I have talked with a few people on making this, I think it would be interesting. https://byo.com/stories/item/857-hot-rocks-making-a-stein-beer
Premise is take superheated granite chunks and drop them into wort to boil in lieu of direct fire. the rocks give a caramelized and smoky falvor to the beer. Rack onto caramelized rock for secondary fermentation. Anyone interested in making this with me?
I'll need:
Fire pitMatt- a fair amount of hardwood
10-15 fist-sized granite chunksJosh- turkey fryer basket for rocks
If you have any of the above let me know.
Would be a great addition to Harvest Fest. I'd definitely help depending on the date.
Same here, date depending, I'm in!
I've actually had beer made in this fashion. There is (was?) a brewery in Nashville called Bosco's that made a lager using this method and it was delicious.
Paul Graham from Square Kegs did one last year. It turned out fantastic. He said the one thing he would change is adding the rocks one at a time to keep the boil going.
Edit: you can also use a gas grill for the rocks.
As discussed im in and Ive got the rock.
I'm in
The emperor is not as forgiving as i am
I too am interested.
Cool, this is a go then. We just need to decide on a date and need a few items.
What date(s) work for you guys? I signed up for a 9:30am brewing session on Saturday, June 20th.
Items: I should be able to grab a fire pit, Josh can get the granite. Need some kind of basket to lower the rocks into the beer (via a string and ladder?)
Recipe and size: can be literally any recipe, but I think an Alt or some tye of German beer would be appropriate. Does everyone want 5 gallons? If so we'd need about 40 gallons total...
I imagine we'd heat the rocks during the mash, then bring a kettle outside and rotate the rocks in and out.
I have an unspecified amount of Best Malz Pilsner and Munich II I can contribute. I gotta see how much I have...
Sounds interesting! I'll probably come by just to watch and hang out.
Hey guys, this is happening Saturday, we're making a Dusseldorf Alt! As of now, Joe and I are making a 10 gallon batch and splitting it. If you'd like to get beer from this, please put it up here and we can figure something out. I did a little research and thought this article was informative: http://www.northamericanbrewers.org/alt.htm
Recipe is in the works. I still need a metal colander-type thing for the rocks. I should have wood.
So this is not happening with hot rocks today. I'll still be brewing this alt though! Sorry if this messes up any plans.