Cold Crash Extreme

[jbb3]

This past Tuesday, we were to leave for a few days of R&R in Florida. I thought, what a better time to cold crash my latest batch and when I get back, I can keg it! Monday afternoon, I put the fermenter in the frig and set the built in temp controller on about the same setting the worked well last time.

So we get back tonight and I went out to my shop to check on everything. The temperature probe read -.8 C. I thought, oh crap... Sure enough, the batch was frozen. Not completely solid but just this side of it.

I pulled the fermenter out of the frig so it can thaw overnight.

So what can I expect from this batch when it does thaw and I keg it??

Just damn...

 

[brick_haus]

You can expect normal results. No problems with a slight freeze. Cheers.

 

[jbb3]

You can expect normal results. No problems with a slight freeze. Cheers.

Thanks. I hope you're right. This was my first crack Da Yooper's House Ale and everything else has gone well up to this point. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

 

[AkTom]

I had a similar experience. Turned out fine. Lesson learned... When having 2 car boys in the fermentation chamber make sure the probe doesn't come out and read basement temps when you pull carboy #1 out.

 

[Gavin C]

No problem.

Had a keg of beer freeze before when I set my kegerator too low. Adjusted th knob, beer thawed no problem.

If there are effects I am either too stupid to know about them or too blissfully unaware to care enough to explore the science. I don't plan on freezing beer again, unless making an Eisbock. (No plans to make an Eisbock).

 

[FrozenOcean]

I've done it before too. No problems.

 

[jbb3]

Thanks All! I feel better now. I was pretty torqued last night with the thought of possibly harming the beer...

Went back out this morning and the beer was thawed and the fermenter is intact. So I put it back in the frig, with a controller adjustment, so I can bring it back down to temp to keg and carb it later today or tomorrow.

Looks like I have another STC controller build in my near future.

Thanks for your reassuring comments!