Read here, why this is not just an excuse. Shortstory. 12 August 2020.
Summertime is outdoor time – well, as you probably know I am quite addicted to the great outdoors and ultralight trekking. I love those tough remote trails and silent nights out in the wild, far away from civilization – all over the year.
Needless to say the less you carry in the wild the better. So why not trying one of these selfmade alcohol stoves made of a can of beer? They weight close to nothing (about 10 gr.) and seem to be made pretty quick and easy.
There are plenty of useful internet links and YouTube videos on how to make one of these stoves; and there are several types of stoves. I decided to go with the tutorial and howto of Alex (s. here in german, illustrated); it seemed to be straight forward and pretty simple and feasible even for me … (btw: Thank you @Alex for your wonderful tutorial, it helped me a lot! Kudos!)
See my first alcohol stove here, made of a Brewdog Punk IPA beer can.
[Click the image to enlarge to full resolution.]
After the initial burn test – which looked really promising – I decided to have a cowboy coffee (see here and here) out in the wild. Brewing a cowboy coffee using an alcohol stove slows you down due to
a) the longer boiling time compared to a gas stove
b) having to wait a few minutes after boiling the coffee while the ground settles down on the bottom of the pot. I love this slowing down, and therefore I usually do not add cold water to the coffee, which would speed up the settling down.
Instead I prefer to take my camera and make some calm images of the surrounding scenery while waiting for my coffee.
[Click the image to enlarge to full resolution.]
Silent boiling
Alcohol burns without noise so nothing is going to disturb the perfect silence around you. Listen to the sound of nature instead to the jets of a gas stove.
My first prototype
Despite the fact that my coffee was one of the best of my life, don’t you think, that Alex’ stove looks better? Mine seems to be a little ‘self-made’ and ‘prototype-like’ – just have a look at the dents … hmm. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to make another one, perhaps with better jets, maybe without the painting, and with a cleaner overall finish?
In order to have another can for my second stove I would need to drink a beer tonight, or perhaps two to have a spare one.
And by the way, the most perfect alcohol stoves are manufactured out of aluminium cans of Brewdog or Belhaven, probably.
If you think this article was inspiring please leave me a comment below. Or if there are any questions – please do not hesitate to ask. I appreciate your feedback a lot. Thank you!
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