If the Lager Freezes?

So, still being new to Lagering, I put another one in the fridge and have my freezer at about 38 while the fridge maintains 55 (WL recommended temp) anyhow some real hot days came and to maintain the fridge temp the freezer dropped to 28 and froze the beer.

I have put it up to 40 and am maintaining that (keeping fridge at 60 good rest temp for the one fermenting?) to let it slowly melt, I'm figuring this shouldn't hurt the beer.. or am I wrong?

I've done that before. I'll be fine. Mine wasn't completely frozen though.

It sounds like you are not using a controller? You really need one if you don't.

Ranco: http://www.rancoetc.com/?gclid=CNas-se645MCFSEbagodF2SGWQ

As long as the beer was not completely frozen it should be OK. If it was like a block of ice it would have deformed the keg due to expansion of the water. Being that beer has alcohol in it the brew does not fully freeze until a much lower temperature is maintained for a certain period of time.

I have a controller but it only does the freezer or the fridge side, I have to tweak the controls to keep both sides at good temp..the hot weather had the fridge running hard which in turn sent the freezer colder (it's a side by side)

Xamers are you still in Omaha? I'm Flying there tomorrow

The controller in any freezer or fridge is not good enough for good control. The RANCO will hold within 1 degree F. It is electronic and the refrigerator control is set to full cold and the Ranco totally controls the refrigerator.

You should be using a freezer for the most space and it has the ability to go as low temperature as you want whereas a refrigerator is not quite as powerful compressor. A side by side will always be colder on the freezer side and if you put the Ranco sensor in that side you can go as cold as you like. The other side can not be controlled though and will be a given stable temperature.

Try to read about the Ranco controller on the ETC website.

Did you filter out the ice crystals? C'mon, you could have made an eisbier!

budbo said:

I'm figuring this shouldn't hurt the beer.. or am I wrong?

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Should be fine. Palmer writes that he did that with one of his and went on to win a competition with it.

Chairman Cheyco said:

Should be fine. Palmer writes that he did that with one of his and went on to win a competition with it.

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Here's the link. http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-6.html

What you've done is called "frost brewing", I think. I heard about it on the teevee, from one of those big brewing companies. If I understand the process correctly, it removes all of the flavor from your beer and makes you attractive to the opposite sex...

Bike N Brew said:

What you've done is called "frost brewing", I think. I heard about it on the teevee, from one of those big brewing companies. If I understand the process correctly, it removes all of the flavor from your beer and makes you attractive to the opposite sex...

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I really do hate those commercials, like AB or Miller aren't keeping the temps low on their lagers or something. If there is something BMC can do it's produce a consistent product and you can't do that if your temps aren't nailed down and since they're lagers, on the cold side. But it's not as if Coors ferments or boils(brews) at 10F or something like they insinuate on the commercial.

I mean they could, maybe coors lowers the pressure in the brew room to close to a vacuum so water will boil below it's normal freezing point. Er well sublimate I guess. lmfao.

I froze an ale a couple months ago... rock solid (in Better Bottles). I left the probe of the Johnson controller outside the chest freezer like an idiot. I added a little yeast at bottling time and it's delicious. One of my best ales ever. Yours will be fine.

we froze some apple cider to stop it from fermenting further back in the winter months. Turned out great.