Stone Beer

[Beer Snob]

Has anyone read the Jan/Feb issue of Zymurgy? They have this article on "Stone Beer". Actually using very hot rocks to boil the wort.... you get them hot and toss them in the wort. Has anyone tried this?

 

[Genghis77]

Sounds like a rough way to boil the wort. I have heard of making coffee in plastic canteens with that same method. Guess you world need a way to fish the hot rocks out and reheat them or the pot would blow over.

 

[Beer Snob]

Sounds like a rough way to boil the wort. I have heard of making coffee in plastic canteens with that same method. Guess you world need a way to fish the hot rocks out and reheat them or the pot would blow over.

The article recommended using like..... a deep fryer basket...

 

[rewster451]

I wonder how long the rocks would stay hot in a situation like that. My gut says not long enough to complete the boiling process.

 

[Genghis77]

Could heat the rocks up near the melting point. But, I wouldn't want to be near when quenched in the wort. Sounds like a method that might have been used in antiquity.

 

[Orfy]

One question.

Why?

 

[El Pistolero]

One question.

Why?

Better efficiency...all of the heat in the rock goes into the wort, none is lost into the air. It's kind of like using an electric element inside your HLT.

 

[cbotrice]

If attempting this watch where you get your rocks from and what type they are. For fun around bonfires we used to take rocks fished from a lake and put them in the hottest area of the fire, it wouldn't take long to split or explode some of the rocks, probably not good to have exploding rocks on your burner or in your boil container.
MP Wall

 

[david_42]

This sounds a little like making your own soap, why? In Boy Scouts, I made soup and coffee in paper bags using hot rocks, just show I could do it. Rocks don't hold much heat, so you have to change them out frequently. If you heat them up too much, you char the wort. I suppose to be really authentic, you could use the stomach of an elk as the brewing pot. And plan on making a smoked stout, because you'll have a lot of wood ash in the wort.

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

i think the rocks are supposed the caramelize the wort for the authentic flavor/effect of the brew.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

i think the rocks are supposed the caramelize the wort for the authentic flavor/effect of the brew.

I think I might have read that somewhere else (not Zymurgy). As far as asking "why?", haven't any of you ever gotten that question from someone drinking a Bud while you're brewing in your garage?

 

[Pumbaa]

Better efficiency...all of the heat in the rock goes into the wort, none is lost into the air.

Except all the heat that is lost while heating up the rocks. I'll try some wierd things but think I'll let the hot rock idea pass me by

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

Come to think of it, I may have read about it in BYO's "10 Weird Beers" article from sometime last year. I believe the way that recipe went, you put the rocks in the kettle and then boiled it as usual. As DRB mentions, the rocks will heat up and caramelize the wort.

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

Come to think of it, I may have read about it in BYO's "10 Weird Beers" article from sometime last year. I believe the way that recipe went, you put the rocks in the kettle and then boiled it as usual. As DRB mentions, the rocks will heat up and caramelize the wort.

i think that's where i read it too? i got the new zymurgy, and saw it on the cover. just haven't read it yet....

 

[Orfy]

I agree.

I've also read you can inject fries with ketchup using a hypodermic but I think I'll stick to covering them from a bottle. I'm not criticising, hell I'm all for experimenting and using alternate methods but this ideas a little much for me.

 

[Dude]

DeRoux you are right, it caramelizes the wort and adds an unfermentable sweetness. If done right, I think it could be quite nice. Some microbrewery does a vanilla creme ale with this method. It has won several awards IIRC, but I wish I could remember the name.

I've though of doing this as well. Maybe this summer after I get my firepit outside.

 

[Beer Snob]

i think the rocks are supposed the caramelize the wort for the authentic flavor/effect of the brew.

Yeah thats what the article says... but what is "caramelize"?

 

[Beer Snob]

I've though of doing this as well. Maybe this summer after I get my firepit outside.

It would be a pretty cool meet... all get together at some campsite. I can see 20 guys ... getting drunk... doing wierd brewing things ... while the rangers stand around with nightsicks and an attitude.

 

[Beer Snob]

One question.

Why?

The entire issue is about brewing using non conventional means. There is another article on brewing by the seat of your pants (no technology).... that kinda thing...

 

[robmee]

old folk used to boil meat this way (like 15 AD), could do it, but I bet somethng would go wrong.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Are you sure the article wasn't about brewing while stoned? Then throwing hot but rocks into a pot of wort might make sense. :cross:

You'd have to heat those little f'ers up pretty damn hot to get wort to boil, and have a very large pot to boot. Probably have to add several gallons worth (of pot capacity) of rocks.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

You'd have to heat those little f'ers up pretty damn hot to get wort to boil, and have a very large pot to boot. Probably have to add several gallons worth (of pot capacity) of rocks.

The article DRB and I read wasn't about heating the wort to boiling with the rocks (as the original post indicates), but just putting rocks in the pot while boiling which would create more hot surface area for the wort to come in contact with thereby caramelizing it more. I agree that heating just about any volume of wort to boiling with hot rocks would be a steep uphill battle!

