IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO THE PROCESSES OF BREWING, DISTILLING, AND EXTRACTION OF ESSENCES GENERALLY, AND TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Augustus Collingridge, of Paris, in the Republic of
France, Distiller, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO THE
PROCESSES OF BREWING, DISTILLING, AND EXTRACTION OF ESSENCES GENERALLY,
AND TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH." Partly
a communication by René François Lecerf, of Rouen, in the Republic of
France, Brewer.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Augustus Collingridge at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th August 1880.
AUGUSTUS COLLINGRIDGE, of Paris, in the Republic of France, Distiller.
* IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO THE PROCESSES OF BREWING, DISTILLING, AND
EXTRACTION OF ESSENCES GENERALLY, AND TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH." Partly a communication by René François Lecerf, of
Rouen, in the Republic of France, Brewer.
Whereas hitherto during the process of brewing, in the boiling down of the wort,
after the addition thereto of the requisite proportion in weight of hops, it has been
the usual practice in the trade to employ for that purpose coppers or open vessels,
which, even if partially covered, are then generally so constructed as in effect
equally to expose their contents to the normal pressure and influence of the
surrounding atmosphere, whereby not only the aroma is prejudicially affected but
it is impracticable to succeed in obtaining a higher temperature than that of
boiling water, or at furthest reaching a few degrees in excess of 212 Fahrenheit in
proportion to any relative excess of specific gravity of the wort, the temperature
in either case being quite insufficient for the due extraction from the hop of by far
the most important constituents of the flavoring matters contained in the essential
oil and in the volatile essential oil; the operation of boiling down the hops, as at
present usually conducted, even if (as is frequently done) repeated thrice over,
being, chemically speaking, defective in results, and, commercially speaking,
conducive to an extensive waste of costly ingredients as well as of fuel.
Now, my Invention, as relates, first, to brewing, has for its object to facilitate
the more thorough extraction of the bitter and aromatic principles of the hop
than is at present possible under the system of open or only partially open boiling,
Daina G21

page_text: as above described, and thereby to effect a notable reduction in the relative weight
of hops expended.
For brewing purposes therefore I substitute for an open or only partially closed
vessel a hermetically closed boiler (or series of boilers) constructed preferentially
on the following principles:-In form each boiler should be so planned that the
sides, ends, crown, and the sole-plates thereof, should admit of each being dished
inwards to the extent of at least three inches depth at tho centres up to six or
seven inches or more according to the extent of superficial area, the outer edges of
each side, end, crown, and sole plates; butting into angular frames, preferably of
Tshape metal, to which the edges of the plates are to be securely rivetted in the
usual fashion of boiler making, being also internally sufficiently well stayed in
regard to the plates, and the frames being braced together externally by means of
tie rods so disposed as to form chords to the various sections of the arcs produced
by the inward curves of the frames and plates as to safely withstand an internal
working pressure equivalent to the contents attaining a maximum heat of
360 degrees Fahrenheit during the process of extracting the essential oils from the
hops, a vacuum being produced subsequent to completing the charge in the boiler
by means of air pump or other mode. The necessary heat may be communicated
preferentially by a steain coil supplied from the main generator, or in any other
convenient mode, and from thirty five to fifty minutes maintenance of the
temperature of the wort at 360 degrees Fahrenheit (which it is unnecessary to
exceed) will be found amply sufficient to extract all that can be desirable from the
hops however old they may be. After such period the heating medium may be shut
off or drawn and the wort cooled down for further treatment according to the
practice of brewing.
If an agitator is deemed necessary or expedient, then the driving shaft of such
would require to work through a carefully packed stuffing box or tube and gland.
Each boiler requires to be fitted with a safety valve and a due complement of
supply pipes and delivery cocks with manholes for cleaning purposes, as likewise
for the introduction of the hops into the wort, either at ordinary boiling point or
any other temperature selected by the brewer.
In cases where the regulations of Her Majesty's Excise precluding the existence
of any apparatus deemed capable of adaptation for distillation upon the premises
of a brower are not opposed to the application of the auxiliary pneumatic apparatus
below described, may be connected with the closed boiler by means of a double
elbow steam pipe (furnished about midway with a shut off cock) taking off from
the crown of the boiler and set on to a refrigerating apparatus of sufficient cooling
capacity to effectually condense vapour at a temperature of 360 degrees Fahrenheit
or thereabouts, whereby in addition to the 'better extraction of the essential oils
from the hop a saving in fuel may be effected equivalent to a reduction of 120
degrees Fahrenheit in the heating process.
To this end, and generally where the product to be obtained is susceptible of
reduction from a state of vapour into liquid by the process of ordinary condensation,
for the better effecting the disintegration and volatilization of so much of the charge
as it may be desirable to run off, as also to facilitate the operation being carried on
in vacuum by securing the automatic continuance of such vacuum, thereby
economising, as before stated, say, about 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the amount of
temperature necessary to volatilise the charge according to the specific nature of
the latter.
