Frozen Carboy!

[jpmess]

Thought I'd share this, just to help put smile on someone's face! I'm a new brewer with only a few batches under my belt, 5 to be exact. I brewed an American wheat a few weeks ago and split the batch, half I racked on to raspberries and the other half I bottled. A few days ago I sampled from the fermenter as it was looking like it was finished with its secondary fermentation and decided to cold crash because it was pretty tasty! Well I came home to bottle it tonight and found this! I winced, then just smiled. It's one of those memories I'll be able to look back on and laugh about. Enjoy!

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The thermometer was reading 28 when I first picked it up! I didn't realize this Danby fridge could get so cold!

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[MaryB]

thaw, add a bit more yeast, keg it or bottle!

 

[seabrew8]

I frozen fermented beer a few times now in the bucket/carboy. I just treat it like any beer, i never added yeast.

 

[jpmess]

I lowered the thermostat last night and it's thawing as I type this. I'll drop by the LBHS today and grab some us-05 and pitch a few grams. It never dawned on me that I'd be able to save it!?!

 

[Northbank]

I lowered the thermostat last night and it's thawing as I type this. I'll drop by the LBHS today and grab some us-05 and pitch a few grams. It never dawned on me that I'd be able to save it!?!

You absolutely can .... what temperature were you shooting for BTW?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I lowered the thermostat last night and it's thawing as I type this. I'll drop by the LBHS today and grab some us-05 and pitch a few grams. It never dawned on me that I'd be able to save it!?!

The beer can certainly be saved.

The carboy might be an issue. If the beer froze throughout it "could" have stressed the glass by expansion. If the beer merely got slushy you should be fine. ABV plays some factor into this.

 

[blizz81]

In for the follow-up "what happened to the liquid in my blow-off vessel?" blow-off cold crash suck back thread.

 

[jpmess]

You absolutely can .... what temperature were you shooting for BTW?

I was shooting for 40 degrees to cold crash. I truly didn't think this fridge had the capability of getting into the 20's. It's danby dar440 I believe, which is a fridge only non freezer model. Good to know I can make beerscicles this summer.

 

[jpmess]

The beer can certainly be saved.

The carboy might be an issue. If the beer froze throughout it "could" have stressed the glass by expansion. If the beer merely got slushy you should be fine. ABV plays some factor into this.

That was one of my first thoughts. It was frozen solid, which makes me worry the carboy wont survive this without some wear and tear.

 

[jpmess]

In for the follow-up "what happened to the liquid in my blow-off vessel?" blow-off cold crash suck back thread.

Actually it was frozen solid also!

 

[Northbank]

I was shooting for 40 degrees to cold crash. I truly didn't think this fridge had the capability of getting into the 20's. It's danby dar440 I believe, which is a fridge only non freezer model. Good to know I can make beerscicles this summer.

I'm planning on crashing an IPA in a freezer in a week or so and I'm a little curious about how this is going to go ... I figure I'll just set the desired temp to 37 and keep and eye on it, the ambient temperature will be much cooler at that point so it'll keep cooling down from there ..... I don't have a heater, although I guess at those temps I can always pop the lid open for a bit and let some warm back in

 

[jpmess]

Are you using a temp control device for fermentation. If so, you can take the probe and let it sit in the ambient air in the freezer. Set it for your desired temp and set the differential 5 degrees off and let it do the work instead of your freezers thermostat. Wish I would have thought about this two days ago!