IMPROVEMENTS AND NEW APPLICATIONS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BEER AND ALCOHOLIC LIQUIDS
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Hector Auguste Dufrené at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
February 1866.-A communication from Monsieur Charles Tellier,
residing at No. 21, Rue Boulamvilliers, Passy, Paris, in the Empire of
France.
I, HECTOR AUGUSTE DUPRENÉ, of the General Patent Offices, 10, Rue
de la Fidelité, Paris, in the Empire of France, and 4, South Street,
Finsbury, London, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS AND NEW APPLICATIONS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
BEER AND ALCOHOLIC LIQUIDS," to be as follows, that is to say:
The Invention communicated to me consists in the means of cooling liquids
for the purpose of checking or retarding their fermentation, and consequently
permitting of the manufacture of beer and other alcoholic drinks during hot
weather. The development of heat which takes place in the manufacture of
alcoholic liquids has a tendency to change the natural working of the
fermentations; disturbances ensue, which produce a great loss of saccharine
matter and consequently a decrease in the production of alcohol. The
object of this Invention is to obviate this defect. For this purpose I act on
the liquids in course of preparation at three different stages of their
manufacture-
Firstly, by bringing the must down to a very low temperature, say, to
about 40 degrees Fahrenheit, previous to fermentation.

page_text: Secondly, by preventing the undue development of caloric during fermenta-
tion.
Thirdly, by cooling the places or cellars in which are stored alcoholic
liquids, especially beers or ales, which remain susceptible of undergoing fresh
fermentation.
To carry out the first part or stage of the process I cause the liquid to pass
through an apparatus consisting of a number of small tubes, around which I
place methylic ether or some other volatile product. Under the influence of
the heat emanating from this liquid the vaporisation of the volatile substances
takes place. A force pump compresses the vapours thus formed, which are
condensed in a serpentine tube surrounded with cold water, when being
again liquefied they return to the evaporator and again reproduce the same
effects.
To carry out the second part or stage of the process, videlicet, operating on
the liquids in fermentation, the operation is more simple. A recipient of a
suitable form worm or tube) is immersed in the fermenting vat;
this
recipient is in communication with a serpentine tube surrounded with well
water; the air is expelled from the before said apparatus filled with the
aforesaid volatile liquid. Under the influence of the cold water circulating
around the serpentine tube there is a continuous movement (produced by the
evaporation of the volatile liquid) of the caloric in the fermenting vat in the
direction of the current of cold water, thus the temperature becomes equalised
between these two parts of the apparatus, and colder the water more the
fermentation is checked. This result can also be obtained by cooling a current
of water and causing it to pass in tubes through the fermenting liquids. The
apparatus referred to in describing the first part of the process may be used
for this purpose.
To carry out the third part or stage of the process, videlicet, the cooling of
the cellars in which the alcoholic products are stored, the cooling apparatus is
constructed of such dimensions as to allow air to be forced through it by means
of a ventilator. The air in thus passing through is cooled down to about
34° or 36° Fabrenheit, and is then projected into the cellars where it absorbs
the obnoxious heat; it is again taken by the ventilator either as it is or mixed
with some exterior air; the ventilator forces it again to pass through the
apparatus, thence into the cellars, and so on, so that a current of cold air is
kept up which maintains the required temperature: A current of very cold
water can also be directed into these rooms or cellars and scattered directly
in extremely small jets into the atmosphere, or spread on sheets placed over
the casks which are to be kept cool. The cold water in this case is always

page_text: supplied by the cooling apparatus before described, but I consider the use of
cold air preferable. When a current of air is to be distributed in several
cellars an automatic regulator is placed at each air opening in such manner
that the fluid regulates its own emission according to the heat of the com-
partments.