Lagering Mishap

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by tfidler, Feb 20, 2014.

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  1. tfidler

    tfidler Zealot (563) Sep 30, 2006 Illinois

    Finished primary fermentation on a marzen/OF, hitting FG on the nose, racked to keg, put in chest freezer, forgot to put my thermostat control unit on and proceeded to freeze the thing solid.

    Not being familiar with the chemistry of the lagering process (and not wanting an eisbock!) do I just warm it back up to proper temp and DWHAHB? Or perhaps add a charge of yeast?

    Will freezing kill off the yeast? Is residual yeast needed to clean up the beer at these temperatures or is lagering just about getting the yeast to completely drop out?

    Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
     
    #1 tfidler, Feb 20, 2014
  2. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Let it thaw and then continue lagering. You may have killed the remaining suspended yeast. Or not. Yeast don't do a lot at lagering temps. Assuming your beer was ready to be lagered in the first place, I think it will be okay.
     
    #2 VikeMan, Feb 20, 2014
  3. GreenKrusty101

    GreenKrusty101 Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2008 Nevada

    How long was it frozen? Would be more worried about the keg than the beer...nah :slight_smile:
     
    #3 GreenKrusty101, Feb 20, 2014
    inchrisin likes this.
  4. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah

    Let it thaw.. I don't think you'll have much of an issue.. Put the temp where it needs to be, and it'll slowly thaw. By the time you'd be done lagering it will be plenty thawed and ready to carb.
     
    #4 FATC1TY, Feb 20, 2014
  5. premierpro

    premierpro Savant (1,060) Mar 21, 2009 Michigan

    If I was smart enough I would post a pitcher of a keg I froze last year. The keg did not have enough head space and pushed up through the rubber seal. I thawed it out and it was execellent!
     
    #5 premierpro, Feb 20, 2014
  6. epk

    epk Pundit (849) Jun 10, 2008 New Jersey

    Froze a quad when the temp probe fell out of the freezer - tasted fine once it was back to normal. Do as the others said and just let it thaw.
     
    #6 epk, Feb 20, 2014
  7. bigk84

    bigk84 Initiate (0) Jun 2, 2011 Michigan

    It'll be fine, it'll clear slightly faster for you.
     
    #7 bigk84, Feb 20, 2014
  8. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Cold generally makes yeast drop faster. But frozen and thawed...I'm not sure of the exact cause, but someone in our homebrew club accidentally froze an IPA while cold crashing. After thawing, it was very cloudy and remained that way indefinitely. I'm taking fresh witbier cloudy. Tasted perfectly normal though.
     
    #8 VikeMan, Feb 20, 2014
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