Stein Brewing: What Happens When You Mention Beer-making to a Geologist

The process is dangerous but was a lot of fun.
The process is dangerous but was a lot of fun.
Stein Brewing is an ancient method of brewing beer that brewers used when they did not have wide access to metal pots. Before metal pots, brewers used wooden or clay vats, but they could not put the clay or wood pots in the fire to boil the liquid (“wort” in brewing terms). Since the liquid could not be brought to the heat, the heat had to be brought to the liquid. In lieu of fire, brewers heated stones and added them to the liquid in the vessel to make it boil. It was labor intensive and dangerous, but beer was so important to the society at the time (and, as some would argue, still is) that it was worth the effort. The process adds a distinct character to the finished beer, a sort of smoky caramel flavor that only happens from rapid, high-temperature heating of the sugars in the wort. This ancient beer taste is missing from modern beer, … until you mention home-brewing with rocks to a geologist.

Not only will we capture that long-gone taste, but brewing beer by the Stein Method adds a fun story and good time to your brew adventures. For this beer, we chose a recipe that is half-way between an Irish Stout (like Murphy’s) and an American Stout. It took about 5 hours to make and made for a fun afternoon. The goal was to choose a recipe or type of beer that would benefit from the caramelization of the wort from the hot diorite.

The ingredients:
Barley, malt, and crystal comes from the Brewers Supply Group:
9 lbs of American 2 Row Barley,
1 lb of Roasted Barley,
1 lb of Flaked Barley,
4 oz of Chocolate Malt,
4 oz of Crystal 60,
4 oz of Simpson’s Double Roasted Crystal,

1.5 oz of Nugget Hops from Niko Brew (11.1% Alpha Acid – to make the beer bitter)
-added at the beginning of the 60 minutes of rock boiling.

1 packet of US-05 Ale Yeast.

About 1-2 cups of cold brewed Dean’s Beans NoCO2 Peruvian coffee will be added to a portion of the finished beer.

Equipment came from The Brew Bag and The Weak Knee Homebrew in Pottstown Pennsylvania.

Rocks came from my farm (Triassic Diorite).

The large metal tongs came from the Ingalls Iron Works in Verona, Pennsylvania (where my grandfather worked – I’m sure he was smiling in heaven all day for us).

To prepare the wort for rock boiling, we mashed in (ie added the ingredients to the water) at 154 degrees F, using Brew in A Bag, heating the strike water with propane so we could achieve an accurate temperature. We could have used the hot rocks here, but that would not have added anything to the taste because it was just water. After an hour of simmering, the wort was ready.

Meanwhile, we heated diorite (the rocks) over a fire for several hours, using anthracite coal (from PA of course!) to get the fire hotter than with wood alone. Man, it was hot! After some discussion, we decided to dip the hot rocks in a bucket of clean water before adding them to the wort in order to remove most of the ash. The first round of rocks brought the wort to a simmer and I honestly thought we were going to have to use the propane burner to achieve a full boil. But the second round of rocks did the trick, working so well it caused a boil over. We used the steaming basket that came with the pot to easily remove the rocks from the wort once the boil died down and kept rotating in hot rocks for 1 hour.

We ended up with 6 gallons of the boiled wort (1.047 specific gravity – which indicates the amount of sugar present) which is now fermenting as you read this. In about a month, we’ll taste it and determine the success of our first Stein beer adventure. Hopefully, it is tasty, but will definitely be something you can’t buy in a store, and a really good story to share as well.

Here is a video of putting a hot rock into the wort (click on the “Stein Brewing” below):
Stein Brewing

There is a lot of science in homebrewing, it is a lot like baking, you have to know what you are doing for it to turn out right.
There is a lot of science in homebrewing, it is a lot like baking, you have to know what you are doing for it to turn out right.
Getting the water at the perfect temperature before adding the ingredients, Nick Tier was the mastermind.
Getting the water at the perfect temperature before adding the ingredients.
It is important to choose a beer to brew that will be enhanced by this method of hot rock brewing.
It is important to choose a beer to brew that will be enhanced by this method of hot rock brewing.
We really liked The Brew Bag
We really liked The Brew Bag
Diorite here, get your piping hot diorite here!
Diorite here, get your piping hot diorite here!
This was a great feature to the kettle that we bought at the Weak Knee Homebrew in Pottstown PA.
This was a great feature to the kettle that we bought at the Weak Knee Homebrew in Pottstown PA.
Adding anthracite coal to the fire kept it very hot but manageable in size.
Adding anthracite coal to the fire kept it very hot but manageable in size.
We used two sets of hot rocks to maintain a boil for an hour.
We used two sets of hot rocks to maintain a boil for an hour.
We added the best coffee on the planet to a portion of the brew, Dean's Beans, it is so good I get it shipped to my home (Rey the Kitten for scale).
We added the best coffee on the planet to a portion of the brew, Dean’s Beans, it is so good I get it shipped to my home (Rey the Kitten for scale).

