Frozen Beer after Fermentation

Changaz · Dec 9, 2016

Hi guys I just realised that my beer is frozen when I was about to keg it. I turned the dial in the fridge to the max hoping it would cool the beer fast before kegging now all I am seeing is a bit or ice and beer. Questions: can I still keg the beer?

2. Is it going to affect the flavor?

Please help

Thanks 🍻🍻

flars · Dec 9, 2016

Let the beer thaw very slowly in the refrigerator. Give the beer a few days to a week. Flavor should not be affected. After thawing the beer may need some extra time for sediments that were picked up during freezing to drop out.

DaWhip · Dec 9, 2016

Shouldn't affect the flavor. I would let it warm until all the ice melted before racking to the keg personally, but it shouldn't matter much. Maybe some effect on clarity as flars mentioned.

I accidentally did this not too long ago too when I set my temp controller incorrectly on a cold crash. Ended up leaving about 1.5 gallons of ice in the carboy. Just lucky I caught it before the carboy burst. The whole brew was kind of experimental/seat of the pants, so a little ice distillation at the end was par for the course and it turned out fine, just a little more concentrated.

superbrew53 · Dec 9, 2016

Been there. Done that. Just thaw it in the fridge and keg it. No problem.

corkybstewart · Dec 9, 2016

Or, save the unfrozen liquid, you have just done an freeze distillation. The liquid is much higher in alcohol than the original and can be very good, but very strong.