last night i transfered the last of my beers i brewed for a holiday party. kegged them and set them along with one other keg back in the chest freezer, hooked them to co2 for carbing and went to bed.
in morning i was wondering just how long at 40 degrees carbing will take, hoping to bottle this weekend. so i went down to double check temp and was going to post that question. instead…
temp probe (i’m assuming) got knocked out of freezer when i was transfering and chest freezer was in full effect! ice on the walls…panic ensued.
yeast in flask i was going to clean tonight…frozen solid.
3 kegs carbing up…slushy, but not solid.
SO, questions are now:
any chance to save that yeast, once it thaws?
and more importantly
are the slushy beers going to have serious off flavors once they return to normal temps?
thanks for your time. if i was not teaching today i definitely would be have a few homebrews!
Hi there - It’s highly likely you have lost the yeast if it froze solid. If you really wanted to be sure, you could always thaw it, wash the yeast, and make up a small starter batch of wort to pitch the yeast into it to see if you get any fermentation. Much like you would a starter. If fermentation takes off, you could let it go to completion and store the yeast as you would if it didn’t freeze. You’re only risk is that you end up wasting some time because the yeast is in fact dead. I would try it - you have nothing to lose but a little time.
Regarding your beer - I wouldn’t worry about. I’m willing to bet it’s still going to taste great and you won’t get any off flavors. There have been many brewers who have accidentally turned there fermenting wort into a slurry by accidentally freezing it during lagering and they still ended up with great tasting beer in the end! So, relax, don’t worry, and enjoy that holiday homebrew!
+1 to above. Also, Re: the yeast, it will probably be okay although you will have to make a new starter. many of the cells will have died but enough will remain to rebuild. I don’t think washing the yeast will be necessary but that’s up to you.
Yeast have survived millions of years including several ice ages. Some are dead, some are damaged, some just need a little TLC (the strongest survive). Give them some more starter wort, they will be fine in a day or two.