frozen cold crash...now worried about too much oxygen exposure.

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odie

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I just crashed a Kolsch and didn't know it had frozen. I pulled a pound of grain off my usual recipe cause my ABVs are getting higher as I've improved my process to eliminate any lost wort from kettle to keg. Anyway, since the ABV is expected to be around 4% on this one I think...much lower than my typical brew.

What happened was after crashing for a few days I kegged it. The tap first just barely dripped cloudly beer when I did the gravity check. I'm thinking there must be a lost of trub clogging the spigot. It eventually starts flowing ok. So I attached the hose and filled the keg. The beer stopped and I'm over a gallon short???? I'm like where is my beer go??? I don't see any leaks or anything where it had been fermenting for 2-3 weeks???

So I open up the fermenter bucket lid...There is an iceberg of beer hanging on the side of the bucket. Apparently the spigot froze as well. All I could do was cover up the keg and wait for the "beer-berg" to melt...which took several hours...and finish kegging.

I purged the keg several times but basically the beer had been exposed for several hours. I guess only time will tell as it's going to cellar at 40' for another month or so before drinking.
 
Howzit taste now? Any indications of oxidation?

Research suggests maybe adding some ascorbic acid to slow any further oxidation... I'd wait for further advice on that one, though.
 
I just crashed a Kolsch and didn't know it had frozen. I pulled a pound of grain off my usual recipe cause my ABVs are getting higher as I've improved my process to eliminate any lost wort from kettle to keg. Anyway, since the ABV is expected to be around 4% on this one I think...much lower than my typical brew.

What happened was after crashing for a few days I kegged it. The tap first just barely dripped cloudly beer when I did the gravity check. I'm thinking there must be a lost of trub clogging the spigot. It eventually starts flowing ok. So I attached the hose and filled the keg. The beer stopped and I'm over a gallon short???? I'm like where is my beer go??? I don't see any leaks or anything where it had been fermenting for 2-3 weeks???

So I open up the fermenter bucket lid...There is an iceberg of beer hanging on the side of the bucket. Apparently the spigot froze as well. All I could do was cover up the keg and wait for the "beer-berg" to melt...which took several hours...and finish kegging.

I purged the keg several times but basically the beer had been exposed for several hours. I guess only time will tell as it's going to cellar at 40' for another month or so before drinking.


I would have gone with it "as is" and called it an imperial kolsch and tossed the iceberg.
 
I would have gone with it "as is" and called it an imperial kolsch and tossed the iceberg.
I thought about it...too late now...

will see what it's like in a couple months or so when it gets tapped...
 
Tapped it early this week. ABV came in at 4.585. A very slight haze even though I had gelatin in the keg. Or could be the little bit of Vienna malt I used giving some slight color.

I really don't know what oxidation tastes like. Unless you do controlled tastings to learn what it and other affects taste like, how would you even know a beer was oxidized? An off flavor in any beer could be from anything.

The guys tried it and now one had anything bad or questionable to say...

But I'm not a kolsch expert. Only recently discovered the style.
 
Oh man, I kind of wish you'd have left the beer-burg out, that would have been a Kolsch version of and Eisbock. Would have been REALY interested to see how that tasted. Glad it turned out ok for you though, as @Dr_Jeff mentioned, oxidation typically tastes like wet carboard. In all honesty though, if you enjoy it, and you're not entering it in a competition, who care's if it's a tiny be oxidized :thumbsup:
 
Beer that literally has a cardboard character is waaaaay past the point that a decent taster could detect oxidative damage.

First, the aroma leaves. Could happen a week after kegging if the post-fermentation treatment was shoddy.
Then, the flavor attenuates - first the lighter fruity notes, then the herbal notes, then the dank stuff. Eventually, All Gone. Poof!
Next, the beer can start tasting sweeter than before and may have an almond note to it, but with nothing to balance that it becomes cloying.
Finally the "sherry" and then "cardboard" phases arrive - assuming the beer hasn't been dumped already...

Cheers!
 
I have frozen them almost solid before . I let it defrost at room temp and kegged without issue.
 
It's pretty tasty. Not getting any bad comments from the crew. But in all honesty, they probably don't want to get blacklisted from the backyard brewery and all the benefits of free beer.

My SNPA clone just froze too. I peaked inside before kegging it and I thought it was just some old floating krausen raft...well it was a huge ice cap but was already kegging by the time I realized what I was looking at.

Guess I need a better temp controller for my cold crash or just shut the power off after cold crashing and left it warm a little. It's just a mini fridge so not sure how it could possibly freeze anything.
 
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