I just learned about an uncommon collaborative beer from Chainline Brewing and Urban Family Brewing. They release it today. This one is not your run-of-the-mill beer. Uncommon, but not unheard of: we reported on a similar beer brewed earlier this year by Lowercase Brewing.
“We just finished racking this super cool collaboration beer we did with Urban Family,” says Eric Wallace of Chainline Brewing. “Not a lot of Steinbeers being made – even fewer as a proper lager.”
Say what? Who makes Steinbeer (Steinbier)? It’s an old-world beer style brewed using very hot rocks. That is, instead of using a regular heat source like natural gas or electricity, you super-heat some stones and throw them in the mash, and later into the wort. That’s how you heat the mash and how you boil the wort. With hot rocks. It’s explained in a bit more detail in the release notes below and in the story about Lowercase Brewing linked above.
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New Beer release – Steinbeer
Sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards and it’s always better to go forward with your friends. Chainline Brewery and Urban Family Brewing take you back in time to experience a forgotten style of beer. Steinbeer is the coolest beer that you’ve never heard about. It was cool before Mathew McConaughey was cool. It was cool before lagers were cool. It was cool before collaborations were cool. This beer is so cool, we cold-fermented and cold-conditioned, but didn’t cold-filter. We took ancient volcanic stones, heated to like a million degrees and quenched in freshly lautered wort creating a steam infusion of molten caramelization (thank you Professor Maillard). Why? Because fire is fun, beer is fun, and the combination tastes great. ABV: 8%
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Steinbeer will be available at limited locations around greater Puget Sound as well as Chainline’s Kirkland taproom and Urban Family’s Magnolia taproom beginning Friday the 29th of March.
And for a bit of historical explanation of Steinbeer:
Steinbier was originally produced in wooden brewing vessels. Stones heated over fire were dropped into the mash tun to heat the mash; later, after the run-off, the same or a similar vessel would be used to boil the wort. The effect of adding hot rock to the mash, and even more effectively to the wort, would result in spontaneous boiling of the liquid that came in contact with the surface of the stone. Sugars from the wort would also instantly caramelize, whereas the stone itself released some of the smokiness of the fire in which it had been heated. Not surprisingly, this procedure was highly dangerous and could easily end up with the brewer burned by wort or the brewery consumed by fire. Source: Craft Beer & Brewing
