An Improved Process of and Apparatus for Ageing Whiskey and other Alcoholic Liquors.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Aug., 1897-Accepted, 23rd Oct., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Process of and Apparatus for Ageing Whiskey and
other Alcoholic Liquors.
We, DAVID JAMES ETLY, and CHARLES ROBERT LONG, both of Louisville, in the
County of Jefferson, and State of Kentucky, United States of America, Gentlemen,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
It is well known that the ageing or ripening of whiskey and other spirituous
liquors by process of nature to the condition in which the rawness is completely
eliminated, and the bouquet, strength and deep colour completely developed,
requires several years, each year up to a certain limit, adding to the good qualities
of the liquor.
Many processes for ripening or ageing the liquor artificially so as to save this
time and the great expense incident thereto, have been proposed, but none of such
processes in which the liquor is heated in the charred oak barrel have been
successful in quickly producing from the newly-distilled or raw liquor, a liquor
having the good qualities of that ripened naturally, although some of such
processes have given color to the liquor and thereby added to the commercial
value thereof to a sufficient extent to answer the requirements of the cheapest
trade.
The object of this invention is to provide a practical process and apparatus
capable of producing quickly and cheaply from the raw liquor one having all the
good qualities of that which is of high grade and answers the requirements of the
best trade.
The invention is based on the discovery that the ageing or ripening of spirituous
liquors naturally is best accomplished when the liquor is subjected to the alter-
nation of hot and cold weather operating respectively to raise and lower the
temperature of the liquor in the charred barrel, each of said changes of temperature
operating to eliminate some and develop other characteristics or ingredients of the
raw liquor, and both hot and cold temperature. being necessary to produce the
palatable, strong and aromatic liquor.
"
or
It is known that heat draws out the coloring matter in the charred oak barrel
containing the liquor and colors the liquor, and the present inventor has discovered
that extreme cold acts presumably on the fusel oil to produce the "bouquet
aroma and on the tannic acid to produce the smoothness and sweetness of the high
grade whiskey, and also develops the color peculiar to the latter.
As the changes
of temperature in nature are gradual and variable and as the necessary cold
temperature is not always obtainable and the liquor is protected in a large
measure against said changes by the barrel containing it, the process of ageing
by nature progresses very slowly.
It has been proposed to age liquor by subjecting it to heat and then allowing

page_text: it to cool naturally or to facilitate the cooling by subjecting it when hot to the
action of cold air or water and repetitions of these steps have been proposed, but
there is no suggestion in any of such processes of the use or advantage of a freezing
temperature which is essential in the present invention. Thorough practical tests
of these processes and the apparatus disclosed have demonstrated that most of
them act to destroy all the good qualities of the liquor, and that the best of them
do no more than color the liquor and hence they do not remove the rawness
therefrom or develop the bouquet and sweetness necessary to the high grade of
liquor.
In accordance with the above-mentioned discovery the invention resides in the
process of ageing whiskey which consists in subjecting the same successively to
the action of extremes of heat and cold artificially produced, while it is contained
in an air-tight receptacle, whereby while nature is simulated and the ageing effects
thereof received yet the temperatures are at extremes and completely controllable
thereby materially reducing the time required to age or ripen the whiskey.
The process further consists in successively raising to a high degree, artificially,
the temperature of a column of water, located within the closed barrel containing
the liquor to be aged but unmixed with said liquor, and lowering the temperature
of said water artificially, to the proper low temperature quickly to act on said liquor
and improve the quality thereof. The process furthermore, consists in raising
artificially to a high degree (say, to between 145 and 150 degrees F.) the temperature
of a column of water, located within the receptacle containing the liquor to be
aged, but unmixed with said liquor maintaining said high temperature, for a
proper period, next shutting off the heating medium and converting the water
into brine, and then subjecting said brine to the action of a cooling medium-
such as ammonia gas-maintaining for a proper period the low temperature thus
produced and repeating said steps as often as is necessary to produce a liquor of
the grade desired.
