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US 4,041,180 AGranted
Introducing gases into fermentation liquids
AssigneeBrewing Patents Limited
InventorRichard John Hugh Wilson
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AssigneeBrewing Patents Limited
InventorRichard John Hugh Wilson
Estimating the term…
The bubbling of poorly soluble gases into fermentation liquids either for the replenishment of dissolved oxygen or for removal of excess super-saturated CO.sub.2 can lead to severe foaming problems, particularly in deep fermentation vessels. The present invention overcomes this problem by dissolving the gas in an aqueous medium, usually water, under superatmospheric conditions and injecting the gas solution into the fermentation liquid in controlled quantities under conditions such that the gas is either retained in solution in the fermentation liquid or, at most, the gas is released from solution in the form of microbubbles of much smaller size than can be obtained by passing gas through a porous diffuser. Microbubbles may be released from the gas solution by injecting the pressurized gas solution into the fermentation liquid under conditions of high shear rate.
A method of oxygenating brewers' wort during fermentation which consists of introducing into said wort a solution of oxygen or air in an aqueous carrier liquid selected from the group consisting of water, brewers' wort and beer, said solution being introduced into said wort at a predetermined depth, at a higher pressure than the pressure at said predetermined depth and under conditions such that the oxygen or air is retained in solution in the wort, said solution being super-saturated with oxygen or air at the temperature and under the pressure of the wort at said predetermined depth, the volume of said oxygen or air solution introduced during a single fermentation being not more than about 5% of the bulk volume of said wort in said fermentor.
A method of degassing brewers' wort during fermentation or degassing fermented beer, said wort or beer being supersaturated with carbon dioxide, which method comprises
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.