Morton W. Coutts

Morton William Coutts
Born	Morton William Coutts 7 February 1904(1904-02-07)
Died	25 June 2004(2004-06-25) (aged 100)
Nationality	New Zealand
Occupation	inventor

Morton William Coutts (7 February 1904 – 25 June 2004)^[1] was a New Zealand born inventor who revolutionised the science of brewing beer. He is best known for the continuous fermentation method.

History

Coutts' German grandfather, Frederick Joseph Kühtze, began brewing beer in Otago, New Zealand in the late 19th century. In 1900 he moved to Palmerston North and set up the family brewery. The brewery was inherited by William Joseph Kühtze, who changed the family name to Coutts during World War I to sound more British. When William Kühtze became seriously ill as a result of the Spanish Flu in 1918, Morton Coutts took over the brewery at age 15 with the aide of his mentor, Conor W. Cary.

Continuous fermentation method

In the 1930s, Coutts investigated the nature of yeast which is the most important ingredient in any brewing. Coutts speculated:

...that yeast could be properly controlled if you looked on it as a human being with a brain. It has so many enzyme mechanisms to call upon to react to whatever is necessary for its survival. Instead of looking on the final product I always took notice of the yeast as an organism that produced whatever you ended up with.

This led him to create the wort stabilisation process, which resulted in a clearer and consistent wort. He then separated the fermentation into stages. In the first stage the yeast grew and in the second the fermentation began. The yeast was thus encouraged to either grow or produce alcohol. As a result Coutts created a continuous flow between the two fermentation processes.

Other work

Apart from his several patents for the brewing of beer, Coutts was also the first person in New Zealand to broadcast television signals, and the first to send a telegraph message (to Britain).

References

1. ^ Morton Coutts, brewing pioneer, dies at 100. Modern Brewery Age. 26 July 2004. FindArticles.com. accessed 10 May. 2008

External links

• Morton Coutts - Continuous Fermentation System
• http://www.realbeer.co.nz/alefiles/sparging/article_2004_02_25_3212.php (mentions his 100th birthday)
• http://www.realbeer.co.nz/index.php?comment_id=index.php&comment_page=show_all (mentions his date of death)

Persondata
Name	Coutts, Morton
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	7 February 1904
Place of birth
Date of death	25 June 2004
Place of death