Picobrew, Inc.

Pb Funding Group, LLC

Crm IP LLC

James B Mitchell

Avi R Geiger

William H Mitchell

Cheryl Mitchell

Alcoholic spirits may be artificially aged under highly pressurized carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide may form carbonic acid, which may cause various esters to form in the presence of wood as well as to mellow the flavor when no wood is present. Wood may be pretreated with ozone, which may extract lignin which may further convert to vanillin during pressurized CO2 treatment, giving a vanilla note. After processing with pressurized CO2, a post-treatment of ozone may be given to the spirit, which may cause a mild oxidation and further mellowing of the spirit.

Accelerated aging of alcohol spirits

A distillation/extraction insert may attach to a vessel containing liquid to be distilled, and may use heated water circulating through a heating coil, as well as draw a partial vacuum to induce boiling. A condensation coil may collect the vapor and condense the vapor into distillate. A controller may monitor various temperatures and vacuum level to precisely control the heated water being used to boil components in the liquid. The heated water may be created by a beer making machine, which may have a temperature controlled recirculating water system. The insert may be a self-contained unit that attaches to a vessel, where the vessel may also be used for fermenting brewer's mash for distillation. In some cases, an extraction chamber may be used for collecting essential oils from various materials.

Distillation and essence extractor insert for beer brewing machine

A beer making system may use direct steam injection during wort manufacturing. Steam may be added directly to the wort, and may be part of a recirculating mash system. The steam may be the primary mechanism for adding heat to the system, and may eliminate many problems that often occur when using conventional heating systems. A water reservoir may feed a stream generator, which may inject steam into wort during mashing or boiling steps. A controller may monitor temperature and other parameters, and may calculate the dilution of wort based on the water added through the steam injection and allow a brewing system to compensate for said dilution and still produce desired results.

Beer making machine with direct steam injection

Kombucha, kefir, and other fermented beverages may be manufactured using a fermenter that draws off some fermented beverage, then adds starter liquid to a fermenter. Production may be regulated by managing heat, oxygen, or other inputs to achieve a desired quantity of finished beverage output, and production may be increased or decreased to match consumption. A controller may monitor beverage consumption and may adjust processing variables to achieve production goals, while automatically managing the overall process. A system may have a feed tank from which unprocessed liquid may be added to the fermenter at the same or similar quantities as finished beverage may be transferred to a dispensing system. The system may operate with little expertise or knowledge by a human operator.

Brewing system for kombucha and other fermented beverages

A fermentation monitoring system may measure the weight of a fermenting product to determine the progress of fermentation. The weight of a fermenting batch may decrease as carbon dioxide is given off, and a continuous or periodic weight measurement may be used as a control input to a fermentation system, which may adjust temperature to control fermentation or detect that fermentation is not progressing as expected. Such a system may be to use a weight scale attached to a fermentation vessel and have a control system capable of adjusting the temperature of the fermenting contents. One implementation may have a scale mounted inside a temperature controlled fermentation cabinet.

Fermentation monitoring and management

A foam reducing device may impart a mechanical shear flow to a foam and may dispense an anti-foam agent. The device may reduce highly aerated foam into a dense foam or a liquid, and may significantly reduce the volume of material. One version of the device may have an inlet tube with a nominal diameter or dimension, where the inlet tube transitions to a pair of surfaces that are close together. The foam passes through the pair of surfaces causing flow with a high a mechanical shear. A mesh material may be present between the surfaces, and the mesh material may be treated with an anti-foam agent, such as silicone, which may further reduce the volume of foam. A catch basin may collect the reduced foam for disposal. The pair of surfaces may be configured with a weight or spring to move with respect to each other during periods of high flow.

Foam reducing device

A beer making system may use a detachable vessel to contain liquid during the mashing and boiling steps, and may also be used during the fermentation steps of beer making. The beer making system may recirculate liquid through the vessel, then select between several flow paths during the beer making process. A removable reservoir system having a grain reservoir and several hops or adjunct reservoirs may be selected as a flow path, as well as a bypass flow path. A programmable controller may cause liquid to recirculate through a heater and one of the various flow paths, the sequence, timing, and temperature profile of which are defined in a recipe for a particular beer.

Automated beer brewing system with vessel for brewing and fermenting

A cascading hops reservoir may have a series of hops or adjunct reservoirs, each having a drain and an overflow. The series of reservoirs may be used by causing flow through a first reservoir, which may cause liquid to flow through the reservoir and through the drain, as well as past an overflow. When a second set of hops or adjuncts may be added, the flow may be introduced to a second reservoir, which may flow through a drain and also overflow into the first reservoir. A series of multiple reservoirs may thus be used to introduce hops or other adjuncts into a brewing cycle in stages, with each additional stage including previous stages in the recirculating flow during the brewing cycle.

Cascading hops reservoirs for recirculating brewing system

The present invention provides a method to create and a process for using a compact, automated, all-grain beer brewing appliance. The method may include a microprocessor-based Process Control System, a Heat EXchanger loop, a Fluid Distribution Manifold, a Step Filter Basket, a Hot Fluid Tank, pumps, valves, plumbing and brewing control instruments. The invention may also make use of a Filter-Keg in lieu of a Hot Fluid Tank allowing fermentation, conditioning and dispensing from a single replaceable vessel.

Simple, efficient automated all-grain beer brewing system

A beer making device may have removable reservoirs through which brewing ingredients may be added. The removable reservoir may include a grain steeping reservoir and one or more adjunct or hops steeping reservoirs. A removable tub may contain the various reservoirs, and some or all of the various ingredient reservoirs may be removable from the reservoir tub. For example, a set of hops reservoirs may be manufactured as a single joined unit, and may be removable from the reservoir tub. The removable reservoirs may include a check valve which may shut off flow when the reservoir may be removed or dislodged, thereby minimizing leakage, and a beer making device may further sense such a situation and cause operations to cease.

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

James B Mitchell