ORDER XIV.—MAKERS OF FOODS, DRINKS AND TOBACCO

Sub-order 2.—Makers of Drinks

459.—Other Workers

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allowance man (brewery) ; canteen man

issues free allowance of beer to dray men, travellers, etc., on production of chit; at certain times of day fills buckets for regular brewery workers' allowance; keeps canteen clean.

barley carrier

carries barley in sacks or in barrows from grain storehouse to malthouse, or to vehicles for transit.

barley room man

unloads barley, screens it, and places it in cistern for steeping; may do any labouring work connected with handling of barley.

bottle examiner ; sighter

(i) ascertains that empty bottles are free from cracks by gently knocking them together, and that they are clean by holding them to the light and by smelling them; extracts pieces of cork, etc., with steel hook;

(ii) examines filled bottles of spirits, mineral waters, etc., after labelling, capsuling, and polishing, by holding them up to the light; rejects those which show defects.

bottle foiler

(i) see capper;

(ii) see wirer.

bottler ; bottle filler

(i) (without pressure) runs beer from barrel into a small trough fitted with a series of syphon pipes, from which he fills bottles;

(ii) (under pressure) uses power-driven machine which forces beer into bottles; connects bottling machine with barrel by rubber hose; places clean empty bottles on revolving table of machine, and removes filled bottles; sometimes specifically designated, e.g. beer bottler, cider bottler; cf. bottler (aerated or mineral waters).

bottler (aerated or mineral waters)

puts empty bottles or syphons, or bottles or syphons containing a little syrup, on rotating machine, which carries them behind a screen or guard, where carbonic acid gas and water are forced into them under pressure; removes bottles or syphons when filled, and puts them on a rack, ready for corker or crown corker q.v.

bottle ringer ; stopper ringer

examines rubber rings on bottle stoppers, and replaces them when they are broken or worn; is sometimes employed part-time in bottle filling or other duties.

brander

brands barrels with name of firm, destination, etc., by inserting name-plate in hand press, heated over fire (which he stokes) and placing lid of barrel in contact with heated plate and subjecting it to pressure; also "bushes" barrels, i.e. drills holes in barrels, and heats metal ring for bung-hole; sometimes also weighs new or repaired barrels, both empty and filled, and records their capacity.

breaker-down

a tun house man q.v. who adds cold (boiled) water to beer, with a hose, to bring it to required gravity, if after brewing it is found to be over desired strength.

brewer's assistant (non-alcoholic)

receives instructions from non-alcoholic brewer (458) q.v. as to amount of each ingredient, e.g. sugar, ginger, hops, malt, colouring matter, etc., to be used; fetches ingredients from store, and empties them into vats, boiling coppers, or other vessels; opens sluice valves and cocks allowing mixture to pass from one vat or other vessel to another; cleans out vats and coppers when empty; skims off froth from surface of mixture with a skimmer; "fines down" mixture after fermentation, if required, i.e. adds water thereto.

brusher-out, cask brusher-out

see washer, barrel.

canteen man

see allowance man.

capper, bottle; capsuler ; bottle foiler

fixes a small paper, tin, or lead foil cover over corks of bottles filled with aerated waters, wine, etc., by hand, or by power-driven automatic or treadle operated machine.

carbonator ; gasman (breweries)

is in charge of closed tanks into which beer is run in preparation for bottling; runs a specified quantity of carbonic acid gas, in solution, into beer; keeps tanks clean; in small breweries, sometimes directs bottlers q.v., or does bottling.

cask measurer

measures capacity of barrels, either by filling them with liquor from graduated vessels, or by weighing them, both empty and filled, and calculating volume from net weight so ascertained; sometimes, at busy times, employed on cask washing; work usually done by brander q.v.

cask rinser

see washer, barrel.

cask roller, cask stacker

see runner-in.

cask steamer

see washer, barrel.

cellarwoman

does lighter work in cellar, such as labelling, capsuling, and wrapping of bottles.

