So my Thermostat in my Kegerator just failed on me and stayed on for at least a day. The temp on was -27 C when I discovered it. I immediately unplugged the Kegerator and found the keg inside completely frozen solid. I ordered another thermostat inkbird STC-1000 to replace my current one. Is my beer ruined? Is it still ok? Never had frozen beer. I hope my keg is not ruined either. Anyone else ever had this happen before?
Frozen Keg!!!!
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jack13
Well-Known Member
I froze all 6 in my keezer recently. 5 were definitely fine. The 6th tastes a little off, but I'm not even sure if that's related to the freezing. Mine took about 2-3 days to thaw.
Dgallo
Instagram: bantam_brews
It’s happened to my brother in law. Had to take it off the gas and put it at room temp to thaw. No issue to the keg. Remember kegs are rated to withstand pressure so it should be fine. He had to reset the carb but I don’t know if that’s something you’ll experience
I've read of frozen kegs many times over the years here and for the most part allowing the beer to thaw resulted in quaffable beer with no significant issues. That said, I'm not sure any of those saw -27°C (yikes!) but were closer to "beer slushies" than icebergs 
Let it thaw and hope for the best. Not like there's another option here...
Cheers!
Let it thaw and hope for the best. Not like there's another option here...
Cheers!
It's my fault for going cheap on the thermostat. I was trying to save a few bucks and went with an off brand. I will never do that again. Anyone know of an alarm that I can put in my fridge if it goes past a certain temperature? Maybe something on Wi-Fi to hook up to my phone.
One time awhile back I had a really nice German Alt lagering away for about 6 weeks. I have an expensive digital temp controller on my fermentation freezer but I had a cheap Inkbird temp controller on the spare chest freezer that I use for lagering. The Inkbird controller failed overnight and later that afternoon when I saw the freezer was still running I opened the chest freezer. Both five gallon kegs were overflowing with frozen beer! The pressure relief valve opened and the now Italian Ice beer trickled down the sides of the kegs. They were frozen completely solid.
I used a temp gun and the temp was minus 10 degrees. I sat the kegs in my hot garage for over two days before the kegs defrosted. I tasted the beer when I kegged it and it was very good even flat and I had high hopes for this one. I even decocted it on brew day and was waiting patiently for it to lager properly and be ready to drink. After I thawed out the keg I sampled some of the beer and it was intensely syrupy and was not that good at all. I put the kegs back into the freezer and used my more expensive temp controller. I ended up buying another expensive controller for piece of mind to use on the chest freezer. I sampled the beer every few days for several weeks. I even let it go three months just to see if it made a difference but the syrupy taste would not go away. It was the only all grain beer I ever dumped. All due to my temp controller failing. Hopefully yours will be fine but I didn't get so lucky.
Good luck,
John
I used a temp gun and the temp was minus 10 degrees. I sat the kegs in my hot garage for over two days before the kegs defrosted. I tasted the beer when I kegged it and it was very good even flat and I had high hopes for this one. I even decocted it on brew day and was waiting patiently for it to lager properly and be ready to drink. After I thawed out the keg I sampled some of the beer and it was intensely syrupy and was not that good at all. I put the kegs back into the freezer and used my more expensive temp controller. I ended up buying another expensive controller for piece of mind to use on the chest freezer. I sampled the beer every few days for several weeks. I even let it go three months just to see if it made a difference but the syrupy taste would not go away. It was the only all grain beer I ever dumped. All due to my temp controller failing. Hopefully yours will be fine but I didn't get so lucky.
Good luck,
John
Hey great time to make an Ice bock. LOL. But seriously folks, I once left the temp probe outside of the keezer and froze a marzen solid right before our Oktoberfest, I thawed it out and it was okay, no issues noted. Good luck
If it hasn't been dumped yet, try inverting the keg a few times to mix it back up, let that settle for an evening, and see what happens.
I expect whatever was suspended in the beer would have settled hard on the bottom after all this time and deep cold...
Cheers!
I expect whatever was suspended in the beer would have settled hard on the bottom after all this time and deep cold...
Cheers!
I don't think anything will revive a hazy after being frozen. Too many sensitive hop chemicals to save it. You could lager it for a while and see what comes out the other side, but I don't think anything will help. May be a dumper.
