Just saw this article this morning. It’s about Benson Brewing of Omaha, which has begun riffing on the idea of using custom made clay amphora for fermentation and aging:
I have yet to obtain a wooden keg and we’re already off to the next great thing!
Cool!
There is a guy in Napa that makes concrete fermenters for the wine industry. similar idea but I like the carbon footprint of clay much better than concrete.
I also like that they can be manufactured from locally sourced materials using local labor and expertise.
Well, waaaay back in the day, a friend and I used to brew beer in a 12 gallon crock. That’s clay, just highly fired.
That’s awesome I love the look of the fermenters might have to find a local clay worker and see what it would cost to have made,
The Youngs brewery in London had large concrete fermenters lined with a white coating.
It used to be a thing in Britain. I was skimming through a pottery book at a friend’s house who happens to be a Brit and a potter. In it I found pictures of clay “carboys” used for home brewing. I am not having luck finding one on google images, but will take a picture of the book later as I am going there in a couple hours for a wassail.
This might seem like a dumb question, but it wasn’t clear to me whether the inside of these amphora were glazed or not. If glazed, I can’t see how they would be much different than a glass carboy. If not, i’d worry about the porosity.
But this is still something I’d love to fool around with.
I keep thinking that if a clay amphora is used, it should only be transported with a trireme
I"m sure they are unglazed. the porosity is exactly what they are after. micro-oxidation/aeration. Similar to fermeting in wood.
those are cool
With the high porosity wouldn’t there be a high chance of contamination?
I imagine the inside is completely glazed. Good quality glaze can be smooth as glass.
Theoretically, if you use the same yeast for every batch and keep strict sanitation procedures… not a problem. More importantly, like infusing a wooden keg with brett or other bugs, the porosity may be exactly what you are after. I am working with a 55 gallon wooden cask right now, infusing it with bugs so that the porosity of the wood hold the wildness I want it to impart. Fun stuff.
right, it would only get contaminated if you put contaminated beer in it. Then it would be more or less permanent.
I wonder if the clay they use is tested for heavy metals etc… I’m thinking Rome and lead.
to be fair, the romans were kind of asking for it what with lining the pipes AND drinking glasses with lead. IIRC they even occasionally added powdered white lead to wine as ‘seasoning’
