166 
Hop  Extract. 
J  Am  Jour.  Pharm. 
t       April,  1885. 
HOP  EXTRACT. 
By  Wayne  B.  Bissell,  Ph.G. 
From  an  inaugural  essay. 
In  discussing  this  subject  the  main  object  of  the  writer  will  be  to 
bring  to  notice  an  extract  of  Hops  made  by  an  entirely  new  processs 
and  to  compare  that  product  with  one  made  by  myself,  according  to 
the  directions  given  in  the  Dispensatory. 
A  very  fine  sample  of  late  hops,  which  appeared  rich  in  lupulin,  was 
exhausted  as  thoroughly  as  possible  with  i)ure  alcohol  by  percolation. 
The  drug  was  then  boiled  in  water  for  one  hour,  strained  and  washed. 
The  alcoholic  and  watery  extracts  were  evaporated  at  a  very  low  tem- 
perature to  a  thick  syrup  and  then  mixed,  and  further  evaporation 
carried  on  by  means  of  a  water  bath  until  a  product  of  nearly  pilular 
consistence  was  obtained,  in  which  condition  the  patent  extract  was. 
The  product  thus  obtained,  contained  the  aroma  of  the  hop  which  is 
very  easily  destroyed  by  a  high  heat. 
xVs  far  as  could  be  learned,  the  process  by  which  the  patent  extract  is 
made  on  a  very  large  scale  is  as  follows : 
The  hops  taken  from  the  bale  are  run  through  a  machine,  which 
separates  the  scales  from  the  axis  without  breaking  them  much.  They 
are  now  placed  in  a  large  wire  cage  rather  loosely,  and  three  of  these 
cages  are  run  into  an  immense  l)oiler  or extractor  as  it  is  called, 
which  holds  about  six  hundred  pounds  of  the  drug.  A  heavy  door 
then  is  shut  and  barred,  making  everything  secure.  About  three 
hundred  barrels  of  gasoline  are  now  pumped  in  by  the  engine,  when,, 
by  means  of  a  steam  coil,  heat  is  applied  until  a  pressure  of  one  hun- 
dred pounds  to  the  square  inch  has  been  attained.  The  object  of  this 
high  pressure  is  to  break  or  crush  the  little  glands  called  lupulin, 
wdiich  contain  the  valuable  principle,  this  being  taken  up  by  the  hot 
gasoline.  As  soon  as  the  above  pressure  has  been  attained,  the  steam 
is  shut  off  and  as  the  heat  decreases,  the  hot  gasoline  holding  the  extract 
in  solution  is  drawn  off  gradually  into  a  large  boiler  or  tank,  and  as  it 
gradually  cools,  the  extract  settles  to  the  bottom  and  the  gasoline  rising 
to  the  top  is  removed  and  used  over  again  on  a  fresh  portion  of  hops. 
In  the  meanwhile  the  extract  and  gasoline  remaining  in  the  extractor, 
have  been  completely  washed  out  by  super-heated  steim  and  both 
separated  as  in  the  former  case,  so  there  is  but  very  little  waste  of 
