Frozen Ferment

[stuchambers]

I just went to the garage to remove my chocolate stout from the fridge after cold condtioning for the weekend.
It appeard that there was some condensation frozen on the undeside of the gladwrap lid.
I then gave the side of the barrel a light tap to discover I have a 23L beer block.

Has this ruined the brew or will it be alright once it thaws out again??

Cheers Stu

 

[raven19]

It should still be fine to drink, you could drain some of the runnings whilst most of it is frozen to make an EIS-Stout. It would be a big AVB Beer though!

 

[zebba]

+1 to what raven said.

Also, when it defrosts, you may find a lot of the trub will lift up into the brew, so it may be best to defrost, and then let it settle a few days still for things to settle back down. I speak from experience.

 

[Yob]

I just went to the garage to remove my chocolate stout from the fridge after cold condtioning for the weekend.
It appeard that there was some condensation frozen on the undeside of the gladwrap lid.
I then gave the side of the barrel a light tap to discover I have a 23L beer block.

Has this ruined the brew or will it be alright once it thaws out again??

Cheers Stu

are you going bottle or Keg? is it completly frozen solid? From what I understand freezing can rupture yeast cell membrane and potentially kill quitea portion.. if you are kegging this would be less of an issue as you are not relying on the yeast to carb up... bottles may be an issue, depends on the level you froze it to. ie frozen "plug" on top or rock solid..

this is my understanding, if Ive missed something Im sure it will be pointed out.

Cheers
:icon_cheers:

 

[stuchambers]

Thanks guys
this brew was tasting pretty good on friday night before i turned on the fridge.
Have no idea why it froze the fridge was on the lest cold setting although it was the first time i have used it only bought is the other week.

edit: it was frozen solid and I will be bottling unless I win the lotto before it thaws.
off topic but what do u think would be a better investment gear to go all grain or keggin gear?

cheers Stu

 

[argon]

Thanks guys
this brew was tasting pretty good on friday night before i turned on the fridge.
Have no idea why it froze the fridge was on the lest cold setting although it was the first time i have used it only bought is the other week.

edit: it was frozen solid and I will be bottling unless I win the lotto before it thaws.
off topic but what do u think would be a better investment gear to go all grain or keggin gear?

cheers Stu

Firstly your brew will be fine. Just let it thaw. There'll still be enough for bottle carbing.

Secondly get yourself a BigW pot and a bag.. easy to go AG.

Thirdly.. get yourself a keg setup.. it's awesome. But i'd go AG before kegs... quality is the key

 

[outbreak]

I have accidently frozen three brews during cold conditioning, I have bottled one and kegged two. THey have been the clearest beers I have made by far! I am almost considering doing it all the time haha

 

[Lecterfan]

off topic but what do u think would be a better investment gear to go all grain or keggin gear?

Kegs are awesome and if I had the money I would definitely do that...but since swapping to AG using a couple of 19L pots to do full volume boil (beersmith scaling feature is great) I haven't looked back. Sure it is a bigger day, but the end result is worth it - not just the flavour, but the real investment (time, energy, emotion) that you have put it into such a good beer makes the whole thing taste even nicer haha.

Thats my humble opinion, go AG. Sure you still get bored bottling, but the beer is awesome.

 

[QldKev]

The beer will be ok, thaw and leave a couple of days to clear up.

Kegs or AG - I think do both...

Kegs will cost to get up and running. Use the dollars for that and enjoy the please of the ease of kegging now.

Also get a Big W 19L pot cheap and get started AG today.

Then build up your AG equipment later.

QldKev

 

[raven19]

off topic but what do u think would be a better investment gear to go all grain or keggin gear?

I would say better temperature control first!

But seriously, I would vote for AG (be that BIAB, esky, HERMS or RIMS) but you will want to keg sooner rather than later. Washing bottles is a pain in the a$s!

 

[Mattese]

Firstly, good luck on the beercicle, I'm sure it will all work out.

In respect to kegs or AG, it really depends on what you are after. I lived in a very friendly street, where all the neighbours were always coming around with beers. It was a natural progression to buy a second hand keg set up for when it was my turn to host. This is the major issue I have, kegs are not as easy as grabbing a few bottles from the fridge.

I have since moved into AG as well, and I am constantly looking to upgrade bits and pieces on the brewery.

To cut a rambling post short, the way I did it worked for me - Kegs then AG. Im sure others have done it differently and it works for them. Just remember the portability issue.

 

[ekul]

A few months ago i had a fermenter turn into a beer slushy, luckily i got to it before it completely froze. I bottle and it carbed up fine.

An easy way to tell if there's enough yeast is to put some wort into a bottle, add a teaspoon of sugar and put a ballon on top. If the ballon fills up then you have enough yeast alive to carbonate and you can bottle the rest. My ballon started filling up almost instantly, but its was coopers yeast.

good luck mate

 

[stuchambers]

I need some more advice guys.
The beer has thawed out for the past few days now i checked the gravity today and it had gone up since before it was frozen

To make thing clear here is whats happen.

OG 19/11= 1.050
26/11= 1.020
3/12 = 1.020 Put in fridge to cold condition
6/12 = take out in morning to raise temp for bottling that night found frozen leave out the thaw
9/12 = 1.025 it looked like it has started fermenting again in the days since thawing and today but i have no idea what has happened now


Please help! i did taste it today from the gravity sample I didnt think it was quite as good as before it was frozen

Cheers Stu

 

[benno1973]

1. Were these readings all taken at the same temperatures? Obviously the temp of the beer will affect the gravity reading.
2. Are you sure it's all thawed? If not quite all thawed, then possibly there's some water locked up in ice?
3. Maybe the beer has stratified - thawed water on top, with thicker beer below it, taht's coming out of the tap into your hydrometer sample? Mix it up gently perhaps?

 

[fcmcg]

A brewer at Westgate Brewers , always freezes his beers...then when they are thawed , he pops in some champagne yeast for a day or 3 and then when it has settled , he kegs....
He has the awards to prove this method works....
You'll be fine !
Cheers
Ferg

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

A brewer at Westgate Brewers , always freezes his beers...then when they are thawed , he pops in some champagne yeast for a day or 3 and then when it has settled , he kegs....
He has the awards to prove this method works....
You'll be fine !
Cheers
Ferg

I can confirm, it's some of the best beer I have tasted :super: