Bierstacheln aka beer poker/heater

[larnotlars]

Hi

I recently received an inquiry from a local brewery that is interested in getting hand forged pokers to heat and dunk in beer... Supposedly that is a thing and it caramelizes the carbs in the beer and gives it a unique and pleasant texture. I was given a photo, but the page was entirely in German. I am thinking that the easiest method would be form a small plumb bob with a hole and let it heat shrink onto a rod. I have not used anything besides mild steel for smithing and blade steel for knives. I would imagine that super heated beer would be a hostile environment for steel. Supposedly, the mythos of Bierstacheln is that a black smith used his forge poker and then it caught on... I am going to assume that he didn't use green coal much.

Does anyone have suggestions for forgable, steels that would be sensible to use in a brewery?

Thanks for ideas!

[commercial link removed]

Lar

Edited February 9, 2023 by Mod34
Commercial link removed per TOS

[JHCC]

Mild steel is fine. People were doing this for hundreds of years with regular old pokers.

If you do a websearch for mulling irons or loggerheads, you can see some examples of what they can look like.

[George N. M.]

Lars,  there are a couple of variables that we don't have. 

First, how much beer is going to be used per quench, a stein, a pitcher, a pony keg, or what.  Too much beer and too small a chunk of steel would give enough effect.  Too little beer and too much steel will give too much reaction.  I envision this as being done at the table with a flourish by the server.  So, there may need to be a tray or stand to transport the iron from where it is being kept hot to the table.

Also, as we know, steel looses heat pretty quickly and to get the right effect the iron will have to be pretty hot when it leaves the heat source to still be glowing red when it reaches the table.  The subdued light in most places that serve beer will help.

To get more mass at the end your plumb bob shape would work but so would a figure 8 shape, like a branding iron.

This also put me in mind of an old fashioned soldering iron which was a pointed piece of copper on the end of a screwdriver like handle.

The brewry will also have to decide if they want a station with hot irons in it, like branding irons in a fire, or a torch to light and heat the iron one at a time.

Maybe you could get a gig as the local blacksmith who comes out with a hot piece of steel in his tongs and quenches it in the customer's beer.

The server should be careful not to rest the hot iron on the bottom or side of the glass or stein to avoid thermal stress and spectacular breakage.

This reminds me of heating Swedish glog with a hot poker.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[larnotlars]

Thanks! I appreciate the steering away from over thinking it!

While I cannot read the German on the link that she gave me, it looked kinda like a 1 inch plumb bob on a 1/4 inch shaft. Theirs was about 12-18 inch rod with a turned wooden handle. Now I am wondering about an ethanol wick lamp to heat it (like used for wax shaping to cast) that can be integrated in the holder.

That's my initial concept. I will talk to her more and see if that is what she wants. Of course with alcohol and whiny humans, I will want to talk to her about avoiding litigation. It will probably be best for them to have the staff do it. Also, I can imagine bad things with a cold glass stein and forge temp steel.

We'll see. Hopefully I'll have photos to add. Of course the irony is that I have Celiac, so no beer for me. I wonder how it would work with carbonated hard cider/mead/wine?

Cheers!

Lar

[Shainarue]

Sounds like you have a good idea of what to do without needing to read the text of the link - but just in case you're curious about what it says, both Microsoft Edge & Google Chrome browsers have the option of translating a website. I know there are other browsers out there to choose from, and maybe they also have translating capabilities, but I don't have experience with them.

In Edge & Chrome, just right-click anywhere on the page and choose "Translate to [your native language]. 

[BillyBones]

Those are called loggerheads. They would generally have a bulbous end that was heated. They were pretty common in colonial times for heating hot drinks. And yes they will caramelize the sugars giving a distinct flavor. I have seen them used to heat hot coco but not beer, who would want a warm beer anyway?  The ones i have seen used were not heated to red, just laid in a fire place and heated to maybe 500* F or so i would guess. 

I have a book that shows how to make them. A piece of 5/8" mild 6" or so long. Draw out all but ~2" of one end to ~3/8" for a handle. I can not for the life of me remember the name of the book, i will look and post it later when i go out to the shop. Or better yet i will take a photo of the page and post it if you would like. basically like you said a plumb bob on a stick but the end can be a sphere, square, diamond, any shape you want as long as it has enough mass to hold the heat. 

I did a quick search to try and find a pic of one, wiki has an very short article with a pic but it is hard to see it, but a search gave me pics of turtles, irons, soldering irons, and even some kind of adjustable wrench but not of the item we are talking about. 

[larnotlars]

Thanks for both ideas!

Lar

[anvil]

Think branding iron and make it a reasonable representation of the bar logo. They could even sell them to their clients. And as has been said, mild steel would work. So would brass if you want more color. 

[ThomasPowers]

I would use something like 316 stainless and make them "Commercial Dishwasher Safe".  They could be forged from bolts using the bolt head for mass if you had a source for larger stainless bolts...

As for warm beer; heated beer/ale was often drunk in cold climes before central heating was a "thing".   Mulled wine too!

[BillyBones]

When  was stationed in Germany i enjoyed many a glass of gluehwein, mulled wine. (pronounced glue vine, or at least that is how i was taught to say it). In the winter they would have vendors on the street corners selling it, kind of like a hot dog cart. Quite a treat on those cold evenings when out Christmas shopping and what not. 

I was stationed there when the wall came down. That was a good time to be there. I fell in love with Germany. A lovely country that is rich in history. 

[gewoon ik]

Wh is not a v-sound, it is softer. (I can't give a word in english, because i don't know any)

Gluewhein on the christmismarkets is really nice. Common to see in belgium on those markets as well. Most open a week after sinterklaas.

[Shainarue]

When I would write the pronunciation for "wh", I'd use "fv". Made sense to my language brain, lol