Whatever may be the construction of the boiler, or of the still itself, or the
principle on which it is worked, it is necessary in order to maintain a perfect or at
least an effective working vacuum, that the nose of the worm, or the outlet of any
other refrigerating appliance in connection with such boiler or still employed for
condensing the vapour, should be elevated at least from 33 to 35 feet above the
surface of the ground at sea level. Connected with the nose of such worm or other
discharge orifice in the same level as to elevation is adjusted a closed receiver in
the form of an ordinary spirit safe, sufficiently strong in point of construction to

page_text: safely resist a minimum pressure of 15 pounds to the square inch. To this closed
safe or receiver is appended a vertical hanging tube descending nearly to the ground,
and of just sufficient calibre to carry off the flow of condensed vapour issuing in a
Liquid state from the worm or other refrigerating apparatus. At or near the lower
extremity of this tube there should be a stop cock in order to regulate the volume
of outfall. The column of liquid in the tube, so long as it is maintained full by
proper attention being paid to the stop cock at the lower extremity, serves to
counterbalance the pressure of the atmosphere and thereby maintain a constant
working vacuum immediately such vacuum shall have been started, in the first
instance by the expulsion of the air in the closed safe and hanging tube, either by
a blast of steam or allowing the elevated receiver to fill and the atmospheric air to
escape, either downwards by the hanging tube or upwards through a short upright
blow off pipe and valve fitted to the crown of the receiver, or by any other easy
method calculated to produce the desired effect, such as an air pump, sufficiently
well known in the practice of pneumatics as not to require more particular
description.
In the extraction and manufacture of essences, whether water or alcohol or other
bodies are employed as the dissolvent, I use either of the foregoing methods
according as I desire the products to be derived from the constituent ingredients to
be a distillate or decoction, but regulating the working temperature, in accordance
with the varied nature of matters treated and the results I desire to obtain.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Augustus Collingridge in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th
February 1881.
AUGUSTUS COLLINGRIDGE, of Paris, in the Republic of France, Distiller.
"IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO THE PROCESSES OF BREWING, DISTILLING, AND
EXTRACTION OF ESSENCES GENERALLY, AND TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH." Partly a communication from abroad from René Francois
Lecerf, of Rouen, in the Republic of France, Brewer.
Whereas hitherto during the process of brewing in the boiling down of the wort,
after the addition thereto of the requisite proportion in weight of hops, it has been
the usual practice in the trade to employ for that purpose coppers or open vessels
which, even if partially covered, are then generally so constructed as in effect
equally to expose their contents to the normal pressure and influence of the
surrounding atmosphere, whereby not only the aroma is prejudicially affected, but
it is impracticable to succeed in obtaining a higher temperature than that of boiling
water, or at furthest reaching a few degrees in excess of 212° Fahrenheit in pro-
portion to any relative excess of normal specific gravity of the wort, the temperature
in either case being quite insufficient for the due extraction from the hop of by far
the most important constituents of the flavoring matters contained in the essential
oil, and in the volatile essential oil, the operation of boiling down the hops as at
present usually conducted, even if (as is frequently done) repeated thrice over,
being, chemically speaking, defective in results, and, commercially speaking,
conducive to an extensive waste of costly ingredients as well as of fuel.
Now my Invention, as relates first to brewing, has for its object to facilitate the
more thorough extraction of the better and aromatic principles of the hop than is
at present possible under the system of open or only partially open boiling, as above
described, and thereby to effect a notable reduction in the relative weight of hops
expended.
For brewing purposes therefore I substitute for an open or only partially closed
vessel a hermetically closed boiler (or series of boilers) constructed preferentially
on the following principles :-In form each boiler should be so planned that the
sides, ends, crown, and the sole-plates thereof should admit of each being dished
inwards to the extent of at least three inches depth in the centres, up to six or
seven inches or more, according to the extent of superficial area, the outer edges
of each side, end, crown, and sole-plates butting into curved angular frames, to
which the edges of the plate are to be securely rivetted in the usual fashion of
boiler making, being also internally sufficiently well stayed in regard to the plates,
and the frames being braced together externally by means of the tie rods so
disposed as to form chords to the various sections of the arcs produced by the
inward curves of the frames and plates as to safely withstand an internal working
pressure equivalent to the contents attaining a maximum heat of 360° Fahrenheit
during the process of extracting the essential oils from the hops, a vacuum being
produced subsequent to completing the charge in the boiler, by means of an air
pump or otherwise, as hereafter particularly described. The necessary heat may be
communicated preferentially by a steam coil supplied from a main generator, or
in any other convenient mode, and from 35 to 50 minutes maintenance of the
temperature of the wort at 360° Fahrenheit (which it is unnecessary to exceed)
will be found amply sufficient to extract all that can be desirable from the
hops, however old they may be. After such period the heating medium may be
shut off or drawn and the wort cooled down for further treatment, according to the
practice of brewing.
