Where can I get granite rocks?

[Airgead]

if you do use kitchen bench offcuts make sure its actual granite not oe of the lookalike things like ceaserstone. They are rock dust/chips held together with glue. Look fantastic on a benchtop. Release massive amounts of toxic smoke then fall apart when you heat them. I got caught when I tried to use a piece as a pizza stone.

Cheers
Dave

 

[HoppingMad]

Many breakwaters around the bays and shorelines also use granite. Seen a lot of it around Westernport Bay.

 

[HBHB]

This would be the one:



and another



Interesting stuff.
Martin

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Just a thought....do you need to use stones..what about blockes of steel..

 

[Greg.L]

According to wikipedia the specific heat capacity of steel is 0.466 j/g.K and granite is 0.790 j/g.K so granite can hold nearly twice as much heat as steel. Also steel can melt and burn.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Thats a fair difference

 

[Greg.L]

Actually, steel is 3 times denser than granite, so in terms of volume steel would hold more heat.
But steel will oxidise ie rust at high temperatures, and you don't want rusty beer. I suppose you could use stainless steel, maybe ss ball bearings. Somehow granite seems simpler.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I be thinking rocks would be cheaper.

Be interesting to see if the rocks provide any minerals to the brew

 

[Toper]

Melbourne Brewers hold a Steinbrew camping/brewing weekend each year,we use bluestone rocks very successfully.

 

[Greg.L]

Bluestone is basalt. Near Sydney there is basalt along the Bell's line Rd at Mt Tomah, Mt Banks and Mt Wilson, which are all extinct volcanos.

 

[punkin]

That's handy seeing as the OP lists his location as Northcote Victoria.

 

[Yob]

Was thinking the same as Toper, saved me sending an email finding out what was used.

Melbourne has plenty of bluestone :icon_cheers:

 

[Greg.L]

That's handy seeing as the OP lists his location as Northcote Victoria.

Don't worry, I'm sure there's plenty of igneous rocks near you.

Tamworth-250K-Geological-Sheet-SH5613-1st-edition.jpg

 

[punkin]

Plenty round here, that still won't help the Op in Victoria though.

Where can i get beach sand?

 

[Acasta]

I've been reading about bluestone (basalt), however it can contain water within the rock leading to problems when heating. Also, the higher iron content can cause it to rust slightly.

I'm thinking of going with gravestone off cuts or something at the moment. Will post back when I find something.

Thanks guys.

 

[Josh]

So I picked up some "Super Grey Pebbles" from Menai Sand & Soil yesterday. The guy in the office thought they'd be okay for the job. They seem super hard. Apparently they're volcanic rock that has been pushed up through a river or something? Anyway, I'm gonna give a couple of them a test run near the fire tomorrow to see how they perform.

I'll report back with my findings.

 

[OzPaleAle]

Hi Acasta, I has wondering through bunnings and noticed they have some 10KG bags of what they call granite rocks for ~$17.
They are smaller pieces, not knowing anything about using them for brewing I have no idea if they would suit.
Might be worth a look.

Few pics attached

 

[Acasta]

Thanks OzPaleAle!! Its a bit hard to tell from the pic, how big would you say they are? They look about half fist sized?

 

[OzPaleAle]

No worries, they seemed to be a mixed bag of sizes, roughly the size of 2 matchboxes, not sure what made in china means exactly, maybe they are those glued composite type rocks mentioned above.

 

[Josh]

The website on the bags has the following info
"We also offer Granite pieces in 10kg bags. These medium grained pieces of igneous rock come in two popular and striking colours; Black or White. These rock pieces (comprised of quartz, feldspar and other minerals) are 40mm in size."
http://tuscanpath.com.au/page/pebbles.html#a5