AN IM- PROVEMENT IN THE PROCESS OF BREWING MALT AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James McCormick, of Boston, Massachusetts,
United States of America, Brewer, for the Invention of "AN IM-
PROVEMENT IN THE PROCESS OF BREWING MALT AND OTHER SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 1st February 1870, and dated the 11th November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James McCormick at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th November 1869.
I, JAMES MCCORMICK, of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of
America, Brewer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE PROCESS OF BREWING MALT AND OTHER SUBSTANCES,"
to be as follows:-
The object of the present Invention is to remove from wort, that is,
the liquid product or result of malt subjected to the mashing operation,
so termed in brewing, those elements contained in it, either in a state
of solution or suspension, or in both, such as fine flocks of coagulated
albumen, combined with tannin, starch, mucilaginous matters or gums,
which in completing the brewing of ale or beer therefrom as is well

page_text: known to brewers not only occasion delay and hinder the clarification of
the mash, but also tend to acidify the same if exposed to the air as it
must be necessarily more or less before the brew is completed.
And for this purpose the said Invention consists in subjecting the
wort or mash liquid while in a heated state to the action of such an
agent or agents, as charcoal previously washed or otherwise suitably
treated to prevent its imparting color to the wort either in combination
or not with a screen or screens, as will remove the afore-mentioned
impuritics from the wort or mash liquid and produce a thorough
purification or clarification of its saccharine qualities.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James McCormick in the Great Seal Patent Offico
on the 11th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MCCORMICK, of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, Brewer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James McCormick, Her special licence
that I, the said James McCormick, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said James McCormick, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
THE PROCESS OF BREWING MALT. AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James McCormick, my exccutors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or onc
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.

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James McCormick, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing
forming a part of this Specification :-
.
The object of the present Invention is to remove from wort, that is,
the liquid product or result of malt subjected to the mashing operation
so termed in brewing, those elements contained in it either in a state of
solution or suspension or both (such as fine flocks of coagulated albu-
men combined with tannin, starch, mucilaginous matter, or gums)
which in completing the ale or beer brewing therefrom, as is well
known to brewers, will not only occasion delay and hinder the clarifica-
tion of the mash but also tend to acidify the same if exposed to the air
as it must be necessarily more or less before the brew is completed.
And for this purpose the Invention consists in subjecting the wort or
mash liquid to the action of such an agent or agents (such as, for instance,
charcoal previously washed or otherwise suitably treated to prevent its
imparting color to the wort, either in combination or not with a screen
or screens) as will remove tho afore-mentioned impurities from the wort
or mash liquid and produce a through purification or clarification of its
saccharine qualities.
In the accompanying plate of Drawings one form of apparatus for
carrying out my improvements in the process of brewing is illustrated,
Figuro 1 being a side elevation of an apparatus for such purpose;
Figure 2 a central vertical section, and Figures 3 and 4 transverso
horizontal sections taken in the planes of the lines x-x, y―y,.
respectively of Fig. 2.
A in the Drawing represents a vessel or tank made of conical shape
and open at both ends, its larger and B uppermost, which is the end.
at which the wort or mash liquid is to enter it escaping at the lower or
smaller end C. Within the vessel A are located three screens D, E, F,.
each provided with eyes G for convenience in inserting and removing
them, with one screen above another but made of such a size as to leave
a chamber or space II between, the smaller one resting at the lower
end of the vessel, and the upper one D below the upper end or top to the

page_text: vessel so as to form a space or chamber I for the wort, enabling it
to become distributed over the surface of the screen constituting the
bottom of said chamber. Within the chambers H between the screens
the clarifying or purifying agent used is to be placed; charcoal disin-
tegrated or broken up into small particles and previously washed or
otherwise suitably prepared to prevent its imparting color to the wort
being the most preferable.
With an apparatus constructed as described this Invention is enabled
to be carried out most perfectly and successfully, the first screen serving
to remove from the wort in a greater or lesser degree the flocky
elements held in a state of suspension, while the liquid freely passes
through the screen to the charcoal in the chamber below, by the
action of which the wort is more or less freed from the starch and
mucilaginous compounds held by it in solution when, passing through
the next screen, and from thence through the charcoal in the chamber
below it, to and through the lower screen, it escapes from the vessel
thoroughly cleansed of all impurities and clarified. In lieu of arranging
the vessel A for a downward passage of the wort through it, it may be
located for an upward passage, and in lieu of the construction and
arrangement of it described it may be varied and made with more or
less chambers of the charcoal or clarifying agent and with more or less
screens or sieves or with none, but I deem it preferable to use screens in
connection with the clarifying agent, as they assist the passage of the
wort through the charcoal and the action of it thereon as is obvious.
Although I have particularly specified charcoal as the clarifying
agent employed, its properties for such a purpose being well known, I
wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not intend to limit my
Invention to the use of charcoal nor to the use of any particular
clarifying agent or agents, nor to the use of one alone, or to two or more
in combination in the same chamber or vessel or in different chambers
or vessels, the wort passing from one to the other.
This Invention consisting in subjecting wort or mash liquor to the
action of such an agent or agents as will remove therefrom those elements
or particles held in solution or in a state of suspension, or in both, that
in the completion of the brewing of the wort would tend to deteriorate
it both in color and taste. It is best that the wort or mash liquid
should be under heat when it is subjected to the action of the charcoal
or other clarifying agent. A temperature of about 170° Fahrenheit will

page_text: be found sufficient, but I find a temperature considerably higher to be
more advantageous. The wort is clarified as above directed before
fermentation.
Having thus described my Invention, what I claim and desiro to
have secured to me by Letters Patent is, in the process of brewing
subjecting the wort or mash liquid to charcoal or its equivalent either
alone or in combination with other materials, and either in combination
or not with a screen or screens, substantially as and for the purpose
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James McCormick, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
JAMES MCCORMICK. (L.s.)
Witness to signature and seal
EDWIN WEBSTER BROWN,
Solicitor of Patents,
No. 46, School St.,
Boston,
Massachusetts,
United States.