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Frozen beer


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#1 Bier brauer

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 09:21 AM

[font="calibri;"]I brewed Ken Lenard’s Main Street wheat a few weeks ago. I was really enjoying this beer. The other day I cleaned the tap system. I pulled out the keg to find it was slushy. The beer was freezing. I noticed this because the keg formed a frost ring on the outside of the keg where the beer level is.  I never saw this before. Condensation, yes. Frost, no. I turned down the thermostat on the machine. When I came home from work yesterday evening I gave the keg a small shake to see if I can still hear slush. Nothing. I thought all was good. When I went to pour a beer all I got was foam.  I poured out about three glasses and still got nothing but foam. I let the last glass sit for a few minutes till it settled some. There was some beer in the glass that I was able to drink. Here is where the big problem is. It had a stronger alcohol taste. This was not present before the keg got slushy. I doubt it is any kind of an infection because the keg was never opened to expose the beer to the atmosphere. I’m wondering because the water in the beer froze, the alcohol dropped out of solution. Any thoughts on this is appreciated.[/font]

[font="calibri;"]Thanks[/font]

[font="calibri;"]Brad[/font]

 



#2 SchwanzBrewer

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 09:27 AM

Take the keg out and let it warm up to 50 or so for a couple days if you can. Then put it back in and serve.



#3 Bier brauer

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Posted 15 May 2014 - 12:44 PM

Take the keg out and let it warm up to 50 or so for a couple days if you can. Then put it back in and serve.

Thanks SchwanzBrewer. I have a batch of beer that will be in the fermenter 3 weeks on Tuesday. I can take it out of the temp. controlled freezer then place the keg in it's place. Or, my basement is 68 degrees, would that be ok or is that too warm?



#4 pods8

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Posted 16 May 2014 - 11:52 AM

Did you have a typo up there?  You turned down the thermo when it was already slushy?  If so no wonder it froze.

 

Leave your fermenter where it is, put the keg in your basement to thaw.  3 main things degrade beer (light, temp, oxygen), letting it temporarily warm to 68deg (if it even gets up to that) is such a tiny blip on the radar...



#5 Bier brauer

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Posted 16 May 2014 - 06:36 PM

Did you have a typo up there?  You turned down the thermo when it was already slushy?  If so no wonder it froze. Leave your fermenter where it is, put the keg in your basement to thaw.  3 main things degrade beer (light, temp, oxygen), letting it temporarily warm to 68deg (if it even gets up to that) is such a tiny blip on the radar...

Yep, my typo. I should have said I turned the thermostat up. The slush was gone, or at least I could not hear any when I removed the keg from the machine. I guess I may be developing a problem with the thermostat. This never happened in the 8 years I had the machine. It is a Beverage Air B23 or something like that. It is a single keg machine, but will hold 3 corny kegs. This beer tasted so good before this happened. I hope the stronger alcohol taste goes away.Thanks for the help.Brad

#6 Bier brauer

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Posted 19 May 2014 - 03:20 PM

I am thrilled to say that my frozen Ken Lenard's Main Street wheat is now better than ever. I let it sit at room temperature for 4 days. It was not frozen solid, but slushy. Placed it back in the machine last night then before work this morning got it on Co2. The strong alcohol taste is gone. Man I think I dodged a bullet on this one! Thanks for the help!Brad


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