Old /winter ale hot poker question ?

[maresfield seagull]

Can anyone enlighten me ?
Many years back i remember a hot poker being put into a tankard of beer in a country pub my parents used to frequent
What purpose would this have served ?

 

[Trufflehound]

Short answer: the best way to ruin a decent pint.

Long answer: to make mulled ale, i.e. hot beer spiced with a combination of ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. It is allegedly the traditional and arguably still is the quickest way (if you don't count the time taken to heat the poker) to heat the beer, although a bit gimmicky these days.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Short answer: the best way to ruin a decent pint.

Long answer: to make mulled ale, i.e. hot beer spiced with a combination of ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. It is allegedly the traditional and arguably still is the quickest way (if you don't count the time taken to heat the poker) to heat the beer, although a bit gimmicky these days.

It can't be both traditional & gimmicky

 

[Trufflehound]

It can't be both traditional & gimmicky

what I meant was, a microwave will do the job more practically these days, but is perhaps less showy....