The invention also consists in certain peculiarities in the construction, arrange-
ment and combination of the several parts of the apparatus for carrying the above
process into practical effect.
In the accompanying drawings:
Figure 1 is an elevation of the complete apparatus applied to a barrel of whiskey,
the latter being shown in section.
Figure 2 is a section through the water jacket showing the heating and cooling
pipes therein.
Figure 3 is a plan view of the plug that is inserted in the bottom of the water
jacket.
Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.
Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3, and,
Figure 6 is an elevation of an apparatus constructed to treat liquor in several
barrels at once.
The same reference numerals designate the same parts in the several figures.
1 designates a tube, constructed of copper and having its lower end closed and
its upper end open, said upper end preferably terminating in a copper funnel 2.
This tube is constructed to be inserted within the barrel 3 containing the whiskey
to be aged, and it, together with the funnel, when the latter is used, constitutes a
water jacket surrounding the pipes hereinafter described, for conveying the
mediums operating respectively to raise and lower the 'temperature of the column
of water contained in said tube and funnel. Steam is preferably used as the
heating medium.
4 designates a suitable source of steam supply and 5 a pipe which extend there-
from, through said funnel 2 and to the bottom of tube 1; and 6 designates a pipe,
which has communication with said pipe 5 and extend upward through said tube
and funnel. Said pipe 5 serves for the supply and said pipe 6 serves for the
exhaust of steam. When the temperature of the column of water within the
jacket is raised the heat thereby created obviously is communicated to the liquor

page_text: in the barrel and produces certain effects in the imparting of the condition of age
thereto. It is necessary to prevent cooking of the liquor under treatment and
advisable to maintain its temperature during the heating step of the process as
nearly uniform as possible. For these reasons when steam is used as the heating
medium it should be caused to flow only in sufficient quantity through the portions
of the pipes 5 and 6 within the water jackets to raise and maintain the temperature
of the water therein uniformly at or about the boiling point. To permit complete
control of the flow of steam through said portions of the pipes, said pipes are
provided with valves 7 and 8 respectively, both of which valves are opened to a
greater or less extent in the step of heating the water. Proper heating of the
liquor without cooking is also insured by reason of the fact that the pipe or pipes
through which the steam flows are not inserted directly in the liquor under
treatment but in a jacket containing a column of water, which water surrounds
the heating pipes and is heated thereby to impart heat to said liquor and also for
the reason that said jacket is open to the atmosphere at one end whereby the
steam, if any is generated in said jacket, will immediately escape into the atmo-
sphere and cannot act upon the liquor under treatment to unduly raise the
temperature of the said liquor.
Preferably, the outer end of the exhaust pipe 6 is provided with a hose pipe,
or other suitable tube 9 for conducting the water of condensation to the funnel 2,
thereby automatically supplying the place of the water lost through evaporation.
10 designates a plug, which is inserted in the bottom of the tube and has two
separate passages 11 and 15, which preferably extend at right angles with each
other and have open ends. The adjacent ends of the pipes 5 and 6, enter the ends
of said passage 11 and said pipes have communication with each other through
said passage.
12 designates an ammonia compresser, 13 the valved pipe for the
supply of refrigerant, and 14 the valved pipe for the return of the cooling medium
to the compresser. Each of these pipes extend through the funnel 2 and tube 1
to the plug 10, and they respectively enter opposite ends of the continuous passage-
way 15 in said plug and communicate with each other through said passage. In
practice I prefer to employ anhydrous ammonia as the refrigerating means, but
any other suitable means capable of lowering the temperature of the liquid in the
water jacket nearly to or below the freezing point, may be used.
It would be difficult to make the plug of precisely the diameter and configuration
of the interior of the tube, and therefore the danger of bursting the tube by the
freezing of liquid which might get between the tube and plug in such situation
as to be unreached by the brine, would be present if it were attempted to insert
an imperfectly fitting plug within the tube with no provision for the continuous
space for the brine entirely surrounding the plug. Hence, the plug is as shown,
made considerably smaller in diameter than said tube and is supported above the
bottom of the same, so as to provide a space for water or brine surrounding it on
all sides.