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

yep, recipe for disaster in my case!

 

[SteveM]

The Zymurgy article does, in fact, suggest using very hot rocks - 600 - 1,000 F if I recall correctly - to boil wort. I got that that sentence of the article and could go no further. : )

It sounded interesting, and I would love to try one some time, but I am not going to attempt it. Neither am I trading in my car for one of those Fred Flintstone models where your feet running along underneath provide the motive force! : D

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

The Zymurgy article does, in fact, suggest using very hot rocks - 600 - 1,000 F if I recall correctly - to boil wort. I got that that sentence of the article and could go no further. : )

That sounds like something interesting to read about...I wouldn't get too much further than that, either! Not even sure how to handle a 1000F rock. The BYO method of dropping them in your brew kettle seems feasible and interesting, but as I recall, the beer itself didn't capture my attention in the first place.

 

[Walker]

Not even sure how to handle a 1000F rock.

very, VERY carefully.

 

[Beer Snob]

Yup. The hot rocks are added to boil the wort. It also says that there is a chance that these rocks could break up when it hits the cool wort (they recommend goggles).... sizing is important... too big and it won't heat up enough and too small and it would break up.

I dont have the article in front of me right now, but it recommends particular types of rocks... apparently the author has experiemented with this concept for some time.

 

[Beer Snob]

very, VERY carefully.

Got blacksmith tongs That should do it

 

[Walker]

I'd personally just use a big steel shovel. Much easier to find, probably.

 

[kornkob]

And here I was thinking that this was going to be something liek this:


So these soldiers are near a town and none of the townspeople have a beer to spare and claim not to have any barley, hops or even a little yeast. So one soldier sets up a big boil pot int eh town square and starts boiling some rocks in spring water. One townsperson says "what's that" and the soldier says "I'm brewing Stone Beer but it sure would be better if I had a pound of barley"......


: )

 

[Thor]

Yeah thats what the article says... but what is "caramelize"?

FYI, caramel is the brown, near-brittle substance created by heating sugar and water to over 300 degrees (I think it's 340, but I forget), then adding cream.

To caramelize something is to heat some or all of the sugar(s) in it such that they darken and form a deep, very sweet, syrupy substance, which is basically sugar with nearly all the water removed. In the case of wort, it means that some of the sugar in the wort is condensed (i.e. water removed), and therefore, the wort takes on more sweet character than it had prior to caramelization.

If you ever had caramelized onions (onions sauteed with sugar and butter/oil until the sugar darkens and thickens), you get the idea.

I read the Zymurgy article, and while interesting, I think I'll stick with propane.

 

[Walker]

I thought that caramelizing sugar ALSO changed the sugar, too. Ie; it makes longer sugar chains out of the previously smaller molecules.

I might be wrong here, but one of the voices in my head is telling me this right now.

-walker

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

If you ever had caramelized onions (onions sauteed with sugar and butter/oil until the sugar darkens and thickens), you get the idea.

Not to be nitpicky, particularly on a Friday, but my idea of caramelized onions is slow cooking them until the sugars naturally occuring in the onions caramelize as opposed to adding any additional sugar (unless I'm misreading your post). This post officially has nothing to do with beer or rocks :cross:

 

[El Pistolero]

Not to be nitpicky, particularly on a Friday, but my idea of caramelized onions is slow cooking them until the sugars naturally occuring in the onions caramelize as opposed to adding any additional sugar (unless I'm misreading your post). This post officially has nothing to do with beer or rocks :cross:

I have to agree with BeeGee on this one...don't be adding sugar (corn or otherwise) to your onions.

 

[Thor]

I thought that caramelizing sugar ALSO changed the sugar, too. Ie; it makes longer sugar chains out of the previously smaller molecules.

-walker

It very well may. In fact, I'm sure it does, since sugar does not revert to earlier forms when cooked, then cooled. You speak chemically, I spoke culinarily, since my scientific knowledge is, shall we say, less than vast.

 

[Thor]

Not to be nitpicky, particularly on a Friday, but my idea of caramelized onions is slow cooking them until the sugars naturally occuring in the onions caramelize as opposed to adding any additional sugar (unless I'm misreading your post). This post officially has nothing to do with beer or rocks :cross:

Same idea. Caramelizing added sugar, inherent sugar (such as in the onions) or both does the same thing to the sugar(s).

I'm going to open a homebrew, play among the hot rocks and contemplate all of this.

 

[Beer Snob]

Don't forget your goggles.

 

[Swervo Maneuver]

If you want to caramelize your wort, why not do a 1/2 gallon boil?

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

If you want to caramelize your wort, why not do a 1/2 gallon boil?

Not possible for AG brewers who are pretty much required to do a full-wort boil.

 

[Lounge Lizard]

In Boy Scouts, I made soup and coffee in paper bags using hot rocks, just show I could do it.

Okay... How do you make coffee in paper bags??