If an agitator is deemed necessary or expedient then the driving shaft of such
agitator would require to work through a carefully packed stuffing box or tube

page_text: and gland. Each boiler requires to be fitted with a safety valve and a due com-
plement of supply pipes and delivery cocks with manholes for clearing purposes,
as likewise for the introduction of the hops into the wort either at ordinary boiling
point or any other temperature selected by the brewer.
In cases where the regulations of Her Majesty's Excise precluding the existence
of any apparatus deemed capable of adaptation for distillation upon the premises of
a brewer are not opposed to the application of the auxiliary pneumatic apparatus
below described, the same may be connected with the closed boiler by means of a
double elbow steam pipe (furnished about midway with a shut off cock) taking
off from the crown of the boiler, and set on to a refrigerating apparatus of sufficient
cooling capacity to effectually condense vapour at a temperature of 360° Fahrenheit,
or thereabouts, whereby in addition to the better extraction of the essential oils
from the hop a saving in fuel may be affected equivalent to a reduction of 120°
Fahrenheit in the heating process.
To this end, and generally where the product to be obtained is susceptible of
reduction from a state of vapour into liquid by the process of ordinary condensation
for the better effecting the disintegration and volatilization of so much of the
charge as it may be desirable to run off, as also to facilitate the operation being
carried on in vacuum by securing the automatic continuance of such vacuum,
thereby economising, as before stated, say, about 120° Fahrenheit, in the amount
of temperature necessary to volatilise the charge according to the specific nature
of the latter.
Whatever may be the construction of the boiler or of the body of the still
employed, or the principle on whic' it is worked, it is necessary, in order to
maintain a perfect, or at least an effective working vacuum, that the nose of the
worm, or the outlet of any other refrigerating appliance in connection with such
boiler or still employed for condensing the vapour should be elevated at least from
33 to 35 feet above the surface of the ground at sea level. Connected with the nose
of such worm or other delivery orifice in the same level as to elevation is adjusted
a closed receiver in the form of an ordinary spirit safe, sufficiently strong in point
of construction to safely resist a minimum pressure of 15 lbs. to the square inch.
To this closed safe or receiver is appended a vertical hanging telescope tube
descending nearly to the ground, and of just sufficient calibre to carry off the flow
of condensed vapour issuing in a liquid state from the worm or other refrigerating
apparatus. At or near the lower extremity of this tube there should be a stop
cock in order to regulate the volume of outfall and shut off the air in case of need.
The column of liquid in the tube, so long as such is maintained full by proper
attention being paid to the flow to the stopcock at the lower extremity, serves to
counterbalance the pressure of the atmosphere, and thereby maintain a constant
working vacuum immediately such vacuum shall have been started, in the first
instance by the expulsion of the air in the closed safe and hanging tube, either by
a blast of steam or allowing the elevated receiver to fill and the atmospheric air
to escape, either downwards by the hanging tube or upwards through a short
upright blow off pipe and valve fitted to the crown of the receiver, or by any other
casy method calculated to produce the desired effect (such as an air pump),
sufficiently well known in the practice of pneumatics as not to require more
particular description.
For the extraction and manufacturing of essences, whether water or alcohol, or
any other dissolvent or menstruum is employed, I adopt either of the foregoing
methods after due maceration, if necessary (according as I desire the products to be
derived from the constituent ingredients forming the basis to be distillates or
decoctions), but regulating the working temperature in accordance with the varied
nature of the substances treated, some species yielding their essential oils at
comparatively much lower temperatures than others, and not requiring so perfect
a vacuum for the success of the operation. In all such cases the desired degree of
exhaustion in the receiver previously described may be increased or diminished by

page_text: Having described the nature of my Invention, and the moans to be employed
for carrying it into effect, that which I claim and desire to have secured to me
is,―
First. The substitution of closed boilers or vessels in place of open or only
partially closed vessels, substantially of the form and mode of construction herein-
before described for the boiling of hops or other matters at higher temperatures
than are attainable under atmospheric pressure.
Second. I claim the distillation or extraction of essences in a continuous self
maintaining vacuum by the employment of a hermetically closed safe or receiver in
connection with the nose of the still worm or other refrigerating apparatus placed
at such elevation from the surface that the pressure of a column of air may be
counterbalanced by the column of liquid maintained in a constant flow downwards
through a vertical hanging tube from such receiver, such tube being constructed on
telescopic principles for the regulation at will of the operator of the degree of
atmospheric pressure against the descending column of liquid.
And, Lastly. I do not confine myself to any precise configuration or combination
of the several mechanical parts or matters herein before set forth, but I claim any
other similar arrangement of such mechanical parts or matters above described
substantially tending to produce the like effects.
In witness whereof, I, the said Augustus Collingridge, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.