Freeze Condensing an Eisbock (Pics and Vids)

[Oktober]

Hey Folks,

Whenever my brother and I happen to be in the same town, we invariably stive to brew a collaborative bee together - something with shelf life that will last a few years. For our most recent collaborative beer, we decided to brew an Eisbock. Not only did we have to brew a doppelbock base-beer, but it also meant we had to do the freeze conditioning too.



Given this was the first time I've tried freeze condensing a beer, I decided to take several pictures to photo-document how I implemented the process. Additionally, I took a few videos with sound in the hopes of capturing when the beer was "slushy" enough to call the freezing complete.

The full step-by-step of what we did can be found here:

http://www.lugwrenchbrewing.com/2012/06/freeze-condensing-eisbock-photos-and.html

Please let me know your thoughts or comments on the process as I enjoy the feedback (preferrably as a comment on the blog post, as it is easier to track than here). Thanks!

Slainte!

-Okt

[Oktober]

I forgot to mention that I am curious if other Eisbock brewers saw any color differences between the pre- and post-iced beers? As described in the guide, I saw very little after a 15% condensing.

-Okt

[TastyMcD]

I definitely see color differences when I ice distill but I usually concentrate about 50%. You may not see much at 15%.

Tasty

[spiderwrangler]

It makes sense in that what doesn't freeze is the stuff that's "not-water".. including those molecules and compounds that give the beer it's color. Some do get bound up in the ice matrix, but a lot get left behind. If I were hypothetically to have freeze concentrated hard cider to the point that it no longer froze, I would hypothetically have seen it get A LOT darker. You know, if I were to have done something like that.

[Oktober]

I definitely see color differences when I ice distill but I usually concentrate about 50%. You may not see much at 15%.

Tasty

I was going off Jamil's advice in BCS to target 20% volume reduction, which was the only real reference I had heard about. Does a 50% reduction make the resulting beer over-the-top and too intense?

Thanks for the input!

-Okt

[spiderwrangler]

Does a 50% reduction make the resulting beer over-the-top and too intense?

It would depend on the beer, but since Tasty said that he usually does 50%, I'm assuming the beer he is using does not end up over the top and too intense...

[anday6]

If you freeze a doppelbock it could get intense really quick because the base is pretty intense on it's own. But if you start with a traditional bock, vienna, etc. you can push up to 50% and it would end up with similar intensity.

[Oktober]

If you freeze a doppelbock it could get intense really quick because the base is pretty intense on it's own. But if you start with a traditional bock, vienna, etc. you can push up to 50% and it would end up with similar intensity.

Good point. Thanks!

-Okt