Freeze mash runnings?

[mcberry]

Recently making significant amounts of baby food and freezing it in ice cube trays got me thinking... I have no real interest in doing this as I think it would be a waste of time, but wondering about its viability.

Would it be possible to do a mash, then collect and then freeze the runnings? I imagine having a chest freezer full of blocks of frozen runnings that you could mix and match to make a brew. For instance do a whole mash of nothing but crystal 60, then a whole mash of carapils and then one of 2-row, etc. Freeze the runnings from each mash into bricks of a certain size. Then when you want to make a batch, go grab the necessary blocks for your recipe, melt them, boil them, and proceed as normal.

Initial problems I can imagine are a) complete waste of time b) waste of freezer space c) lose the freshness factor of grains d) water would evaporate out and mess with OG, etc.

 

[studmonk3y]

I think this would be more time consuming/trouble than its worth to construct an entire beer from frozen bits and pieces. And I can't imagine the final product would taste as good as a freshly made batch.
That being said I do freeze a few extra liters here and there and use them for starters later. Seems cheaper and easier than making a new starter from DME everytime. Also since its only for starters and I decant off the wort before pitching the yeast, I could care less what it tastes like.

 

[avidhomebrewer]

I made an Eisbock several years ago and froze 2x1 gallon portions of the wort. Over the course of a few weeks, I 'fed' the fermentation with the thawed wort. It does work, as long as you have sanitized containers in which to store the wort.

 

[BoundForBeer]

I have heard of freezing the wort for starters at a later date. So I don't see why it wouldn't work for beer. Do a small batch and see what you think and go from there.