Frozen Pilsner while lagering - It tastes better!

So I brewed my first lager. Bottled as usual, let it carb up for 3 weeks and then stuck it in my in-law's spare fridge. Not knowing the fridge I set it to the coldest setting.

Checked it a few days later, everything looked good. So I left it and didn't check it for another 3 weeks. That's when I found half the batch was frozen solid.

So I let one bottle defrost. Then I taste tested a bottle that had frozen against another that hadn't frozen and let me tell you the one that had froze tasted a LOT better.

I have no idea how long it was frozen for. But I'd say a couple of weeks.

It will be interesting to see if the unfrozen beers end up tasting the same with another 3 weeks of lagering.

What's going on here? Is this a lagering short cut?

I would think it would lead to more exploded bottles than anything else. Maybe the freezing drops everything out of suspension super fast.

Maybe Miller Ice was right all along!


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Should have kept a closer eye on it. You were well on your way to a good Eisbock, where you let the water freeze out and remove it from the finished beer. Resulting in a higher alcohol, less water, more flavorful beer.

Except you need to start with a Bock or Doppelbock first to make an Eisbock, not a Pils

Cyclman said:

I would think it would lead to more exploded bottles than anything else. Maybe the freezing drops everything out of suspension super fast.

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no exploding bottles but I use PET bottles. I think it would be a different story with glass. I think the lids would have popped off. There's a bit of give in PET bottles.

butterpants said:

Except you need to start with a Bock or Doppelbock first to make an Eisbock, not a Pils

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True, but concept could have been the same. I guess I should have said Eispils then.

One of the best beers I ever made was a doppelbock that got too cold while lagering. It froze and by the intervention of Bacchus himself the carboy did not crack. Since this was "ruined" I reset the thermostat and forgot it for another few months. About the time I was going to lager my next beer I realized that "nasty batch" was still in there. I pulled it out, popped the airlock and expected to be greeted by da' funk. Nope.

Hrm.

Taste test ... surely it's nasty.

Nope.

Kegged it. Best. Bock. Ever.

Of course this was a triple decocted, WELL lagered beer but I guess that's all to say freezing is not going to hurt beer and it may help it. Till someone comes up with some "science" that tells me otherwise, I believe it's all just magic.

ETA: The name? Refrigerator of course!

LBussy said:

One of the best beers I ever made was a doppelbock that got too cold while lagering.

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Might have to freeze the rest!