Volcanoes and Beer, More Related Than You Might Think!

Summer is geology field camp season, and young geologists are spending their days mapping and examining the various geologic features of our country. In the evenings, it’s time for cold beers and geology-talk around the camp fire. Geology and beer, like bees and honey or peanut butter and jelly, go hand in hand. A particular geologic study, volcanology, is most important to beer drinkers. Beer-loving non-geologists take note, and befriend a geologist, because volcanoes and beer are more related than you might think. American beer drinkers should care about one volcano in particular: the majestic Mt. Rainier.

Craft beer drinkers and enthusiasts are likely familiar with names like Willamette, Cascade, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood, Tahoma and Yakima Gold as they are types of hops used in a variety of craft beers as well as names of places in the Pacific Northwest. Indeed, the Pacific Northwest plays a significant role in world hop production. The USA accounts for 39% global hop production – a $249M industry, and according to the USA Hops 2013 Statistical report, 99.9% of US hop production and acreage is located in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Washington alone accounts for 76% of US hop production. The Pacific Northwest is second in the world in hop acreage (35,224), but first in the world in pounds produced, about 69M pounds, rivalling Germany.

But there is a potential hop shortage in the Pacific Northwest, due to the possibility for severe volcanic activity. We all know about Mt. St. Helens and its eruptive history, but most people do not realize the Pacific Northwest is loaded with active volcanoes and that Mt. Rainier is one of the most dangerous. It has very large summit glaciers which have the potential to produce profoundly destructive volcanic mudflows called lahars. Even a small eruption from this stratovolcano could melt the glacial ice to produce a lahar that could wipe out a large portion of US hop production. To make matters worse, the groundwater in the volcano is acidic which has weakened the entire western flank of the mountain, which could cause it to collapse. Moreover, as magma moves into the volcano, subsequent earthquakes may cause a massive landslide on the western flank.

Although there is no need to live in fear of imminent eruption, it might be a good idea to befriend a geologist, they should be able to give you a heads-up on Pacific Northwest volcanic activity and you can prepare for the subsequent great hop shortage.

On top of Mt. St. Helens with stratovolcano Rainier in the background.
On top of Mt. St. Helens with stratovolcano Rainier in the background.

Sources:

USA Hops 2013 Statistical Report. Hop Growers of America. Released January, 2014. http://msue.anr.msu.edu/uploads/234/71500/2013_Stat_Pack.pdf

Geyer, Allison. Increased Demand has area farmers growing hops. Lacrosse Tribune. July 30, 2013.

Tier, Nick. Homebrew and history expert, 2016.

Taking Pictures Using a Camera Onboard the ISS

During my recent trip to the Kennedy Space Center I met a NASA official that suggested I apply to a program that allows students to use a camera onboard the International Space Station to take photographs of Earth. Upon my return I applied and our school was selected as a participant in the EarthKam program. For two days students scanned future space station orbits and programmed the camera to take pictures of some of the various geologic and oceanographic features that we have studied in my earth science and advanced geology classes. It was pretty exciting because the students sent the codes to the International Space Station to take the photograph at the exact moment the space station was over the landform they picked out. It was truly their picture, they could take ownership of it and many students said they plan on framing their space photographs. Here are some of the best ones they took!

Sand dunes along the Angolan Coast
Sand dunes along the Angolan Coast
Land use in Brazil
Land use in Brazil
Florida Keys
Florida Keys
Greek Islands, you can see a vapor trail from a plane!
Greek Islands, you can see a vapor trail from a plane!
Icebergs floating in Hudson Bay Canada
Icebergs floating in Hudson Bay Canada
Awesome photograph of icebergs near Kazakhstan Asia
Awesome photograph of icebergs near Kazakhstan Asia
Interesting drainage patters along the Iran Iraq border.
Interesting drainage patters along the Iran Iraq border.
Irrigation Circles in Saudi Arabia
Irrigation Circles in Saudi Arabia
A fantastic photograph of the Namib Desert Coast, the clouds have the same shape as the sand dunes.
A fantastic photograph of the Namib Desert Coast, the clouds have the same shape as the sand dunes.
A stratovolcano in New Zealand
A stratovolcano in New Zealand
Islands along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea Coastline.
Islands along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea Coastline.
Folded Mountains around State College PA
Folded Mountains around State College PA
Caribbean Island
Caribbean Island
Bahamas
Bahamas