The Western Brewer November 1913


Jacob Ruppert's New Brew House


(Otto C. Wolf Project)


Transcribed by Rich Wagner


Magnificent new brew house erected by Jacob Ruppert, Inc., New York City, was recently completed and placed in operation, and the occasion was celebrated by the company keeping open house for a week, during which time thousands of people visited the plant and inspected the buildings and equipment.

 

This new six-story brew house occupies the southeast corner of 92nd st. and 3rd ave., and is shown in the foreground of the accompanying view. The balance of the block on 3rd ave. is occupied by a large stock house, while beyond this, to the right in the view, is a still larger stock house erected about two years ago and fully described at the time in these columns. This occupies about half of the block between 90th and 91st sts., while the remainder of that block (at the extreme right of the view) is the bottling department, one of the largest in the country.

 

The enormous plate glass windows of the brew house, which admit a flood of light to all parts of the kettle room, also permit the entire interior to be seen by thousands of passengers who travel on the elevated railroad running on 3rd ave. and passing the brewery.

 

The main entrance to the brew house and offices is located on 3rd ave., and as shown in the illustration, the arched construction is in polished granite, the entrance doors with grille above, being made of bronze, and leading into a vestibule faced with Italian marble, the whole being of such architectural beauty as to deserve the reproduction it has been accorded for this article.

 

The four large brew kettles are magnificent specimens of the art of coppersmithing, each having a capacity of 700-bbls. According to the statement of the manufacturers, 200,000 pounds of the highest grade of copper from the Calumet and Hecla mines went into their construction. These and all the other copper work, together with the Hupfel hop strainers were installed by August Roos’ Son Copper Works of New York.

 

The kettle room, which occupies a space of 30’ x 90’, and is 40’ high, is lined with beautiful slabs of matched Italian marble, the grain of which can be seen even in the reduced cut. The stairs shown at the further end of this view, lead to a gallery running the length of the room, and behind which can be seen the mash filters, which may also be seen, and to better advantiage, in the view showing the east side of the room. These mash filters, which have a total capacity of 6,500 barrels per day, were built especially for this plant by Messrs. Simon, Buhler & Bauman, of Frankford-on-the-Main, Germany, and furnished through their American agent, Mr. H.H. Freund.

 

Photo Caption. Premises of Jacob Ruppert, Inc., New York, Showing New Brew House in Foreground.

 

p. 238 On the second floor are also located the “Universal” Malt Mills, with a capacity of 22,000-bu. per day, which were also furnished by Simon, Buhler & Baumann. It has been interestingly shown that the yearly capacity of these four mills would take care of the products of 285,000 acres of barley.

 

The mash tank and the cookers, which are not shown in the engraving, are directly back (east) of the mash filters. The propellers in the cookers and the mash tub are driven by gears and motors of a special type, furnished by A.S. Baer & Son, of New York, agents for A. Ziegmann, Stuttgart, Germany. The lower part of the mash tub and the driving mechanism of same are shown in the foreground of one of the accompanying views.

 

On the mezzanine, or half-floor, above the mash filters, may be seen the large four hot water, or sparge water, tanks. Another hot water tank is located on the fourth floor of the building and two more on the fifth floor. The hop storage room, having a capacity of 1,000 bales, is located on fourth floor; while on the fifth floor is the dust collector for the malt-cleaning machines, as well as the main malt elevator with an hourly capacity of 2,000-bu. The four hoppers for malt and cereals, the two malt-cleaning reels, the mash tub, the pressure cookers, and all other millwright work, were furnished by Gustav Schock of New York city.

 

A view is also shown of the eight wort coolers built especially for this installation by Landers of Munich, and furnished by A.S. Baer & Son. From these coolers the wort passes to the settling tank, which completes the initial operations of the brewing process.

 

 

Electricity is used as the motive power for all machinery in the brew house, and is distributed from a switchboard on the mash tub floor. The entire electrical equipment was installed by employes of the brewery.

 

Photo Caption. Entrance to Jacob Ruppert’s New Brew House and Offices.

 

Photo Caption. General View of Kettle Room, Ruppert’s New Brew House. Four Kettles of 700 Barrels Capacity Each.

 

Photo Caption. Driving Apparatus For Mash Tub and Rice Cookers.

 

Photo Caption. East side of New Kettle Room, Jacob Ruppert Brewery. Showing Sparging Tanks and S.B.B. Mash Filters.

 

p. 239 The plans for the building were drawn by Otto C. Wolf, the well-known brewery architect of Philadelphia, Pa.; the erection was supervised by his personal superintendent, Mr. H.W. McConnell.

 

The selection and installation of the filtering presses and the special machinery, was directed by Ernst Muehlhauser, superintendent of the Jacob Ruppert brewery.

 

The building was erected by Murphy Bros., general contractors, New York, and the structural steel was furnished and erected by the Geo. A. Just Co., contracting engineers, also of that city.

 

Immediately adjoining the brew house and under the same roof, are located the malt and grits storage bins, constructed of glazed tile, and of 75,000-bu. capacity.

 

On the topmost floor of the brew house will be located the sumptuously appointed offices of the brewery; the installation of the special furniture made of metal, is as yet incomplete, but when finished will be both ornate and practical. A superb suite of private offices for the heads of the firm, as well as the offices of the clerical force, both of the brewery and the bottling department, will be arranged, and by their location will be immune from the dust and noise of the traffic in the streets.

 

The passenger elevator intended for the use of the office personnel and visitors leads to the different floors of the brew house, as well as to the offices of the company. A larger elevator in the rear of the brew house will carry the working force, as well as the hops and other bulky brewing material, to the various upper floors.

 

The lower floors of the brew house is arranged as a working floor for the teams brining in the malt, hops, etc., to the brewery, and for convenient access, as well as removal of the grains and spent hops.

 

After a careful inspection of this magnificent building, with its compact and original equipment of machinery, we feel that special congratulations is due Mr. Jacob Ruppert, Jr., for his courage in making so radical an innovation upon the typical construction of American breweries; and should the economies that are promised by the manufacturers of the machinery installed be borne out in practice, of which there appears at the time of this writing little if any doubt, the erection of this new plant marks an epoch in brewery construction.

 

 

 

Photo Caption. Wort Coolers, Capacity 800-bbls. per hour, Installed by A.S. Baer & Son, in Jacob Ruppert Brewery, New York.

 

Photo Caption. One of the Filter Rooms, Jacob Ruppert Brewery, New York, Showing Battery of Six Kiefer Filters in Operation.

 

Photo Caption. Malt Mills in the Jacob Ruppert Brewery, Furnished by Simon, Buhler & Baumann.

 





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