252 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



I I BRU \RV 1, 1915. 



for it can readily be understood that even a small Irak that 

 would allow ammonia or brine to escape into I would 



be disastrous. 



It is when we reach the cellars that the importai ibber 



in the brcwerj is really impressed upon us. Rubber hose squirms 

 and coils on every hand, distributing unfermented beer among 

 the immense vats, carrying the fermented 



from the i into stora I in am 



cellar, or bringing hot or cold watet for the 



ind i in ing of the big casks on 



the floors. Just as the service tin hosi has 



to perform, so 



l'i \iiii s Bol ni \\ '. in i; 



us construction 

 aried, and 

 pi i id grades 

 are made for 

 every purpose 

 Brewers' hose 

 is a staple ar- 

 ticle with the 

 manufactu rers 



oi industrial rubber goods, and the accompanying illustration 

 shows the can- with which the hose for brewers is built up. 

 The interior lube is made of selected stock, carefully com 

 pounded to avoid breakage under pressure or by kinking, etc.. 

 for a break in the inner tube of a hose used for carrying 

 beer makes it unfit for further use for that purpose. In 

 the crevice of the break, yeast cells accumulate and decompos- 

 ing furnish a breeding place for strange ferments, dangerous 

 alike to the durability and flavor of the beverage. Then again 

 it is necessary that this inner tube be of such a character that 

 the acid or alcoholic constituents of beer, passing through or 

 lying in it, will not soften or dissolve it, and cause it to im- 

 part a rubbery taste to the beverage. Over the inside tube and 

 the layers of rubberized duck that enable it to withstand the 

 interior pressure, is a special cotton jacket of herringbone weave 

 and high tensile strength, which is caused to adhere to the body 

 of the hose by an intermediate layer of pure rubber, while out- 

 side of this woven jacket comes the usual wear-resistant water- 

 tight covering that is called upon to withstand the wear of im- 

 pact, of dragging over concrete or rough-paved floors, edges of 

 vats, etc.. and at the same time to preserve the carrying capacity 

 of the hose intact where it is subjected to sudden bends. It is 

 only proper to say that this particular hose is protected by 

 patents, but every manufacturer of rubber goods of this class 

 bas a similar special article for which equal or perhaps superior 

 qualities are claimed, showing the care attached to the pro- 

 duction of hose of this kind. When it is stated that the price 

 of such hose runs from 47 cents per foot for 3-ply of Yi inch 

 internal diameter to $5.60 per foot for 8-ply, 3 inches internal 

 diameter, and that one of the largest breweries in greater New 

 York purchases every year about 500 feet of hose, it is easy to 

 realize the importance to the rubber industry of the United 

 States of the demand for this article alone from the 1.500 

 breweries. 



Another important use for rubber in the cellars is in the 

 gaskets; with the aid of which the manhole covers of the big' 

 vats are 'made to fit tight. The vats or tanks used by brewers 

 for fermenting and storing beer are commonly made of wood — 

 oak, cypTess, or white pine— smooth finished inside and coated 

 with a '"varnish" made Qf shellac and other ingredients. dis ; 

 solved in high per cent, alcohol, which the workmen apply with 

 a brush to the dry interior of the empty vessel; or they are 

 given a coating of "brewers' pitch," a resinous preparation that 

 is sprayed in a melted condition by heated compressed air over 

 the inside of the cask to insure its even distribution. This is 

 necessary to close the pores of the wood, which would other- 

 wise allow the carbonic acid gas to exude and spoil the beer. 

 or these same pores and interstices would become the breeding 



place for various ferments which would cause its subsequent 

 deterii iration 



In many modern breweries these wooden vessels are now-a- 

 days replaced by receptacles of welded steel, enameled inside 

 and out, which it is claimed are much more durable, easier to 

 and less liable to cause infection of the beer by wild ferments. 

 ["o afford meani for entering i i \\ Eoi cleansing purposes 

 they are provided with manholes, and between the manhole 

 cover and the wall of the tank a tight joint is effected by rub- 

 bei gaskets, ["hey are made especiallj for the purpose, heavy, 

 of good stock and properly formed to lit the covers, for when 

 in place and tightened Up they must make a joint that is 

 and gas-tight under all conditions and certain to remain so for 

 ni • pi ni id 



\ peculiar fool covering may be observed in use in the cel- 

 lars, where rubber boots are 

 always the fashion. It resembles 

 in some respects the "patten" or 

 clog our grandmothers affected 

 and which in the Far East is 

 still worn in wet weather. The 

 lower part or sole of this shoe 

 is of heavy rubber with promi- 

 nent ridges or deep grooves 

 and it is provided with straps 

 by which it is secured over the ordinary foot covering. 



When the brewery workmen enter a varnished or enameled 

 vat for the purpose of cleaning it. it is highly essential that their 

 shoes shall not scratch the flooring of the vat; and in order to 

 avoid this they wear this peculiarly constructed rubber clog, an 

 illustration of which is here shown. 



Rubber tips or edges for the shovels, scrapers, etc., used in 

 cleaning these receptacles, are devised for the same purpose — to 

 prevent scratching. 



Having completed its fermentation the beer is pumped through 

 hose into the storage cellars, wdiere, in similar receptacles, but 

 in the case of lager beer, hermetically sealed, it remains to 



Rubber Soled Cellarman's 



Clog. 



"Bottle Kleen" Rubber Bottle Brushes. 



ripen and accumulate the wealth of carbonic acid to which it 

 owes its foaming head and refreshing properties. The regula- 

 tion of the proper volume of gas thus retained by the beer, its 

 retention being dependent chiefly on the pressure it is under, 

 the low temperature maintained and the tight bunging to which 



