Frozen beers

[Steiner]

Don't ask, but while I was cold conditioning my beers in a new refrigerator, the temperature setting was too low and all my beers froze. I have never had this happen before, so I really don't know what it could mean for my beer. If you could enlighten me that would be great. Thanks.

 

[Iordz]

First of all welcome to the forum!
You could let the beer thaw, but it probably won't be the same after the process. May I suggest reading up on some ice beers? This works really well with bock beer, it's called eisbock.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American-style_lager
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisbock
Just turn the temperature up, so your beer doesn't freeze again. You could also try install a thermostat controller, that way you'll have close control of the temperature.

 

[BierMuncher]

Ummmm. That small door over the big door....
'
That is a "f r e e z e r"...

It freezes food and beer.

Sorry...couldn't resist. Get your beers back up to serving temp and give em another few days. They will be slightly different in falvor, but unless they were frozen crystal solid for a long period, the beer should recover reasonably well.

 

[Steiner]

Haha, thanks guys. I guess I should be glad I didn't burst any bottles. A friend told me about frozen beers the other day and I had never heard of them. How ironic. It's a red ale, so not quite the malty bocky taste eisbock seems to go for. Maybe I'll freeze a few bottles intentionally the next time I brew a bock. I'm going to keep them going and hopefully it'll turn out. Thanks.

 

[DeathBrewer]

i froze some bottles a week ago. they didn't taste very good. of course, they were leaking and one exploded...i think if the caps would've stayed on they still would have been drinkable.

 

[Reverend JC]

I froze a whole untapped keg recently and when thawed it tasted fine. you should be good to go my man.

 

[Steiner]

thanks for the welcome gang. i like the forum so far. i got into brewing through a mr. beer kit a year ago and have been going since. still consider myself a rookie. this red ale was my first beer that i steeped grains instead of using all extract.

sounds good. they were frozen for only about a day and are back on track hopefully. i'll crack one open just to give it a little taste. now that i've encountered this problem, is there a more preferred temperature for cold conditioning i should keep in mind?

 

[Reverend JC]

Well, any temp right above freezing i would say.

 

[Steiner]

I condition my beers in a chest high fridge, but it's not enough for all the beers, so I usually fit as many as I can and once they are ready for drinking, I swap them out for ones that still need cold conditioning. Does it matter how long my bottles are out warm conditioning (before) vs cold conditioning? Temperature is around 75+/- 5 degrees.

 

[Reverend JC]

You should be fine as long as the temp dosent get to high. I have kegs that i just have no room for in my fridge one i fill them and top off with CO2 so they sit in my basment which vaires between 65 and 70 depending on the time of year.

 

[ScubaSteve]

One time I invested in a bunch of Spaten Optimator, Ayingers, and a few Barleywines...needless to say, I was stocked! I put these in a second freezer I had plugged into the second stage on my Ranco....but screwed up when setting the temps. Basically, the freezer kept running all night. We also had a case or 2 of soda in there. I went to grab a beer the next day, and the whole bottom of the freezer was 6" deep with a slush of glass and bursted aluminum cans. Took me an hour to clean that thing out, and I think I only salvaged like 4 beers. BTW, Dr. Pepper is a PITA to clean up!