cleaner, barley

see screener.

cleaner, cask

cleans deposit from sides and bottoms of casks by scouring them, by hand, with brushes, or in a revolving framework which rotates them one way while a metal chain rotates the reverse way inside them; (for cider casks ) after scouring, puts a small quantity of sulphur in casks to sterilise them, and to check excessive fermentation when they are refilled.

cleaner, syphon

cleans and polishes metal parts of syphons by hand or with a buffing machine; is sometimes employed part-time on other work, e.g. washing bottles.

clipper

nails clips to wine casks for holding corks; is usually employed part time in other work.

corker ; cork filter

drives corks into bottles filled with beer, mineral waters, etc., by hand, or by machine which he feeds with corks and operates by treadle, or, in bottling spirits, by an automatic rotary machine; is usually employed part time in bottling, in washing bottles, etc.

corker, crown

puts bottles in place in power-driven machine, i.e. a section of bottling machine, fitted with automatic plunger; moves lever, causing plunger to come down and press tin caps, lined with cork, on to mouths of bottles, and close them over rims, thereby clamping them on; removes closed bottle to rack, ready for labeller (949) q.v.

cork fitter

see corker.

draff man

see grainsman.

drainer, cask drainer

a cask washer q.v. who drains out returned casks after they have been cleaned with hot water; stacks them in readiness for refilling.

drawer-off ; racker

pumps, or draws off, beer, spirits, cider, etc., from fermenting vessels, blending vats, "racking" squares, etc., into barrels, usually by turning tap which allows liquor to flow through pipes; in breweries, drops a few dry hops into cask after it is full.

filler, bottle

see bottler.

filler, syphon

as for bottler.

gasman (breweries)

see carbonator ; cf. gasman (aerated or mineral waters) (458).

grainsman, grainer, grainman ; draff man, thrower

(brewery or distillery) removes used malt, or grains, from mash tun, shovelling it into carts for taking away for cattle feeding; cf. grainsman (775).

hearth man

stokes furnaces at base of brewery coppers containing water, hops, and "wort" (product of mash tun); sometimes also takes note of gauges whereby supply of water to coppers for next brewing is measured.

hopper

pours dried hops through a funnel into casks for storage; is usually employed part time on other duties.

hop room man, hop room hand

is in charge of a room where hops are stored; weighs out amount of hops required, which varies according to particular brew desired, and hands them out in sacks to copper side man (458) q.v.

labourer

loads and unloads raw materials, or manufactured or semi-manufactured products; assists skilled men in unskilled part of manufacturing processes; washes casks, vats, tuns, or other receptacles or apparatus; sweeps yard, cleans floors, and does any other unskilled work in brewery, distillery, malthouse, mineral water factory, etc.; often specifically designated according to department, e.g. ale stores labourer, brewer's labourer, laboratory labourer, lager dock labourer, labourer on loading stage, etc.

loader

loads barley or other materials into kilns; loads raw materials or manufactured products into carts, drays, railway wagons, etc.; often specifically designated according to article loaded, e.g. ale loader.

malt room man

weighs in malt, recording quantities admitted to malt mill; transfers malt to grinding mill; sometimes also acts as miller (458) q.v.

marker, cask marker

paints letters or other marks indicating contents on head of casks, with stencil plates and paints; is often engaged part time in other duties, e.g. cleaning cellars, running errands, or as resiner q.v.

presser, barm ; yeast presser

screws up receptacles into which yeast or barm, run or skimmed off surface of fermenting vats or tuns, has flowed, using a hand manipulated wheel or windlass, thus squeezing "barm ale" from yeast; shovels up yeast, when process is complete, and loads it into casks for removal.

presser, hop

shovels hops into press, and moves levers which bring press into action and squeeze remaining liquor out of hops after they have been boiled; liquor runs through pipes into containers.

presser, yeast

see presser, barm.

racker

see drawer-off.

receiver, barley

trucks sacks of barley into barley store, and trucks them from store to malthouse as required.

