Introduction
When I was much younger and just passed the age to legally drink in Britain (I think it was something like 12 years old), I used to go to a pub called the Geldeston Locks ut in the wilds of rural Norfolk. This pub was about 2 miles up a dirt road and had no electricity or running water. It was reportedly built in 1560 (i.e. almost before America had been invented) and had not been improved since then. It was on a river and so mainly catered to rich fancy tourists that rented fancy motor boats on the Norfolk Broads and were looking for some quaint rural charming pub in which to quaff their fancy cocktails with cherries in them. This pub, however, served one of the best pints of Adnams Bitter in the country which was the big attraction for locals (like me). The pub is still there but now they have electricity (horrors), have expanded the buildings (absolute horrors), have a curry night (gagging) and now no longer serve Adnams (death). You can see their website at http://www.geldestonlocks.co.uk/.
So, what has this got to do with mulling beer (I hear you ask)? Well, because there was no electricity or any other form of heating, there was always a roaring wood fire in this pub in the winter. We used to sit by fire in the evening after the rich fancy tourists had gone back to somewhere safer and tell wild stories, play cards and drink our Adnams beer. By the fire was this massive funny shaped iron poker which I later learned was a mulling iron. The end of the poker was pushed into the fire until it was red-hot and it was then dipped into a glass of beer. The result was amazing. A very fine creamy huge head was produced on the beer – not unlike the head seen on a glass of Guinness. The beer itself had a lovely roasted sweet caramel flavor with a smoky wood finish – totally unlike any other beer I have tasted. There were also a few black bits of stuff floating around in there but we didn’t really notice any effect from them. I later discovered that this mulling technique was best suited to fairly weak beers like an English bitter or mild. Stronger beers became far too sweet by this process – almost to the point of cloying. I suppose the traditional meaning of the word mulling meant the addition of spices. We didn’t care about that – we had our mulling iron and we were mulling our beer! Anybody wanting to argue with that could go and take a jump – and there was a river nearby to do it in.
However, don’t let these caveats stop you from experimenting. The process is so easy that you can quickly test different beers yourself to see what effect this mulling process has.
Choosing a Mulling Iron
A quick search of the internet for a “mulling iron” will quickly disappoint you. An alternative name for this device is a “loggerhead” with similar internet search results. You may find the sole enterprising blacksmith in the world making these – but they’re out of stock (presumably because of the very high demand).
In the absence of an authentic mulling iron, the drinker has to improvise and probably the best option would be a iron poker of the type not very favored by Edward II, king of England (look him up). Any iron poker should work for the mulling although many modern pokers seem to have a big hook on them. The hook should not be a problem if it can be inserted easily into the beer glass to be used without touching its sides. If the hook is a physical problem, simply cut it off with a hacksaw (you may have to hide the poker from your wife afterwards). The end of the poker I used to mull the beer in the video is shown below.
Care must also be given to the metal used to make the poker as there is a risk of toxic metals leaching out into the beer during the mulling process. Use raw iron (wrought or cast) if possible and keep away from metals like brass that contain lead. Also try and keep the stem of the poker outside of the beer just in case it’s made of some other nasty metal.
Another option might be to use a rod or bar of a metal like stainless steel – but now we’re starting to talk about real money, here.
Mulling a Beer
The principle is very simple – get a piece of metal red hot and insert it slowly into a glass of beer. I include a video below of how to perform this act using a wood stove and an iron poker.
In the meantime, here are the key steps in the process:
- Get a load of some clean seasoned firewood.
- Build a wood fire using the wood. An indoor fireplace or wood stove would be ideal for this. An outside firepit will work, too. If you can burn wood, a gas burner could be used at a push but you would loose that smoky wood flavor.
- Let the wood burn down until it’s just a pile of glowing embers.
- Stick the end of the iron poker into these embers and wait about 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, pour the beer to be mulled into a glass you don’t like much (just in case). The glass should only be about 3/4 full as there’s going to be a lot of froth generated.
- Put the glass of beer into a shallow bowl or dish (just in case).
- Take the red hot poker out of the fire and slowly (and I mean slowly) lower it into the beer. Make sure the poker does not touch the sides or bottom of the glass.
- WARNING – RED HOT POKERS CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS! Wear gloves while doing this and stand well back!
- The beer will sizzle and froth to give a thick, creamy head
- When the beer looks ready, you can drink it and savor the new unique caramelly smoky woody flavor. Remember to take the poker out first and put it somewhere safe where it won’t burn your house down.