Freeze concentration and sanitation

[Buckskin76]

Hi
I'm currently brewing a very strong stout. I'm hoping for an ABV of about 15%. My plan is to then age it on oak and freeze concentrate.

All of the instructions that Ive found for this online simply say:
Fill up a container
Freeze
Turn upside down and leave over a container
Wait for half to melt

My concern is that this is said to take a few hours...I would never normally expose my beer to the open air for a few hours...what are the risks of infection?

Does the higher ABV counter the risk of infection or should I still be worried?

I'm not at all interested in the legalities of this, please refrain from legal commentary. thanks

 

[Calder]

They say it is legal - it is not distilling. If it were illegal, the thred would be shut-down.

15% abv, and you should not be concerned with any type of infection.

I've never done it, but thought about it at times. You are trying to freeze the water and release the alcohol. If I were to try it, I think I would occasionally stir it while freezing to get more of a slurry rather than ice chunks.

A 15% stout is quite a fear to begin with. Are you sure you can do that..

For oaking, I would add the oak after concentrating, not before.

 

[Buckskin76]

Never done such a big stout before, but giving it a go. OG was too big for my hydrometer which tops out at 1.110. Between beersmith and guestimating from how much the hydrometer was sticking right out, I think about 1.150.
Pitched 3 x normal amount of yeast which was re-hydrydated properly. Used Mangrove jacks workhorse yeast, which is suited to extremely high gravities. Might pitch some champagne yeast if FG too high.

Thanks for input re oak timing

 

[Paps]

Rub some bacon on it.