Bourbon style Ice Beer at 30-40% ABV

[petie]

From reading the article it seems as though it concentrates the hop flavor also. I'm wondering if it would be possible to make a BIG IPA without the heavy maltyness. I now have a quest.

 

[fearwig]

I'm pretty sure it should concentrate all those flavors in proportion. It sounds like you just want a high-attenuated DIPA, unless by big you mean 30%.

 

[dlester]

From reading the article it seems as though it concentrates the hop flavor also. I'm wondering if it would be possible to make a BIG IPA without the heavy maltyness. I now have a quest.

I noticed that most of the sugars and hop flavors did not get through the process. It was malty, very dry with a strong nuttiness from the roasted barley. I think it's better than a glass of scotch or bourbon.

Since this recipe was low hopped, you should try a big hop flavor to see what comes through. You might have a winner. Please return and update us. I'm very interested to see how it comes out.

Cheers,

 

[petie]

I'm definetly gonna try it.

 

[dlester]

I've made a second batch of bourbon style Eise Beer. It's freezing in a 5 gallon bucket, but struggling to freeze the middle part. I went in and broke up the ice around the outside edge to allow the liquids in the middle to move to the outside. I checked it again and it is almost fully frozen.

The problem I'm having is how to get such a large bucket upside down and to fractionally melt into a smaller container. Five gallons is a lot of beer, and very heavy. My first thought was opening a small part of the lid while upside down and letting it drain into a funnel. However, the beer is too heavy to rest on a funnel.

Any ideas other than poking holes into the bucket?


Cheers

 

[MobyMD]

A little too late now but I used a bottling bucket with the spout on the bottom. The ice will float and the liquid will be on the bottom. I know that does not help the predicament you are in now though. You could also just out the bucket on it's side with the top partially off and let it drain that way.


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[dlester]

A little too late now but I used a bottling bucket with the spout on the bottom. The ice will float and the liquid will be on the bottom. I know that does not help the predicament you are in now though. You could also just out the bucket on it's side with the top partially off and let it drain that way.


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This gives me an idea. I could dump the whole thing into my Blichman and draw off the liquid after a couple hours.

Thanks for the ideas,


Cheers,

 

[dlester]

I have made a second batch of this Bourbon Style Eise Beer and will send the beer to a lab to test the ABV within a couple days.

First, I tried freezing a 5 gallon bucket, which turned out to be a challenge. The middle didn't want to freeze and the beer tended to concentrate in the remaining liquid. I chopped up the ice on sides of the buck allowing a more uniform freeze, but it was still a challenge. Never got more than a stiff slushy beer. Some of it froze hard, but it's not what I wanted. I suggest freezing in gallon containers, which will make it freeze easier and quicker.

Second, I put 20 wood cubes in the beer for a week prior to freezing. I suggest cutting that back to 5 to 8 Cubes. I think 20 was a bit too much. Upon tasting I realized that the wood is a bit harsh tasting at first and will require several months to mellow out. This was true for my last beer also.

Third, I ended up with a little over a gallon after the first freeze. I was able to freeze the beer a second time concentrating the alcohol and flavors. I moved the beer to two containers and completed a second freeze. It took several days due to the anti-freezing agent of the alcohol. However, it finally froze a cap at the top and I separated it out.

Fourth, I had to filter the beer due to a high amount of particulate matter in the beer. The beer came out beautifully clear and dark ruby red.

My filter costs pennies and works great. I turn a Litre bottle upside down, cut off the bottom of the bottle. I take a normal paper towel and fold one side (longest edge) into a one inch strip, then keep folding in one inch increments until it reaches the other side of the towel. Next I move to one of the ends and start rolling the long one inch strip. I take the one inch wide rolled up paper towel and stuff it in the pouring spout of the litre bottle. You typically have to cut off a couple inches off the end and roll it back up to fit, but it should fit snugly in the spout. I turn the spout downwards and pour the beer into the container. It's slow and can take several hours, sometimes a whole day depending on several factors, but works great.

Overall, it tastes damn strong. I am guessing around 30% ABV. I am sending a sample to a Lab for testing and will post it for your review when I get the results.

Cheers,

 

[dlester]

I sent a sample of Eise Beer to the lab to test the ABV.



Cheers,

 

[pdxal]

Please update us with the results.

 

[MindenMan]

I am working on other flavors of freeze concentrated ciders. I discovered something I didn't know before, grape juice concentrate has 39% sugar, versus 27% in apple juice.
I found this out by hydro testing three different ciders I have working. The Apple/Grape, has a significantly higher static gravity than the others.

 

[whitesheperd]

I have some apple cider I have bulk aging, I will defiantly freeze some when I get home..


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[dlester]

I have some apple cider I have bulk aging, I will defiantly freeze some when I get home..
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You will get about 25% of the total volume of around 30% ABV. It tastes really great.

