Anyone here tried Freeze Distillation/Ice Beer?

[Revvy]

I've posted this info several times on here already...


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/freeze-distillation-104882/

The Basic Brewing folks even demoed it as a video here making a barleywine.

http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=february-20-2009-barleywine-ice-beer

Here is it in action....

From here;

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/mystery-pic-182776/?

 

[HairyDogBrewing]

I'd like to repeat that this works best if you let it freeze totally solid.
Not slushy, not just overnight on the porch.
Three days at zero degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[Justibone]

I did this with a bock. I collected half the run-off, which took a bit more than two hours. I put it into a 750ml bottle with a Grolsch-style flip cap, then left it at room temp for three weeks next to the bottled bock that was non-freeze concentrated.

The regular bock was about 7%, so I figure the eisbock is ~14%, give or take. It doesn't taste too hot or alcohol-y. I have tried freeze concentration with wine and that is definitely a problem... but with the eisbock it wasn't an issue.

The mouthfeel was almost viscous... definitely different than the native bock. The mouthfeel reminded me of the ice wines my wife and I tried on our honeymoon in Niagara-on-the-Lake, but it wasn't *quite* as good. Still, a lot better than the un-concentrated beer (not that there was anything wrong with the un-concentrated beer... it's just a normal bock).

The mouthfeel was the only thing that was better. The freeze concentration intensified the hop flavor, so it ended up being too bitter despite the extra sugar that was added before freeze concentration. Why did I add extra sugar? To see if it would carbonate... it did not. Opening it did let out a little CO2 hiss, but that was all. Maybe if I had left it longer it would have carbonated properly, but freezing killed off enough of the yeast that it might have taken months to bottle carb, who knows?

It tasted not very good... too bitter. I'm a bit bummed that I wasted 1.5 L (about 50 oz, or 4+ beer bottle's worth) on this experiment. I did learn a lot, but I think rule #1 is that the beer must be malty, and hops are not an eisbock's friend. Also, if you want it to carb in a bottle you need to add back in some live yeast (maybe a couple ounces of the unfrozen stuff) or wait probably about 7 times as long (21 weeks?).

That's how it worked out for me, YMMV.

 

[Chesterbelloc]

First, I don't know if "freeze distillation" is the right word for what I'm talking about - Ice Beer (like Canadian Ice Wine). I was curious if anyone here has tried to make Ice Beer? One of my friend's father said back in the day he tried it with a trippel and it came out quite good. I'm also curious to what techniques you use.

According to "Brewing Science & Practice" (2004) The process of icing over beer was an experiment tried by Labatts and a host of other brewers to make a beer concentrate syrup that could reconstituted at the point of sale. Typically the plan failed, but the word association game was played in advertising in the wake.

Locally we call it 'Jacking'... Usually done with cider. Hence the term 'Applejack'. It works well with barleywine too. Works best in an open bucket. Just break the ice and remove.

 

[imjrod]

Removing ice by way of freezing is actually called Sublimation, not Freeze Distillation. Technically, "Freeze Distillation" is not a real thing. Distillation is a reaction requiring a condenser. Distillation doesn't just mean to increase the alcohol content or to remove alcohol, but is an an actual chemical reaction involving and requiring condensation.

I didn't find what I was looking for here, but maybe I can help others clarify things. The freeze methods outlined here fall under "Sublimation."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimation_(phase_transition)

 

[passedpawn]

Removing ice by way of freezing is actually called Sublimation, not Freeze Distillation. Technically, "Freeze Distillation" is not a real thing. Distillation is a reaction requiring a condenser. Distillation doesn't just mean to increase the alcohol content or to remove alcohol, but is an an actual chemical reaction involving and requiring condensation.

I didn't find what I was looking for here, but maybe I can help others clarify things. The freeze methods outlined here fall under "Sublimation."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimation_(phase_transition)

I'm no chemist but I thought sublimation was what certain solids (iodine) do when they evaporate without going through a liquid phase. I believe freezerburn is a case of water sublimating.

Maybe freeze distillation isn't the best term, for reasons you state, but I think it's better than sublimation.

How about "freeze concentration"?

 

[douglasbarbin]

I'm no chemist but I thought sublimation was what certain solids (iodine) do when they evaporate without going through a liquid phase. I believe freezerburn is a case of water sublimating.

Maybe freeze distillation isn't the best term, for reasons you state, but I think it's better than sublimation.

How about "freeze concentration"?

You're right about sublimation. This is most definitely NOT sublimation.

 

[douglasbarbin]

Removing ice by way of freezing is actually called Sublimation, not Freeze Distillation. Technically, "Freeze Distillation" is not a real thing. Distillation is a reaction requiring a condenser. Distillation doesn't just mean to increase the alcohol content or to remove alcohol, but is an an actual chemical reaction involving and requiring condensation.

I didn't find what I was looking for here, but maybe I can help others clarify things. The freeze methods outlined here fall under "Sublimation."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimation_(phase_transition)

I think this is the link you were looking for: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional_freezing (Fractional Freezing)

 

[pdxal]

Kinda digging up an old thread, wasn't it?