An interesting article w/vid about heating farmhouse ales. Brilliant! http://www.garshol.priv.no/blog/389.html
Thanks for posting, will definitely give this a try. Wonder if this works with all farmhouse ales, or better with some than others.
If you haven't read the rest of his blog, you should give it a whirl. Lars writes some awesome stuff.
It sounds similar to the German Bierstachel, which is a red hot metal spike plunged into a beer to make head and some caramelization. See more discussion here... https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/bierstachel-spiking-beer-with-heat.490758/
Beautifully written piece by a true convert. That's a bit like time travel and the photos are wonderfully evocative. I'll surely try that this Christmas with my part Nordic family!
What exact style is a Norwegian Farmhouse Ale poured out of a plastic Pepsi bottle? Anything like Saison Dupont?
And a bit like Steinbier, done with the heated stones. I had one of these years ago. It was a good beer, smoky, caramelized, and truly rustic in a good way.
I've been doing some extra Google-research and the American equivalent to the German bierstachel is the loggerhead (also called "flip-dogs") and were used to make "flip" drinks. http://thehistorians-jaredbrown.blogspot.com/2012/10/tools-of-trade-at-loggerheads-with-toddy_5.html “Now this loggerhead, or Flip-Dog, as it was sometimes called, consisted of a piece of iron about two feet long, one end being quite thick, while the other dwindled down to a handle... It was used in making flip, which was a mixture of beer, spirit and sugar, into which the loggerhead, hot from the fire, was thrust, heating the compound and causing a froth on top which usually ran over the sides of the mug.” I looked for places to buy a bierstachel or loggerhead and came up with nothing apart from an expensive German product, or custom-orders from blacksmiths.
Once I tried using this campfire thing with two thin prongs at the end. It definitely got the head of my beer frothing and added some caramel quality to it, but it was pretty refined. I think a thicker piece of metal, not unlike a fire poker, would be better. Maybe I'm a little bougie, but I don't want my actual ash-covered fire poker in my beer though. I also worry a little bit about a really hot piece of metal causing my glass to shatter. Not sure how serious a concern that is, but better to think about before than after you've got a pint of warm beer and glass bits flying all over the place.
I have seen those recommendations. My fireplace poker has a hook too big for a beer glass, and I agree with this... I think glass shattering is why descriptions tell you not to touch the hot metal to the glass. The temperature of the liquid beer should only rise by 5-15 degrees. Sudden temperature changes can cause poor quality metal to shatter too.... I'm not sure what to expect from a typical fireplace poker.... it might be fine, of course. Yeah that was the expensive German product I saw.... I feel like I shouldn't have to pay $50+ and shipping from Europe for such a simple tool... a steel rod with flared tip and a handle.
Reading this thread and the subsequent discussion about iron pokers in beer I was reminded by this video I watched a while back which I thought I would post.