Cheers,

 

[pdxal]

You will get about 25% of the total volume of around 30% ABV. It tastes really great.

Cheers,

He will have to freeze the beer down to -20°C/-4°F to reach 30% alcohol content.

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-01/beersci-how-make-strong-beer-stronger

 

[dlester]

He will have to freeze the beer down to -20°C/-4°F to reach 30% alcohol content.

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-01/beersci-how-make-strong-beer-stronger

Thanks for the link. It's a very interesting article.


Cheers

 

[dlester]

+1

 

[dlester]

The lab came back as a little over 29% abv. But only after several freezes. After spending more time on this subject I couldn't believe my freezer could get low enough to make a big ABV beer based on the article from popsi noted in past posts. Come to find, it's a Commercial Freezer. I put it to the test and found I could get -25°C, which is adequate enough to get a 30% abv beer.

I have made several more Eise Beers and have a couple opinions. One is that you have to slowly freeze the beer by lowering the temp 1° per day (my estimate). That way the water crystals have time to form correctly, which pushes out the alcohol and beer away from the ice crystals making it easier to extract the beer more efficiently. Otherwise the beer and water combine and freeze. I know that you can freeze the whole thing, which I did, into a big ice cube. However, I am freezing 15 gallons at a time and I cannot physically turn it over to wait for for the block of ice to drain. I tried opening the spigot at the bottom of the conical fermentor, but found it was frozen. I have to unfreeze it prior to drawing the concentrated beer.

Second is the grain and fermentation. I can't get below 1.01 with regular beer malt due to the way it is made. The remaining malt is what makes your beer sweet and malty, but when concentrated it's like syrup, which I don't like.

My next attempt is to use a malt that will dry out to an FG of 1.00. I purchased distillers malt because of its properties allowing an FG of 1.00. However, that will only be part of my next grain bill. Since beer is concentrated to around 25% of the original volume, I'm decreasing my grain bill by 75%, then adding the distiller's malt for the remaining 75%. If you do the math, the final strong beer should have the same maltiness as a normal beer without the syrupy malts.

Any thoughts on my idea?

 

[CorporateHippie]

Just stumbled on this thread and I am very intrigued. I have only read the first five pages and cannot find my answer so I'm going to ask it and apologize if it has already been answered. If the applejack or concentrated beer cannot be carbonated how do you store it? Do you simply put it in a schnapps bottle and open it whenever you want a hit? Or does it oxidize and become stale once the bottle is initially open? Do you actually It or is it just a screwtop?

 

[dlester]

Just stumbled on this thread and I am very intrigued. I have only read the first five pages and cannot find my answer so I'm going to ask it and apologize if it has already been answered. If the applejack or concentrated beer cannot be carbonated how do you store it? Do you simply put it in a schnapps bottle and open it whenever you want a hit? Or does it oxidize and become stale once the bottle is initially open? Do you actually It or is it just a screwtop?

Good question, and yes, this was partially addressed, but don't mind going into this with you:

High ABV beers, "Apple Jack" or liqueur for that matter cannot be carbonated due to the nature of alcohol. C02 molecules refuse to bind to alcohol molecules. It's probably a positive & negative charge issue. I'm not sure thats true, I don't really care, but that's how it works.

Regarding storage: Your right that it will Oxidize like beer over time. However, the high amount of alcohol will help preserve it longer. My suggestion is to purchase wine saver at Bevmo or other wine/beer retailer. It's a simple can of gas with a long skinny straw. Every time you finish the last pour for the day/eve., do a small quick shot of gas into the bottle and it stays preserved longer than if not used. It's not perfect since you aerate the beer/wine/applejack every time you pour, but it helps.

Read my post #170, which is couple posts above this one for my latest update.

Good luck and feel free to post other questions.

 

[dlester]

UPDATE:

I used distiller's malt from Ireland. It's quite unique. I fermented it with a lot of yeast, maybe 3x normal and got the FG down to 1.004, which is pretty damn dry.

It is in the freezer now. I lowered the temp to 20 F° and scooped out ice 1/2 gallon, the lowered it to 12 F°. Yesterday I scooped out 1 gallon of ice, which contained little amounts of beer because the ice was in sheets. Some, however, froze on the sides, which contained beer within the ice. I wasn't going to wait for a few ounces of ice to drain, so I threw it out withe other ice. I lowered the temp to -7 F°. This morning it looked frozen more than usual, so I increased the temp to -2 F° so that it isn't a big block of ice when I get home from work. But, I expect there to be at least 1 1/2 to maybe 2 gallons of ice to pull out.

Will report again later,

 

[motobrewer]

i "eised" a ~9% doppelbock. I put it outside in -5F weather here in wisconsin. it froze solid. lol.

i slowly warmed it up and racked it off when it got loose.