It's coming up to that time of the year again where I want to make a strong winter stout. I did one last year, 8.5% abv and then "freeze distilled" it (i.e. concentrated it by freezing and removing ice) and the maths showed it was in the 15% region. But the end result wasn't great as I felt than in removing the ice I was removing other stuff (the ice wasn't 100% clear) which might have been tasty.
Has anyone else produced a really nice beer by "freeze distillation"?
Concentration by freezing is something that's relatively undiscussed in this country, because there is the incorrect perception that it's somehow illegal.
Only tried it once to make a hop extract but the left over ice was very green and I felt something was left behind but as I was only interested in the vodka that I used to remove extract I was not too concerned.
I was wondering though about freeze distillation does that not give you some of the higher alcohols that lead to bad hang-overs? I thought that was the purpose of the normal distillation (say with a pot still)????
I tried it an Eisbock. Didn't end up with a great end product though.
QuoteOnly tried it once to make a hop extract but the left over ice was very green and I felt something was left behind but as I was only interested in the vodka that I used to remove extract I was not too concerned.
I was wondering though about freeze distillation does that not give you some of the higher alcohols that lead to bad hang-overs? I thought that was the purpose of the normal distillation (say with a pot still)????
similar question came up on BasicBrewingRadio episode around concentration of methanol in freeze distillation, they asked a scientist and after a long complex answer it was deemed as not really an issue.
I have made apple jack and ginger jack both blew my head off! only kept the first running (maybe 100ml from 500ml bottle) the flavour and alc was defiantly concentrated. The second runnings were more watery but still had flavour, but i preferred the undiluted kick from the initial liquid.
Never attempted this with a beer..yet...
With normal distillation it's common practice to discard the tops and tails, getting rid of the methanol.
There is no way to do this with freeze distillation.
Saying that with a 15% beer that shouldnt be much of a problem.
Sink the Bismark and the likes should contain a fair shot of methanol, if you were to knock back a few pints of it :o
Does the "Sink the bismark" actually contain Methanol? Methanol is poisonous and as little as 10ml can cause blindness and 100ml death. It breaks down in to formaldehyde (think yellow lab rats as this is used to preserve them).
QuoteWith normal distillation it's common practice to discard the tops and tails, getting rid of the methanol.
There is no way to do this with freeze distillation.
Saying that with a 15% beer that shouldnt be much of a problem.
Sink the Bismark and the likes should contain a fair shot of methanol, if you were to knock back a few pints of it :o
QuoteThe same as 30 pints of 5% beer might also be unhealthy.
Phew, lucky I always stop at 29, just to be safe.
Guys have been thinking more about this of late, was wondering how do you know the ABV of the beer post freeze distillation? Would a hydro still give an indication or is it refractometer or something else?
Would this put the starter beer for Sink the Bismark @ around 5%ABV with 4 freeze steps...5%-10%-20%-40%
Could a standard chest freezer work on a 20% ABV beer or is that going to be the limit for homebrewers?
Wiki says
"Most household freezers maintain temperatures from -10 to 0 °F (-23 to -18 °C),"
Might be a runner.. now to figure out the hopping levels..
QuoteGuys have been thinking more about this of late, was wondering how do you know the ABV of the beer post freeze distillation? Would a hydro still give an indication or is it refractometer or something else?
Could you work it out like this:
A 500ml bottle of 5% ABV would contain 25ml of pure alcohol. So water content is 475ml. If freezing removes half the water and none of the alcohol, the resultant product has 25ml alcohol and 237.5 ml water, so 9.5%.
Well it's ready!
15 litres down to 3! In 3 concentration steps. It's a very interesting beer slighty sweet and not as hoppy as i thought it would be. Very thick mouthfeel and hot as it goes down the throat but not so much on the tongue, very complex deep flavors. Am going to bring a bottle to the next Rebel meet in Cork.
Not really started around 7 so maybe around 35% could be less though not that harsh to my taste just hot on the throat and makes the ears glow a bit so maybe 20ish....
I triple jacked a stout and thought that the flavors were just oo much to be enjoyable.
Check THIS VIDEO (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DWM9VJgQw4&list=UU-KmJ4ZECHmNBDzSFTIbz-Q&index=31) out for a tour of the brewdog freezers.
Great video, so much for the ice cream factory they are just using a big freezer container.
Is it cool (pardon the pun) to do this in 5 litre water bottles once they're sterile?
QuoteAlso worth bearing in mind that you can legally go to 22% abv.
Good to know.
I think Im gona do it with the oatmeal choc stout I did on Fri. Its well low on OG as my water calculations were off so It'd be good to boost the ABV & a nice experiment.
Is there a way of calculation ABV once Im done freezing? BrewingTv dude froze his for 8 hours. Is that the usual time?
Did it taste much more concentrated than the non eised beer?
Im gona follow this:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/connect/2010/11/eis-is-nice/
Thats not a bad thing though. Two different beers for the price of one :)
Resurrecting this thread cod I'm thinking of trying freeze distillation myself. Is the process as simple as freezing it overnight pouring off the liquid. Defrosting and doing the same again the next night?
I assume a mix of fresh yeast and sugar to carbonate afterwards?
it works better if you keep an eye on it and once it starts freezing shake it up occasionally.
Then you end up with a slush puppy kind of mix where the alcohol and flavor can slowly filter out through the mushy ice and not get caught in pockets.
I did it earlier in the year with a gallon of cider and ended up with a liter of strong sweet concentrate that i guess is around the 20% mark.
it's fantastic with tonic water and ice! ;D
Thanks LE, I'll give that a go over the holidays with a stout I have here that ended up a bit watery for my liking.
@tube, I didn't think of that!!
i tried it with a stout too and hated it.
it was thick, sticky, bitter and as far as i remember i only reduced it to a third or so.
Oddly enough though it did regain a little carbonation on its own.
If you're going to do a stout, I'd recommend aiming for reducing it to a half to start with.
And by half you mean, freeze it once only?
making it 50% of the original volume.
If it only takes 1 run, then bonus! :)
Ah right I get you. Thanks for the help