False ABVs?

I think pressure effects freezing point too. If so, maybe the lower abv. Is more carbonated, & thus under higher pressure. Or vise versa, I'm not sure which way effects what.

 

Also, possibly the thickness of the glass makes a difference. Glass is an insulator. More thickness equals more insulation, I would think. Can you accurately weigh the empty bottles?

 

Being a government-regulated industry, I strongly doubt New Belgium would intentionally falsify the ABV on their bottles--knowing that severe legal consequences would be likely.

C'mon--even the iconic cartoon baby isn't legal anymore...

 

Very doubtful the abv is false, but there will be some fudge room in accordance to the label and ttb requirements. But, the fudge room is in the .%age range so this is not the thread for that. That would also be illegal, and I really have no clue why a brewery would do that to themselves.
Don't know why one froze quicker than the other, and don't know why the higher abv one froze quicker. There's a host of questions we could ask like where was it in the freezer? Just because it's cold doesn't mean it's cold enough. If they were in there at the same time. One could have had a better spot. i.e. it was colder so it froze quicker. False abvs? Exceedingly doubtful cos a beer like what you mention would show the abv change in its body, color, and flavor so much that it'd be a different beer completely.
I only freeze my beer with the deliberate intent of making an eis version. So, my interest in temperatures involve the kind of ice the temperature makes. Could be any number of things that involve serious mathematics. But, the bigger question is why would you want to drink an IPA that cold? There's like half the reason to have an IPA missing when it's drank below 37ºf.

 

I would guess it is more of a difference in the composition of the two beers than the ABV. I mean, pure distilled water freezes at 32°F. But unless those two beers are exactly the same from a malt bill perspective, I don't think you're comparing apples to apples.

If you took two 10 oz glasses of the same beer, and added 2 oz of grain alcohol and added 2 oz of water to the other, you might see a difference in the freezing temps.

 

You just met the entire point of beer advocate. DONT FREEZE THAT BEER. (what was the question)

 

Fill 2 shot glasses (i.e. same brand glass so no variance)with each beer and let them come to room temperature. Place them in a container with a lid and set them in the freezer towards the front. Now you can check them every now and then to see what is going on. Some changes could be the OG/FG differential. A solution with more undissolved sugar will freeze slower than pure water.

 

Are you sure the 2 beers were the same temp. when you put them in the freezer? Were both only exposed to cold air or was one touching something already frozen?

 

Have you thought about just rotating 2 frosty mugs instead? That way you can always enjoy those fine IPA's at a crisp 33° without the pesky freezing.

 

This.
There's so many factors here, shape of the bottle, thickness of its glass. Surface contact with other frozen things in the freezer etc. The beer's specific final gravity (FG) would also have an effect as well.

 

This is a very hard physics test. Put the beers in the fridge earlier in the day. My brother in law used to make Bud Light slightly frozen beers...ugh. Now he's graduated, but he keeps making bad real estate deals and drinks Fat Tire.

 

Dude, just do what I do and take 'em out when the mountains turn blue...

In addition to items already mentioned (bottle thickness, cold air flow, etc.) would the level of carbonation/pressure in the bottle have an impact on the freezing point? Or is the difference likely to be so slight that it's not a factor?

 

the slightly different abv seems like what you're holding on to about this issue. 6.5-8.5 isn't THAT great a margin although noticeable if you have a couple of beers. Science would say try putting in several beers of different abv's and then see, like toss in a 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and then you'd have a better comparison to see if this is the problem or if maybe your freezer cool unevenly, like most freezers do especially if you're opening the freezer and letting air out/in.

 

I wonder if it's possible they really do mean OG and the residual sugar content has an effect on the freezing temps/speeds?

 

What if your trying to "jack it up"?

 

If it's really freshly squeezed, then it would take longer to freeze due to the freshness counteracting the freeziness.

I believe this is part of Newton's "freezy squeezy" principle, which states that one should never freeze his GD beer.

 

Good thought. The readings would be proportionally about the same whether OG or FG when considering the residual sugars, but the modifier for that figure in the formula is probably based on studies using the OG, thus you would be more correct than I was.

 

...which is the only way to tell if your beer is cold enough. Haha.

 

Maybe you left them in the freezer too long. You really shouldn't freeze beers. (Sarcasm font)

 

This really doesn't answer your question, but I have noticed that higher abv beers (8% and over) don't feel as cold on my tongue as lower above beers.