•
20 designates a vent opening formed in the wall of tube 1 at a point above the
level of the contents of the barrel, and having communication with the atmosphere
through the valved vent pipe 21. The valve in said vent is opened for a moment
only at proper intervals to relieve the pressure within the barrel during the heating
process. A thermometer 22 is applied to said tube 1 to indicate the temperature
of the liquid therein and properly to permit the same to be regulated.
In ageing whiskey or other liquors by this apparatus and in accordance with
the process, the water jacket is filled with water up to about the level indicated
in Figure 2, the steam is then turned on and the supply controlled so as to raise
the temperature of said water to about the boiling point, and in consequence the
liquor under treatment attains a temperature of between 145 and 150 degrees F.,
and the high temperature thus produced is maintained for a proper period, say
from 12 to 24 hours. The steam is then shut off, salt is introduced within the
water in said jacket in sufficient quantity to produce a strong brine, the refriger-
ating medium is then forced through pipes 13 and 14 to lower the temperature of

page_text: the brine nearly to or, preferably, below the freezing point, and thereby lowering
the temperature of the liquor under treatment to not more than about forty degrees
and preferably to 10 degrees F., above zero, and this low temperature is maintained
for about 72 hours. It will now be found that the liquor has attained a condition
of color, smoothness, sweetness and aroma, suitable for cheap trade, but to produce
a liquor having all the good qualities of that required by the medium or highest
class of trade, necessitates repetitions of the steps until the liquor has been under
treatment for from fourteen to thirty days. I do not wish to be understood as
limiting myself to the temperatures and periods above specified, as they may be
varied within certain limits without departing from the spirit of the invention,
but I have found that they accomplish the best results.
In treating whiskey according to this process it is essential that the receptacle
containing it be air tight, or practically so, so as to prevent the escape of the
alcohol and other ingredients of the liquor by evaporation, and it is especially
essential that the fusel oil be retained in the liquor so as to be acted upon by the
cooling step to produce the bouquet. To this end the tube 1 is provided with a collar 23
which tightly closes the portion of the bung hole surrounding said tube and makes
the barrel air tight at this point.
This invention has been subjected to the most severe practical tests, and it has
been found that raw liquor treated by it for five days has attained a degree of
ripeness which causes it to compare favorably in all respects color, taste, strength,
aroma and proof-with liquor two years old; that after fourteen days' treatment
a liquor equal in every particular to one several years old is produced, and that a
very high grade of liquor is the product of thirty days' treatment. It has further
been found that the treatment places the liquor in such condition that it takes
on age very rapidly when laid aside after treatment.
It will be observed that by this artificial treatment there is no loss of any of the
ingredients which are not eliminated by the natural process of ageing, and that
this process produces in ageing the liquor identically the same effects as are
produced on the liquor by nature, inasmuch as the latter is simulated very closely,
the only difference being that by this process the liquor under treatment is
subjected to extremes of heat and cold and the temperatures are completely
controlled by the operator.
In Figure 6 is indicated an apparatus by which several barrels of liquor may be
treated at once, with common sources of heat and cold supply. In such cases the
steam supply pipe 25 is tapped at various points by the pipes 26 for conveying
the steam to the water jacket and the pipe 27 for the supply of anhydrous ammonia
is similarly tapped by the valved pipes 28, within which the liquor becomes gas
and through which the gas is conveyed to within said jacket, and a return pipe 29
is provided, which is likewise tapped by the valved pipes 30 which convey the gas
from the jacket to said return pipe.
While I have described the process and apparatus as being for the purpose of
ageing whiskey, the invention is well adapted to brandies, wines or malt liquors
improved by age, and therefore I do not limit myself to its use upon whiskey.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The process herein described of completing the ripening of liquor that has
been heated consisting in reducing the temperature of said liquor while in liquid
form nearly to or below the freezing point of water, substantially as described.
