Just when you think you’ve seen it all comes... this thing.
It’s called the Caramelizer and it’s a new device intending to make your beer taste better whenever you’re sitting around a campfire.
Allow us to explain this extremely specific scenario in greater detail. In cooking science, caramelization is the process of browning sugar, morphing the structure of its molecules to release new flavors, oftentimes nutty, buttery, caramel notes. More or less.
The 1571F Beer Caramelizer is a food grade-safe, stainless steel rod with a wooden handle that can be replaced with any beer tap of your choosing. At its end is a steel knob calibrated to react with your beverages.
Next time you’re sitting around the campfire, you’re to take this rod and heat it up into the fire until it glows red. Next, you’ll plunge this red tip into your drink for a few seconds. The nature of your ale will change, supposedly resulting in a smoother, richer beer.
Whether or not this red-hot denaturing is removing volatile compounds in beer that aficionados may want to experience is definitely still up in the air.
But as long as you’re going to sit there making s’mores and spinning campfire yarns, we don’t see a lot of damage in playing around with the Caramelizer on your next camping trip to see if you like the results.
The device is currently available for $29.99 from its maker, a company called 1571°.