggishly at first, it may be accelerated by passing warm water through the
bottom attemperator L. The circulation of the worts continues until the
yeast which is formed becomes thick, when the openings in the cover leading
to the pipes K, K, are closed, so as to prevent the yeasty béer from passing
back into the tun; a funnel N is inserted into these apertures, through which
clean beer from a previous brewing is poured in from time to time to make
good the loss of the liquor resulting from the formation of the yeast. The
beer as it settles from the yeast in the yeast chamber A' is drawn off through
the cock provided for that purpose, and is also poured back through the
funnel N. When the beer-has become sufficiently attenuated and the vineous
fermentation nearly ceases, cold water is made to circulate through the bottom
attemperator L, so as to cool the mass and cheque further fermentation, when
the process will be completed and the beer fit for use.
In some cases I employ my before-described fermenting tun for storing the
beer after the fermentation is completed, by which a great economy in space,
in waste, and in apparatus is effected. For this purpose the aperture Cin
the cover, as also the small holes leading to the pipes K, K, are effectually
closed up and the yeast chamber A' is filled with cold water, thus forming a
perfectly air-tight vessel, which is effectually shielded from the heat of the
atmosphere and in which the ripeness of the beer may be hastened or retarded
by means of the attemperator L at the bottom of the tun, at the pleasure of
the operator. The beer is drawn off from the tun when required through
the cock P fixed in the bottom of the same. I sometimes arrange the "cover"
or yeast separator "to such before-described tuns in such a manner as to
rise and fall in the tun according to the level of the worts in the same. For
this purpose I sometimes construct the same as shewn in Figures 5 and 6
on the accompanying Drawing. Fig. 5 shews a longitudinal section, and
Fig. 6 shews a plan of the apparatus. A is a fermenting tun of ordinary
construction, provided with an attemperating vessel N at the bottom; B, B,
is the wooden bottom to the cover, which is not fixed to the sides of the
tun; and E, E, the attemperating vessels fixed on the top of the same,
"

page_text: into and out of which the water is caused to flow through the flexible
pipes x, x. The aperture C which extends across the cover is in this case
situated in the middle of the same, and the cover slopes up to it from either
side. A rim D, D, is fixed at the edges of this opening, and round all four
sides of the cover is fixed a deep rim F, forming the yeast chamber; to this
rim are attached the chains G, G, fixed to a central chain H, which passes
over pullies I, I, and is also fixed to a balance weight J, by which the cover
is kept suspended in the tun. As the level of the worts in the tuu rises or
falls, so this cover floating on the surface of the same is caused to rise and
fall with it. The pipes K, K, for conducting the liquor back to the bottom
of the tun are made flexible to allow of the motion of the cover, and other
flexible pipes L, L, are provided leading from the top of the cover to the
cocks M, M, fixed in the sides of the tun for drawing off the beer from the
yeast chamber when the pipes K, K, are closed. I sometimes form such
floating cover with an aperture at each end of the same, and then form the
cover so as to slope down toward the centre, and in some cases I provide
only one aperture at one end of such floating covers and make them to slope
down towards the other end similar to the fixed cover shewn in Figures 1,2,3,
or I make the cover flat instead of sloping. I do not claim as part of this
Invention the employment of floating "covers" generally in fomenting tuns,
as I am well aware that the same have been before employed, but constructed
upon a different principle to that herein-before described.
Although in the foregoing description of my improved fermenting tun I
have supposed it applied to the process of brewing beer, yet I in no way
limit myself to this application only, as it can readily be adapted for distillers
purposes for the fermentation of other spirituous liquors, in which case, the
bottom attemperator will be particularly useful for rousing the sluggish
fermentation of the liquor, which frequently occurs in such processes.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself
to the exact proportions of details as shewn on the accompanying Drawing,
as these may be variously modified without departing from the principles
of my Invention; but what I claim under the before in part recited Letters
Patent is,-
Firstly, the construction of fermenting tuns in which covers are employed,
having attemperating metal vessels with either plain or corrugated surfaces
not in contact with the fermenting liquor, but which serve to attemperate the
yeast, barm, or fob after it has left the fermenting liquor,in combination with
other attemperating metal vessels with either plain or corrugated surfaces and

page_text: provided or not with partitions, which vessels are fixed upon the bottom of
fermenting tuns and through which cold or warm water is made to flow, sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
Secondly, the attemperation of the yeast, fob, or barm, after it has left the
fermenting liquor, by means of hollow metal covers, either fixed or floating,
constructed substantially as herein-before described, through which cold
water is made to flow, and which covers.do-not-act-upon the fermenting
liquor in the tun.
Thirdly, the employment of fermenting tuns constructed as herein-before
described, for the purpose of storing fermenting liquors after the process of
fermentation-has-been-completed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Wood, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-first day of January, in the year of our LordOne
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
above-named Alfred Wood, in
the presence of
EDGAR BLAKER,
Sol., Lewes.
ALFRED WOOD. (L.S.)