dlester
Well-Known Member
Revision: When done reading this, go to post #107 for an update. A link is posted at the bottom of this post.
Iced Beer is not a new style, but it is to me. I've just dived into this idea of freezing out the water and concentrating the alcohol and beer. Why not take this and have some fun with it? Like, make a concentrated beer that tastes like a Barrel Aged Bourbon, right? Can I do this? The answer is yes, yes I can.
Iced Beer means that the beer has undergone some degree of fractional freezing somewhat similar to the German Eis bock. Fractional freezing is used in a process to separate substances with different melting points such as water and alcohol's melting points.
First and foremost, there's always someone that calls this illegal distillation. This method is concentration through fractional freezing. Distillation methods that are illegal requires fire, alcohol must be converted to a gas to separate it from the "beer," then converted back to a liquid to form a pure alcohol. The question has already been run by ATF (Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) and TTB, which said that freeze concentration is not distillation and that there are no laws against it. Their only concern is commercial breweries labeling and taxes.
My first attempt to ice a beer was on a Wee Heavy at 10% ABV aged on wood. In addition, it was too simple of a recipe to win any competitions, which by the way didn't win a darn thing. However, the simple recipe is perfect for an Ice Beer. You don't want a bunch of adjuncts or caramel malts to concentrate in the Ice Beer.
When I first made the beer, I let it sit on wood a couple weeks. I took a gallon of the Wee Heavy and froze it solid. I turned the frozen beer upside down and within about 60-90 minutes I had a quarter gallon of what I believe to be 40% ABV (The ABV is directly related to the volume of liquids. If you know the ABV prior to fractional freezing, it's only a matter of math. If you reduce the volume by 75% with 25% remaining, divide the original ABV by the remaining percentage of the original volume, or 10%ABV/25% of original volume).
My friends and I took our first sip of my Ice Beer and...Holy cow it tasted awesome! It was like sipping on a nice Bourbon, seriously. My friends and I immediately contemplated how we could make more. A lot more...
Here is my original recipe. It is full of character, dry and slightly roasty after icing the final beer. I would let it sit for 30 days, or Ice it right away and let it sit a minimum of 30 days. However, it's best at 6-12 months. Young beer at a high ABV doesn't taste good. It needs to sit a while before drinking it.
Ferment at 55F to keep the hot liquor flavors to a minimum. If you ferment too high of a temperature, you'll get "hot liquor" flavors (nail polish remover).
Good Luck, and feel free to post your results, or opinions etc.,
09-E Scottish and Irish Ale, Strong Scotch Ale (Wee Heavy)
Min OG: 1.070 Max OG: 1.130
Min IBU: 17 Max IBU: 35
Min Clr: 14 Max Clr: 25 Color in SRM, Lovibond
Recipe Specifics
----------------
Batch Size (Gal): 6.00 Wort Size (Gal): 6.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 17.60
Anticipated OG: 1.091 Plato: 21.78
Anticipated SRM: 18.7
Anticipated IBU: 25.7
Brewhouse Efficiency: 82 %
Wort Boil Time: 180 Minutes
Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------
Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 10.91 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.050 SG 12.40 Plato
Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
96.6 17.00 lbs. Pale Malt (Maris Otter) UK 1.038 4
3.4 0.60 lbs. Roasted Barley USA 1.033 300
Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.75 oz. Fuggle Whole 4.75 25.7 60 min.
Yeast
-----
WYeast 1728 Scotish Ale
Water Profile
-------------
Profile: Reverse Osmosis
pH: 5.2
Near the end of mashing, pour off about 1 gallon of the wort and boil it alone until it caramelizes to almost a syrup. This will give the Wee Heavy its characteristics.
Mash-out Rest Temp : 158 Time: 60
Sparge Temp : 170 Time: 30
update on my experiments: SELECT HERE
.
Iced Beer is not a new style, but it is to me. I've just dived into this idea of freezing out the water and concentrating the alcohol and beer. Why not take this and have some fun with it? Like, make a concentrated beer that tastes like a Barrel Aged Bourbon, right? Can I do this? The answer is yes, yes I can.
Iced Beer means that the beer has undergone some degree of fractional freezing somewhat similar to the German Eis bock. Fractional freezing is used in a process to separate substances with different melting points such as water and alcohol's melting points.
First and foremost, there's always someone that calls this illegal distillation. This method is concentration through fractional freezing. Distillation methods that are illegal requires fire, alcohol must be converted to a gas to separate it from the "beer," then converted back to a liquid to form a pure alcohol. The question has already been run by ATF (Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) and TTB, which said that freeze concentration is not distillation and that there are no laws against it. Their only concern is commercial breweries labeling and taxes.
My first attempt to ice a beer was on a Wee Heavy at 10% ABV aged on wood. In addition, it was too simple of a recipe to win any competitions, which by the way didn't win a darn thing. However, the simple recipe is perfect for an Ice Beer. You don't want a bunch of adjuncts or caramel malts to concentrate in the Ice Beer.
When I first made the beer, I let it sit on wood a couple weeks. I took a gallon of the Wee Heavy and froze it solid. I turned the frozen beer upside down and within about 60-90 minutes I had a quarter gallon of what I believe to be 40% ABV (The ABV is directly related to the volume of liquids. If you know the ABV prior to fractional freezing, it's only a matter of math. If you reduce the volume by 75% with 25% remaining, divide the original ABV by the remaining percentage of the original volume, or 10%ABV/25% of original volume).
My friends and I took our first sip of my Ice Beer and...Holy cow it tasted awesome! It was like sipping on a nice Bourbon, seriously. My friends and I immediately contemplated how we could make more. A lot more...
Here is my original recipe. It is full of character, dry and slightly roasty after icing the final beer. I would let it sit for 30 days, or Ice it right away and let it sit a minimum of 30 days. However, it's best at 6-12 months. Young beer at a high ABV doesn't taste good. It needs to sit a while before drinking it.
Ferment at 55F to keep the hot liquor flavors to a minimum. If you ferment too high of a temperature, you'll get "hot liquor" flavors (nail polish remover).
Good Luck, and feel free to post your results, or opinions etc.,
09-E Scottish and Irish Ale, Strong Scotch Ale (Wee Heavy)
Min OG: 1.070 Max OG: 1.130
Min IBU: 17 Max IBU: 35
Min Clr: 14 Max Clr: 25 Color in SRM, Lovibond
Recipe Specifics
----------------
Batch Size (Gal): 6.00 Wort Size (Gal): 6.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 17.60
Anticipated OG: 1.091 Plato: 21.78
Anticipated SRM: 18.7
Anticipated IBU: 25.7
Brewhouse Efficiency: 82 %
Wort Boil Time: 180 Minutes
Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------
Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 10.91 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.050 SG 12.40 Plato
Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
96.6 17.00 lbs. Pale Malt (Maris Otter) UK 1.038 4
3.4 0.60 lbs. Roasted Barley USA 1.033 300
Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.75 oz. Fuggle Whole 4.75 25.7 60 min.
Yeast
-----
WYeast 1728 Scotish Ale
Water Profile
-------------
Profile: Reverse Osmosis
pH: 5.2
Near the end of mashing, pour off about 1 gallon of the wort and boil it alone until it caramelizes to almost a syrup. This will give the Wee Heavy its characteristics.
Mash-out Rest Temp : 158 Time: 60
Sparge Temp : 170 Time: 30
update on my experiments: SELECT HERE
.