Frozen Cold Crash

[JonK331]

Hello All - so yes I know there are some old threads about this but I wanted to start a new one anyway. The old threads mostly discuss yeast viability for carbonating, I am kegging.

Cold crashed in primary with a Sanyo 4912 for three days and just went to keg. Uh oh, about an inch and a half of ice all the way around the carboy with slush in the middle (froze from the outside in). Does anyone know what this will do to the beer? There's obviously going to be a huge temperature swing to get it back warm enough to get it in the keg. Will this cause any off flavors? The beer is an IPA around 6.5% abv. What will it do to the hop character?

 

[NBABUCKS1]

Well you just made an Eisenbock if you didn't salvage that that frozen water

No idea how it will effect quality if you include that frozen water.

 

[ChadMcRad]

I had the same thing happen with a pumpkin ale last september. I left the ice in the carboy and kegged what I could. I know that it upped the alcohol but as far as any off flavors, I'm not sure. That was the first time I had ever drank pumpkin ale. Everyone that drank some said it was really good....and definitely would get you in trouble if you drank a few pints.

 

[JonK331]

Sounds like there won't be any adverse effects. Anyone else have experience with this?

 

[Tiber_Brew]

A few iterations of freezing and racking, and you have a cold-distilled malt liquor on your hands!

You'll be fine either way; you can rack from under the ice, or let it thaw and rack it. Since you're kegging, it won't matter much if you don't bother stirring the thawed solution, too.

 

[JonK331]

So I thawed the beer and kegged it. It tastes great, I don't think the freezing made any difference at all. If anything, it's a little clearer than it would be with just a normal non frozen cold crash.