Oops It Froze

[stocko]

i was cold conditioning a brew
and it got a bit cold and semi froze
should i junk it or will it b ok

stupid stupid stupid !!!

 

[Muggus]

Eisbier? :icon_drool2:

If you slowly thaw it out you may be able to salvage it. Pitching another yeast may also be another good idea.
Haven't had any experience in the 'accidental' freezing process, but I know it doesn't essentially kill off flavour, but the yeast might have issues.

 

[manticle]

Don't chuck it. Either make eisbier/esisbock or just let it warm up again.

Read this for comfort:

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-6.html

The fact that you were cold conditioning suggests fermentation is finished so relax. If you're super, super worried about carbonation, reseed the brew with a small amount of yeast (10-25g slurry if you use liquid, 2-3 grams if you use dry).

 

[stocko]

yep it had been on primary for 2 weeks racked to secondary to cold condition it for a week
it has ben in the fridge for 3 days
should i use the same yeast as i dont have any us05 left to addd to it
i will let it dfrost and wack it back in the fridge ( at a better temp) and get sum yeast


thanks
whats this eisback ??you talk of

 

[Muggus]

whats this eisback ??you talk of

Eisbock is a style of beer (essentially can be any style, but results will vary!) that is essentially concertrated by freezing the wort when it's finished fermenting.
What should happen is alot of the water in the beer tends to freeze, and the liquid left is a highly concertrated, syrupy, potent brew, which is seperated from the ice, and usually another yeast it pitched before bottling so it carbonates.
Generally this is done with lowly bittered, smooth strong beers, particularly German bock bier, thus the name.

 

[Bizier]

If you can find yourself a Aventinus Eisbock at your bottle shop, you could do worse for company over winter.

 

[manticle]

yep it had been on primary for 2 weeks racked to secondary to cold condition it for a week
it has ben in the fridge for 3 days
should i use the same yeast as i dont have any us05 left to addd to it
i will let it dfrost and wack it back in the fridge ( at a better temp) and get sum yeast


thanks
whats this eisback ??you talk of

Did you read the link I posted?

It's usually recommended that you use the same yeast but since it's mainly for carbonation and you're using small amounts I would hazard a guess you could get away with using a different one. If it's easy to get the same one though I'd just go with that to save worrying.

Commercial breweries supposedly substitute bottle conditioning yeasts all the time with no dramas.

In addition to Muggus' explanation here is an explanation of eisbock:

http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/Eisbock.html

 

[stocko]

yeah i read the link
thats why im wondering if i can get away with a dif yeast
i will just let it defrost then go get sum us05 to b safe
thanks for your help

hopefully it turns out ok

 

[PostModern]

It's usually recommended that you use the same yeast but since it's mainly for carbonation and you're using small amounts I would hazard a guess you could get away with using a different one. If it's easy to get the same one though I'd just go with that to save worrying.

Commercial breweries supposedly substitute bottle conditioning yeasts all the time with no dramas.

The reason for the same yeast in a homebrew setting is to make sure you get a yeast of the same attenuation. If you fermented out with, say a low attenuating English Ale yeast, then bottle primed with a high attenuator, you could double the carbonation. I assume the commercial guys choose a strain for it's known attenuation and prime accordingly.

yeah i read the link
thats why im wondering if i can get away with a dif yeast
i will just let it defrost then go get sum us05 to b safe
thanks for your help

hopefully it turns out ok

Same yeast as primary would be a safe bet, imho,

 

[manticle]

Makes sense. I've done a bit of reseeding with high gravity beers that have spent some time cold conditioning and have always (well twice) used the same strain.

One less variable

 

[captaincleanoff]

this may be a very stupid question, but why would he need to repitch if it is cold conditioning.

Isnt fermentation over?

 

[QldKev]

Not that the question has been asked if he is to bottle or keg; but they may already know that he is a bottler. If you were to bottle the beer you would repitch to allow carbonation. If kegging there would be no need.

QldKev

 

[stocko]

Yep im a bottler !! Ok i will get sum more yeast and pitch about 3 or 4 grams
Will i need to bring the wort back to ferm temp ( 16 degs ) or can i just wack it in at fridge temp leave it for a few days then bottle

how long should i leave it after pitchuing yeast to bottling day
'thanks for everyones help

u live and learn hey

 

[QldKev]

Myself from here I would leave it in the fridge until it comes back to ferm temps. I would rack it into a secondary fermentor, bulk prime and add the some rehydrated yeast at the same time.

As a side note, yeast itself can handle freezing, it is actually the water that it crystallises and can puncture the yeast cell wall that does the damage.


QldKev

 

[Snow]

I froze my beer in secondary once. It wasn't fully solid, but not far off it. I stuck it out in the sun for a few hours, then put it back in the fridge for a week or so. When I bottled it, it carbed up no worries and the beer tasted great.

Cheers - Snow

 

[QldKev]

Agreed that realistically you *should* have enough viable yeast cells left active in the brew, it may just take an extra week for carbonation. I would add the extra yeast upfront to ensure you have viable yeast. Nothing worse that bottling a batch to find out its not carbed after a week or two and then trying to add a yeast solution. I would even consider using a basic kit type yeast at this stage as the amount of character it will impart to the final beer will be minimal and they can be picked up from the LHBS for around $1.

QldKev

 

[stocko]

i do have a few bags of std yeat laying about
its a golden saaz pilsener that i used us 05 on and i have the std yeat that u got with the kit left
the brew shop is hard to get for me so using sum std yeast would b much easier and im keen to get it in the bottle after this disaster as my stocks are very low

 

[manticle]

this may be a very stupid question, but why would he need to repitch if it is cold conditioning.

Isnt fermentation over?

Yeast is involved in the carbonation process. It's like a smaller fermentation.