Although winter is typically the season to enjoy a mulled wine or an Irish coffee, most beer lovers don’t know they could enjoy a cold-proof version of their preferred drink. A New York brewery brings change by reviving the centuries-old tradition of Bierstacheln.
While a hot beer might sound like something you want to avoid at all costs, most of us tend to do all we can to make sure that our pint stays perfectly cold – when done right, it turns out to be the perfect way of making your favourite drink winter-proof.
To understand the practice of Bierstacheln or ‘beer brûlée’ as the technique is sometimes cold, we need to travel through time. Centuries ago in Bavaria, around the end of the Middle Ages, when the first lagers saw the light of day, people had a hard time keeping their beer drinkable, especially during the coldest months of the year when lagers became almost icy.
It is thought that sometime soon after the invention of lager, blacksmiths started to heat their beers with red-hot iron spikes, known as “Stacheln.” Once the beer reached a more enjoyable temperature, they took out the spike and enjoyed their drink.
Yet while the practice started out as a purely practical one, it didn’t take people too long to notice that Bierstacheln could add a little something something to their pint. This might not have been the case for the lighter lagers of the early days, but once the brews got darker and maltier, plunging a hot spike in the liquid turned out to be able to add flavour, texture, and overall joy to a pint.
New era, same technique
In Germany, Bierstacheln never completely went out of style, but the rest of the world long remained in the dark concerning the technique. However, that soon changed when Brooklyn-based brewery Grimm Artisanal Ales started showing their version of Bierstacheln, aka beer brûlée, on social media.
As stipulated by Grimm and other breweries that have since adopted the technique, beer brûlée works best on beers with a high level of residual malt sugar. Stouts, barleywines, and porters are perfect as the sugar within caramelises when put into contact with the hot metal rods (preferably heated up to around 530°C over hot coals or an open flame), resulting in a toffee-like flavour. While the beer should not become hot throughout, it will warm up a little and thereby provide some warmth on a cold winter’s day.
There are, however, some things to keep in mind when trying Bierstacheln for yourself. Firstly, the glass should never be more than half-full before putting in the metal spike, as the chemical reaction creates quite a bit of foam. Secondly, the beer will lose some of its carbonation. And thirdly, Bierstacheln should not be used on lighter beers as they will likely lose in flavour.
