Lagering Idea....Anyone Else Tried It?

[Bacchus]

I've got a batch of Kolsch coming to fruition in about two more weeks and while out in my garage the other night I had a brainstorm. I've got this huge Igloo 94 quart ice chest sitting out there and I was thinking of setting the bottles in there, packing them in ice and letting them lager in there for a few weeks. I was just curious if anyone else had ever done this because being packed in ice the beer is going to hover right at the freezing mark. The kind of cold wherein ice crystals begin to form in the bottles.

Any experience with this?

 

[frazier]

Nope. But the alcohol in the beer will lower its freezing temperature. Packing in ice will probably not induce freezing in the bottles.

 

[iamopie2]

It makes sense. Don't worry about the ice freezing your beer though. Unless you salt the ice, it won't get the beer cold enough to form crystals

 

[Bacchus]

That's kind of what I was thinking. I know in the past I've packed it full of Bud, Miller and Coors, buried them in ice and they never froze. They did get little ice crystals in them, though. I just wasn't sure if those ice crystals would adversely affect the young, lagering beer.

Tell ya' what.....I'll go ahead and "guinea pig" the idea (LOL) and report back my results.