Morton William Coutts (7 February 1904 – 25 June 2004)''Obituary: Morton W. Coutts''
NZ Herald, 2 July 2004. was a New Zealand inventor who revolutionised the science of brewing

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

. He is best known for the continuous

fermentation Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduce ...

method.

History

Coutts'

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

grandfather,

Frederick Joseph Kühtze Frederick Joseph Kühtze (8 April 1833–21 November 1901) was a New Zealand brewer. He was born in Cologne, Germany on 8 April 1833. Kühtze's son William Joseph Kühtze went on to establish the Waitemata Brewery in 1929, which later became ...

, began brewing beer in Otago, New Zealand in the late 19th century. In 1900 he moved to

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...

and set up the family

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

. The brewery was inherited by William Joseph Kühtze, who changed the family name to Coutts during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

to sound more

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

. When William Kühtze became seriously ill as a result of the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...

in 1918, Morton Coutts took over the brewery at age 17 with the aid of his mentor, Conor W. Cary. Morton Coutts took over as director of

DB Breweries DB Breweries is a New Zealand–based brewing company, owned by Heineken Asia Pacific. Founded in 1930 by Sir Henry Kelliher and W Joseph Coutts, the partners purchased Levers and Co. and the Waitemata Brewery Co. in Ōtāhuhu. Asia Pacific Br ...

in 1946.

Continuous fermentation method

In the 1930s, Coutts investigated the nature of

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...

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 Wort () is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky. Wort contains the sugars, the most important being maltose and maltotriose, that will be Ethanol fermentation, fermented by the brewing yeast to prod ...

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 Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

. As a result, Coutts created a continuous flow between the two fermentation processes. In the 1983 Queen's Birthday Honours, Coutts was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to the brewing industry.

Other work

Apart from his several patents for the brewing of beer, Coutts was also the first person in New Zealand to broadcast

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

signals, and was claimed to be the first to send a

shortwave radio Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the High frequency, high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30& ...

message to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

., although as a matter of record, the first New Zealand to Britain radio contact was on 18 October 1924 between Frank D. Bell, Z4AA and Cecil W. Goyder, G2SZ and this was the first ever trans-world two-way radio contact.

References

External links

Morton Coutts - Continuous Fermentation System
(broken link) {{DEFAULTSORT:Coutts, Morton 1904 births 2004 deaths New Zealand brewers New Zealand men centenarians New Zealand people of German descent 20th-century New Zealand inventors New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople 20th-century New Zealand scientists