IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FERMENTING TUNS AND APPARATUS FOR STORING BEER
Year: 1861

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alfred Wood at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th June
1861.
I, ALFRED WOOD, of Lewes, in the County of Sussex, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
FERMENTING TUNS AND APPARATUS FOR STORING BEER," to be as follows:-
This Invention has reference to those fermenting tuns employed in brewing
beer or for fermenting purposes generally which are provided with covers to
separate the yeast as it is formed from the fermenting worts, such covers being
intended at the same time to act as attemporators.
These covers have been constructed either of wood so as to float on the
surface of the worts, having small perforations through which the yeast rises,
and is deposited on the upper surface of the same, and which are provided with
a coil of metal pipes on their under side, which is consequently immersed near
the surface of the fermenting worts, and through which a stream of cold water-
can be made to flow continually; or such covers have been constructed of a
hollow shallow metal vessel kept on the surface of the worts by balance
weights, and being capable of having a continuous stream of cold water
passing through them. A narrow space was left all round between the edge
of this cover and the fermenting tun, through which space the rising yeast had
to squeeze itself and then fell on to the upper side of the cover, the beer that.
was carried up with the yeast passing back from the top of the cover into the
tun through apertures formed in the cover, provided with tubes leading down
to the bottom of the tun.

page_text: Now in all such covers there were several serious defects which prevented
their giving satisfactory results. Firstly, they are wrongfully made to act as
attemporators to the upper surface of the worts where the yeast is forming and
which also conveys unconverted gluten and starch to the surface, which on
'being thus cooled before being exposed to the air are liable to fall down
through the-warmer, and consequently less dense body of worts in the tun, and
by this means the proper conversion of the same and the separation of the
yeast from the worts is prevented. Secondly, the spaces through which the
yeast on rising has to force itself are much too narrow, so that the gases and
beer are mostly squeezed out of it before arriving on the top of the cover.
Now the object of my present Invention is to remedy these defects, and
this I effect in the following manner:-I construct a cover as before of a
hollow shallow metal vessel, through which cold water is made to circulate, but
on the under side of this cover, where it comes in contact with the fermenting
worts, I fix a shield of wood or other non-conducting substance, by which I
prevent the surface of the worts from being cooled by the action of the cover;
this cover I place in an inclined position in the ton in such a manner that at
the side where it is highest a considerable space intervenes between its edge
and that of the fermenting tun, whilst at the other sides it fits close against
the sides of the tun. At the lowest point of the cover I form several apertures
through the same, and provide them at the under side with tubes passing
down to the bottom of the tun. On the inside of the bottom of the tun I
place a shallow metallic vessel either of copper or any other good conductor of
heat, forming a double bottom to the tun, and through which cold water is.
made to circulate. As the metal of this double bottom must. necessarily be
thin, and as it has to bear the weight of a man when the tun is empty for
cleansing purposes, I strengthen the same by providing the interior of the
shallow vessel or double bottom with a number of vertical partitions connected
to each side of the same, each successive partition having an aperture or
apertures at the reverse end to that or those in. the foregoing one. By this
arrangement the cold water flowing through the shallow vessel is caused to
travel over the whole area of the same, and thus cool the whole surface of the
double bottom more effectually than would otherwise be the case.
This
construction may also be applied to the before mentioned cover.
having been pitched and mixed with its necessary amount of pitching yeast,
the fermentation commences. The yeast as it is formed is guided along the
under surface of the sloping cover and rises up freely through the large opening
left between the highest edge of the cover and that of the tun, carrying a
certain quantity of beer with it. Here it falls over on to the upper surface of
The gyle

page_text: the hollow cover through which cold water may be at discretion continually
circulating, and the beer and yeast running down the inclined surface of the
same become separated, and are acted upon both by the atmosphere and by
the cold metallic surface of the cover, by which means the fermentation is
under control. Arrived at the lowest point of the cover the beer or fermenting
mass again passes down to the bottom of the tun through the before mentioned
apertures and tubes. Here the before described shallow metal vessel or
double bottom through which the cold water circulates acts in a proper manner
as attemporator to the fermenting worts. This circulation of the worts is con-
tinued to the desired extent until the beer has become sufficiently attenuated
and the yeast has all collected on the upper surface of the cover. The small
apertures are then closed to prevent any yeasty beer passing into the tun, the
fermentation gradually ceases, and the beer is then racked off in a perfectly
clean state. The before described cover may be either fixed in the tun or it
may be made to rise and fall with the level of the beer, in which case it is
kept in its inclined position by suitable balance weights. If it is fixed in the
tun the loss of worts through the formation of the yeast is made up from
time to time by requisite quantities of clean beer being poured through the
apertures in the cover, for which purpose a funnel is inserted into them. If
found requisite the sides of the fermenting tun may also be provided inside
with a hollow metallic casing, through which cold water may be made to
flow and thus still further effect the cooling of the fermenting mass. These
improvements may be adapted to fermenting tuns of any size or shape which
may be what is generally termed either "rounds," "squares," or "oblongs."
The before described apparatus may be employed for storing beer after the
fermentation is accomplished. This is effected by closing up both the small
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 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 is effected.