receiver, malt

receives, in brewery, malt from malt house, or from separate establishment, in sacks, which are hoisted to upper part of building; empties sacks on to floor of malt room, and shovels it, as required, into hoppers which convey it to tuns or vats below.

resiner

pours resin from a ladle on to bungs of barrels to seal them; is usually employed part time on other duties in cellars, e.g. cleaning, etc.

runner-in ; cask roller, cask stacker, stacker

rolls barrels to and from cellars; stacks barrels, removed from drays, until required for further use; takes barrels from stack to be washed.

screener, barley screener ; barley cleaner

(i) shovels barley or malt into hopper or chute of machine, which passes it through screen or sieve, to remove unduly large grains, half corns, dust, or other foreign matter;

(ii) is in charge of automatic machine which sifts barley or malt, as described above; sees that machine is working properly, and operates, if necessary, slide bars or shutters which divert screened barley or malt from one channel to another.

screener, malt

as for screener.

screwer

puts screw stoppers in bottles, etc., after they have been filled, by hand or machine; is usually employed part time in bottling, in washing bottles, etc.

sighter

see bottle examiner.

snow remover

removes deposits of frozen moisture from pipes, etc., of cold storage plant; is usually employed part of his time on other work.

spout man (distillery)

hooks sacks on to spout or chute down which dried grain pours, and removes sacks when full.

square room hand

see tun house man.

stacker ; wheeler and stacker

(i) trucks and stacks cases of bottled beer, etc., ready for despatch; assists in loading and unloading of vans;

(ii) see runner-in.

still house man, still room man

under direction of distiller (454) q.v., attends to cocks regulating flow of wash to still, circulation of "low" wine (first distillation), and drawing-off of fractions of distillate.

stopper picker ; stopper sorter

unscrews stoppers from empty bottles returned to bottling firms; examines them, and rejects those that are defective; often also acts as bottle ringer q.v.

stopper ringer

see bottle ringer.

stopper sorter

see stopper picker.

stower

an ale stores labourer q.v. stowing casks of beer.

syruper

pushes neck of bottle on to a nozzle connected with a tank containing flavouring syrup; raises nozzle, causing a specific quantity of syrup to run into bottle, and puts bottle on a rack, ready for bottler (aerated or mineral waters) q.v.

thrower

see grainsman.

tiersman

a stower q.v. who arranges casks in tiers.

tun house man, tun room man, tun room hand ; square room hand, union room hand, vatman, vatter

is engaged in room wherein brew is passed through a series of tuns, or vats, connected by unions or large pipes; assists fermenter (brewery) (453) q.v. in adding yeast to worts, checking temperature, and watching fermentation of brew; also cleans out empty tuns with water and brushes; sometimes also skims growing yeast from surface of brew with a wooden float; sometimes throws out spent grain from bottom of mash tuns, with shovels, or does other work in other parts of brewery.

union room hand, vatman, vatter

see tun house man.

washer, barrel; cask washer ; cask rinser

(i) cask steamer; roll barrels to feed end of washing machine; inserts a rose spray into bung hole; stands by to guide barrels, if necessary, as they pass through machine; starts and stops machine by moving a lever; turns water and steam on or off, as required;

(ii) cleans barrels by pouring water and stone into them, clamping them to revolving platforms, and switching on power; barrels rotate, and are cleansed by water and stones tumbling about inside them;

(iii) brusher-out, cask brusher-out; (rarely) removes tops of barrels, and scrubs inside surfaces by hand.

wheeler and stacker

see stacker.

wirer, cork wirer ; bottle foiler

wires corks of bottled beer, wines', mineral waters, etc.; often also wraps metal foil round top of bottles.

yeast man, yeast house man

handles yeast in yeast store room in preparation for use; drains it and sometimes squeezes it in press to expel moisture.

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From: A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921,
Ministry of Labour, 1927. Digitised by Peter Christian, August, 2016.   This text is in the Public Domain.