Eisebock Technique.

[Dave70]

Not sure if this is a grey area at AHB, but here goes.
If anybody has produced a successful batch, I'd like to get an idea of a few points.

What was the gravity of the doppel - if you started with one - before freezing?
How many liters did you begin with?
How long did take and what was the temp?
Did you transfer to a secondary beforehand?
Did you bottle or keg? (if you bottled, did you have to re-yeast?)
Would you do it again, or could you engineer a barley wine to achieve similar results?

cheers

 

[Dave70]

Goodness...

Well, I might as well make it an even 100 response-less views.

I shall endeavor to take on this project in the near future and post the results that you slack jawed gawkers may benefit from my trailblazing.


Just as soon as I stop being outbid on 2nd hand chest freezers..

 

[jayse]

Since no one has replied I'll add something.

I think the original traditional (accidental) method was put it on a cargo train across europe in the middle of winter and by the time it got to its destination it was perfect. :icon_cheers:

Sorry not much help but I bumped your thread for you.

 

[matho]

i googled this

seems fairly straight forward, brew a bock, freeze it in a keg until you get a slushie and then transfer the non frozen liquid to another keg, I know of two members that have done it maybe they can step in with some hands on advice

cheers matho

 

[jyo]

Goodness...

Well, I might as well make it an even 100 response-less views.

Agree. It can be a bit frustrating when someone posts a genuine question and there are no responses, granted it is a beer that is not very commonly brewed. Post a thread trolling about inferior kits v's AG and there are six pages in a day.

 

[Dave70]

I think the original traditional (accidental) method was put it on a cargo train across europe in the middle of winter and by the time it got to its destination it was perfect. :icon_cheers:

Interesting how many of the best things are discovered by accident, like penicillin or Viagra.

I've allways wanted to experience the train journey from Anchorage to Fairbanks and see the Aurora Borealis in all its glory. If they'll let me strap the fermenter to the roof of the train, I reckon I'm onto a winner.

I'll call it 'Northern Lights Eisebock'.

I love it when things just click.

 

[raven19]

Waiting on my feedback sheets from SABSOSA on my first EISBock.

My method was rack my bock to secondary, set the fridge to -3 ish then every few days use a sanitised colander to remove the ice slurry on top. Mind you I hate opening the secondary vessel to do this, however it seemed to work well.

Keep notes on your ice removed volume so you can work out the EISBock's alc stength / gravity / ibu level.

Some fresh yeast will help in bottle carbonation yes - I think I overdid the yeast additions though in my version!

 

[Dave70]

i googled this

seems fairly straight forward, brew a bock, freeze it in a keg until you get a slushie and then transfer the non frozen liquid to another keg, I know of two members that have done it maybe they can step in with some hands on advice

cheers matho

Good stuff mate, that pretty much nails it.

 

[Dave70]

Waiting on my feedback sheets from SABSOSA on my first EISBock.

My method was rack my bock to secondary, set the fridge to -3 ish then every few days use a sanitised colander to remove the ice slurry on top. Mind you I hate opening the secondary vessel to do this, however it seemed to work well.

Keep notes on your ice removed volume so you can work out the EISBock's alc stength / gravity / ibu level.

Some fresh yeast will help in bottle carbonation yes - I think I overdid the yeast additions though in my version!

This is the trick I guess.
I was thinking along the lines of doing the freezing in a corny then drawing off the liquid under serving pressure - obviously timing at -0 in relation to the gravity of the liquid your trying to partially freeze would be critical.
There must be some formula that deals with all this.

Oh why did I take the 'graphic arts' module instead of chemistry in high school.

..that's right, I was a lazy prick..

 

[argon]

I've done it to a Baltic Porter. Came out great.

I got all excited when i got my fermentation freezer and decided that because i could freeze stuff i should try 'Eising' half of a double batch. It was good to compare the difference in the 2 halves. First half was pretty easy drinking with some chocolate and roasty characters... nothing too special. But after i 'eised' the second half it was much smoother and richer. This is copy paste out of my notes;

Initially chocolate and chewy.... after a few weeks plum, dark fruit, port?? starting to warm up a bit with a little alc.

Looking back at some notes i started with 17L of 1060 and ended up with about 12L of 1085. Copying and pasting again, this is what i did;

Tertiary conditioning frozen to -6C for 14 days then racked into keg off ice. 12L packaged.

I used a lager yeast WY2633 in primary for 21days, crash chilled in primary to 1C for 14 day, racked to a second vessel and then froze to -6C (don't know why i chose that temp) for 14days, then packaged.

From memory the batch just froze to a bit of a slush at first, but after racking to keg i was left with a few big blocks of ice.

Give it a go i loved it.

 

[Josh]

I read the thread yesterday and planned on replying to all your questions when I got home from work.

Unfortunately I wound up in hospital overnight. Everything is okay. I guess if I wasn't so slack-jawed I might have avoided the red light taxi.

I have done it twice so far and would do it again.

 

[Harry Volting]

Josh
So the question everyone wants to ask is ....'what did you do to yourself to end up in the red light taxi?'.
PS love your aggressive BN work.

Harry

Sorry back on topic.
Check out Jamil's Eisbock show at the BN for a primer.

Isn't distillation illegal?

 

[matho]

I read the thread yesterday and planned on replying to all your questions when I got home from work.

Unfortunately I wound up in hospital overnight. Everything is okay. I guess if I wasn't so slack-jawed I might have avoided the red light taxi.

I have done it twice so far and would do it again.

glad to hear everything is ok mate.

Isn't distillation illegal?

it's not distilling its condensing h34r:

cheers matho

 

[MaestroMatt]

it's not distilling its condensing h34r:

AMEN BROTHA!

 

[newguy]

My Eisbock thread. Sorry I didn't reply earlier - didn't see your post before.

 

[Josh]

Not sure if this is a grey area at AHB, but here goes.
If anybody has produced a successful batch, I'd like to get an idea of a few points.

What was the gravity of the doppel - if you started with one - before freezing?
How many liters did you begin with?
How long did take and what was the temp?
Did you transfer to a secondary beforehand?
Did you bottle or keg? (if you bottled, did you have to re-yeast?)
Would you do it again, or could you engineer a barley wine to achieve similar results?

cheers

The two Eisbocks I've made fermented out as follows: 1.075-1.019 & 1.072-1.028.

I didn't take a gravity reading of the final Eised versions. The first one I made I cut it from 25L to 18L with almost all ice in the leftover fermenter. The way I did it was just putting the finished fermenters into a really cold fridge. Turns out my fridge is cold enough to freeze enough water into ice crystals. Then you just rack it off the fermenter into a keg. I just kegged and force carbed. I wouldn't trust any yeast to be able to give you repeatable results in bottle conditioning.

The first one I made, I bottled half of the keg and took a few PET bottles to serve at NHC2010. It was really well received. Unfortunately my pr*ck of a neighbour helped himself to the other half of my keg which was lagering for 2 months while I was in the USA. So I never got to try most of it.

I would do it again and once I've used up my WLP007 fermentations, I'll be going back to WLP838 for more bock including Eisbock.

One tip I can think of. If you have trouble racking from the tap on your fermenter, just pour some boiling water on it. Sometimes the ice crystals can clog up your tap.

Good luck with it. It's a pretty enjoyable style if you get it right.