2. The process herein described of ageing or ripening liquor consisting in
subjecting the same successively to a high temperature and to a cold temperature
below the freezing point of water, said temperatures artificially produced, while
the liquor is inclosed in an air-tight receptacle, substantially as described.
3. The process herein described of ageing liquor consisting in raising to below
the boiling point the temperature of a column of water located within the

page_text: receptacle containing the liquor to be treated, and in lowering the temperature
of said water to or below the freezing point of water, successively, substantially
as shown and described.
4. The process herein described of ageing or ripening liquor artificially, con-
sisting in raising to a high degree the temperature of a column of water located
within the barrel containing the liquor to be treated, maintaining said temperature
for a proper period, then shutting off the heating medium and converting the
water into brine and then subjecting said brine to the cooling action of a refrigerant
gas, substantially as described.
5. In an apparatus for ageing liquor artificially the combination of a water
jacket constructed to be inserted in the barrel containing liquor to be treated said
jacket having a closed bottom and pipes within said jacket for carrying a medium
serving to change the temperature of the water therein, substantially as described.
6. In an apparatus for ageing liquor artificially the combination of a water
jacket constructed to be inserted in the barrel containing liquor to be treated,
said jacket having a closed bottom, and means for both raising and lowering
the temperature of the water in said jacket artificially, substantially as described.
7. In an apparatus for ageing liquor artificially the combination of a water
jacket, constructed to be inserted within the receptacle containing the liquor to
be treated, a collar for insuring the air tight closure of the opening through which
said jacket extends, and means for artificially raising and lowering the temperature
of the water within said jacket, respectively to high and low degrees, substantially
as described.
8. In an apparatus for ageing liquor artificially the combination of a water
jacket constructed to be inserted in the barrel containing liquor to be treated,
said jacket having a closed bottom, a source of steam supply, a compresser, and
the valved pipes extending from said source of steam supply and a compresser
within said tube, substantially as described and for the purposes specified.
9. In an apparatus for ageing liquor artificially the combination of the water
jacket having a closed bottom and provided with a funnel at its upper end, the
collar on said jacket the vent pipe, and means for successively raising and
lowering the temperature of the water in said jacket artificially, substantially as
described.
10. In an apparatus for ageing liquor artificially the combination of a tube, a
plug in the lower end thereof, said plug being formed with two channels or passages
each open at both ends, the heating pipes having their adjacent ends inserted in
the open ends of one of said channels, and the refrigerant conducting pipes having
their adjacent ends inserted in the ends of the other channel, all of said pipes
extending through said tube, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
11. The hereindescribed apparatus for ageing liquor artificially, consisting of
a tube constructed to be inserted through the bung hole of a barrel containing
the liquor to be treated, said tube providing a chamber for water and having a
closed bottom, a ring on said tube for sealing the bung hole, a funnel at the top
of said tube, a thermometer on said tube, a vent pipe extending from said tube
through said funnel a heating pipe extending through said funnel and within said
tube, and a pipe for a refrigerating medium also extending through said funnel
and within said tube, substantially as and for the purposes specified.
12. In an apparatus for ageing liquor artificially, the combination of a water
jacket constructed to be inserted partly within the receptacle containing the liquor
to be treated, said jacket being open to the atmosphere at its outer end and having
a closed inner end, and valved steam supply and exhaust pipes for heating the
water in said jacket, substantially as shown and described.
13. In an apparatus for ageing liquor artificially, the combination of a water
jacket constructed to be inserted partly within the receptacle containing the liquor
to be treated, said jacket being open to the atmosphere at its outer end, and having
a closed inner end, valved steam supply and exhaust pipes within said jacket,
and a tube for conducting the water of condensation from the end of said exhaust

page_text: pipe to the open end of said jacket, substantially as described and for the purpose
specified.
101
1000
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicants.