Brewed my Pilsner last Sunday. No airlock activity (not that it really matters) thought I had some good Kräusen built up on my wort until I put the flashlight on it and found out it was frozen! I pulled it out of the chest freezer I have with an inkbird temp control and am letting it thaw out now. I’ve read what some people have done and most say just to let it thaw and re-pitch in 24 hours if necessary. I have some pretty decent yeast built up so I don’t think I’ll need to re-pitch, but I am curious about whether I should give it a mix because It doesn’t look well distributed. Anybody run into this issue before and have some insight?
Frozen wort... what to do next.
- Thread starter Jim Noto
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I've never frozen my wort, so I can't speak from experience. I would let it thaw out, check the gravity, then re-pitch. You may have plenty of yeast cells, but if they froze, they're probably dead.
I'm surprised your glass carboy didn't crack during the freezing process.
Be very careful handling it...
So, what caused it to freeze up?
Small detail: Once you pitched yeast, your wort becomes... beer!
Be very careful handling it...
So, what caused it to freeze up?
Small detail: Once you pitched yeast, your wort becomes... beer!
it wasn’t COMPLETELY frozen, if it was I was ready to panic.
My temp probe doesn’t reach the bottom of my chest freezer, there’s a step before it reaches the bottom and it sits around there. I assume the bottom just gets a lot colder. I bought it second hand from a guy a few weeks ago. When it thaws I’m gonna put it in my fridge with my other carboy that’s fermenting rather well right now.
I agree with the suggestion of being very careful handling it. And, I'd also recommend to get something other than glass. Read my story about glass here.
And, another suggestion: DO NOT use that handle to lift a full carboy.
(Edited to highlight the words DO NOT)
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LittleRiver
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Is your probe dangling in the air inside the freezer?
It should be in a thermowell inside the wort, or attached to the side of the fermenter under some insulation.
I’m glad you caught it before it was a disaster!
I have a thermowell but didn’t use it because I heard that the plastic bung always pushes out. I know I could just tape it, but the ferment seemed to be going relatively well with it just hanging at first. Oh well, definitely a learning experience.
That probe should have cut off the freezer way, way before it froze your fermenter. Especially when placed near the bottom.
You better check your temp controller, maybe the relay is stuck in "on" position?
The reason to attach the probe to your fermenter, with a piece of packing foam over it to prevent too much influence from the ferm chamber itself, is it tends to measure quite accurately the temp of your fermenting beer. It may also save your compressor.
In technical vernacular, that's called the hump!
It's the recess area for the compressor. There are no cooling coils in it, and it may even get warm, depending on how well it's insulated. Probably not the best place for the sensor probe, as is also higher up in a freezer and near the lid. Lids are notorious for crappy, abysmal insulation and temp leaks.
Cold air is heavier than warm air and sinks, or stays low, unless you recirculate the air inside with a (small) fan, as many do when used as a keezer, to reduce or prevent air stratification.
I’ll probably add a fan then. I currently have both carboys fermenting in a fridge with a temp controller. I re-pitched and it’s fermenting pretty good right now. Just a lot of excess yeast unfortunately :/ . Thanks everyone for all the help. I really appreciate it honestly! I’ll be sure to pass the knowledge on to others on my quest to become a home brew pro!In technical vernacular, that's called the hump!
It's the recess area for the compressor. There are no cooling coils in it, and it may even get warm, depending on how well it's insulated. Probably not the best place for the sensor probe, as is also higher up in a freezer and near the lid. Lids are notorious for crappy, abysmal insulation and temp leaks.
Cold air is heavier than warm air and sinks, or stays low, unless you recirculate the air inside with a (small) fan, as many do when used as a keezer, to reduce or prevent air stratification.
YVW!
A fan is optional, not always necessary or even beneficial in a ferm chamber. Proper placement of your probe IS essential, though! I mentioned this in #11.
