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!
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.
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.
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.
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’