February 1, 1915.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



253 



Vent. 



it is subjected, was formerly an important part of the brew 

 master's work and called for his unremitting and careful super- 

 vision. Of tins responsibility he has been, to a certain extent, 

 relieved by modern ingenuity. When his storage cask is full, 

 he inserts in the bunghole the close-fitting rubbei ealed plug 

 of what is known as a bunging appai itus, and it thus becomes 

 part of a system by which all of the casks 

 are connected by means of rubber tubing, 

 while, with the aid of an ingenious con- 

 trivance, operating on the principle of a 

 safety valve, but dependent on a mercury column in 

 place of springs or weights for its regulating action, 

 the gas pressure throughout the entire cellar is nicely 

 equalized— or controlled to meet the brewmaster's 

 requirements — according to the degree to which the 

 valves have been adjusted. In other words, the little 

 rubber pipe carries gas from the cask that has too 

 much to the one that has not enough, so thai oilier con- 

 ditions being equal — uniform liveliness in the beer is insured. 

 A sudden change in the temperature of the fermenting or 

 stored beer, which may easily be caused by the heat generated 

 during fermentation, or what is less frequent, a drop below the 

 proper fermenting temperature due to excessive cooling of the 

 cellar, may make the "attemperator" necessary. This is a coil 

 of pipe arranged in each tub and connected — again by the om- 

 nipresent hose — with the refrigerating plant, or a cold or hot 

 water supply, so that cold water, colder brine, or even refrigerant 

 gas or hot water, can be forced through the coil and the tem- 

 perature quickly regulated. The necessity for an absolutely tight 

 joint between the attemperator and its hose connection demands 

 a rubber washer that will stand high or low temperature, pres- 

 sure, etc., and never fail to take up expansion and contraction. 

 as a leak would quickly spoil the beer. So that not only hose, 

 but gaskets, connection washers and tubing of rubber, that are 

 used in the cellar, must be of perfect quality, and upon their 

 reliable excellence the success of the brewer's operations in this 

 important department in large measure depends. 



Another department in which rubber comes into its own is 

 the wash-house, where the empty kegs, collected by the drivers. 

 are "relaundcred." It is a sloppy place, .in which everybody 

 wears rubber boots and rubber aprons, and into it, down in- 

 clined skids, rolls a ceaseless stream of kegs, a solid rubber 

 buffer, at the bottom of the incline, modifying the impact of 

 their arrival. They land in a great soaking tank and float care- 

 lessly around until their turn comes for the scrubbing machine, 

 where revolving between huge brushes their external toilet is 

 completed. Their rotation is effected by the revolving of the 

 rubber-covered wheels on which they rest, the rubber insuring 

 the necessary friction and at the same time 

 reducing the shock when the keg is thrown 

 onto the machine. Thence it goes to the 

 rinsing machine. One of its vertical spray- 

 ing nozzles is entered in the bunghole, the 

 weight of the keg. on a supporting collar, 

 operates a valve that admits water in in- 

 numerable jets into its interior, and the 

 washing process is complete. The impact of 

 a heavy keg, dropped witli careless sudden- 

 ness on to the collar, would speedily ruin 

 the valve mechanism, so a rubber bumper 

 is provided to ameliorate the shock. Plenty 

 of hose, with which kegs are rinsed, com 

 plete the equipment of this department. 



After draining and drying, the kegs are 

 sent to the racking room, where they are 

 refilled by machines designed for the purpose. Rut after lea\ ing 

 the storage vat, the beer must first be filtered to remove the 

 minute or flying yeast cells, too light to settle by gravity and 

 which would cloud the finished product, or start fermentations 



"Lightning" 

 Bottle Stopper. 



that would injure its quality and appearance. The apparatus 

 used for this purp* i hat is known as a filter-press, a 



ponderous device, with numerous plates, forming cells for the 

 filter mass— usually a neutral cellulose substance— through which 

 thi beei i toned bj powerful pumps, the result being to remove 

 all the suspended solid particles and to leave it perfectly bright 

 and clear. 



I., prevent leakage between the "frames" or plates they were 

 primarily grooved I a packing of rubber, but this 



not always satisfactorj and, moreover, the prolonged contact 



between tin beer and the frames often resulted in what was 

 known as "metal haze," a dimness impossible of removal and 

 exasperating to the brewer who prided himself on the clarity of 

 his product. So in place of metal a manufacturer made tin 

 frames and grates of his filters of hard, vulcanized rubber, wdiicb. 

 while stiff enough to furnish the necessary support for the filtei 

 material was sufficiently elastic to make a tight joint without the 

 rubber packing. Another firm merely covered the metal frames 

 with vulcanite, retaining the rubber packing, such frames being 

 stronger and cheaper than the all-vulcanite article, both, however, 

 accomplishing the same result the obviation of contact between 

 metal and beer. Still another form of construction was the hard 

 vulcanizing of the part of the rubber packing that was inserted 

 in the groove in the frame, leaving the exposed part soft and 

 resilient to make a perfect joint. At the point in the frame where 

 the continuous supply channel is located, a good rubber ring is 

 used to insure tight connection. 



Fuaasie Brusm . 



Ri urn k Born e Rri. shes 



BwaT.r 



Ihe shipping packages an idled by means of a racking machine 



in which rubber tubing is everywhere in evidence. In some of 

 these machines the plug, fitting the bung hole, through which the 

 filling tube passes, is of rubber, and by a turn of a wrench is ex- 

 panded to make it lit closely. The filling tube, sometimes made 

 of hard rubber, extends to the bottom of the package and through 

 it under the pressure developed by its own gas, supplemented, if 

 necessary, by compressed air, the beer enters, tilling the package 

 solid with foamless liquid. A void would mean loss of gas and 

 flat beer. When the package is full the filling machine bung is 

 loosened and withdrawn and a wooden bung deftly inserted and 

 hammered down tight. 



The bung generally employed is known as a "vent bung," its 

 central portion being so formed as to be readily punched through 

 by the "vent" when the keg is "tapped." The vent is a simple con- 

 trivance which admits air to the package as the beer is withdrawn 

 without allowing any escape of gas It is of iron with a tongue 

 shaped valve of soft rubber and is driven into place by a few 

 sharp taps of the mallet. When tapping the keg a cup-shaped 

 device of solid rubber through a hole in which the spigot passes 

 snugly is sometimes used to make close connection between spigot 

 and package, and prevent escape and waste of beer. But this is 

 g ahead of our story. Before the filled keg can be removed 

 fmm the brewery a revenue stamp must be affixed to it in such a 

 manner that the keg cannot be taliped without destroying the 



