Just spent some time out in our shed clearing out and burning some boxes left over from Christmas.
Found a case of very frozen beer (in cans) left over from the holidays.
The bottom is pushed out on them, but none of them have popped. They have probably frozen and unfrozen a couple of times. I’m sure they never got above about 40 degrees f though (if that).
Does freezing beer affect it’s taste?
There was a thread a bit ago about any light on beer and how it ‘skunked’ the taste. I’ve never noticed that.
What would freezing do?
I’ll try one, and know for myself I guess, and I’m sure I have had beers that have been frozen in the past, but I don’t think I noticed any real difference.
I’m far from a connoisseur, we are talking Coors lite. I’m asking because if and when I pop one of these, the ‘flavor’ might seem odd just because I know it was frozen, it could all be in my head.
I don’t have any chemistry knowledge to impart, but I’ve actually had the same exerience – it was even Coors light. I found that initially the beer tasted even waterier than usual, but the more I drank out of the can, the more beerier (pretend that’s a real word) it tasted. It was as if the freezing spearated some of the other ingrediants from the water and they sank to the bottom. It wasn’t a bad experience (aside from the fact that it was Coors Light).
Maybe shaking it gently and then letting is settle before opening would have made it more consistent.
Invite some friends over, serve them the beer in a glass. Give some friends “fresh” beer, and some the “old” beer. See if any complain (if all complain that you’re serving C-, it wouldn’t work).
BTW, when I used to tend bar, C- was a dollar a pint on college night. I used to tease my buddies when they ordered it, sayin “C-?” and they said “huh?” I said, you know… It’s barely passing (for beer).
I have made beer “ice-cubes” before to put into another beer to keep it from being watered down by water “ice-cubes”. I couldn’t tell a difference in taste from the frozen beer cubes.
The volume of the cans has increased a small amount with the bottoms pushed out, so the beer would be a bit flatter than you’d expect.
Our first winter in our house in St. Paul, we were storing our soda next to the french doors out onto the back deck. It was cold enough we figured it would help refrigerate it. One morning it was -25 outside; I got up, walked into the kitchen, and the cans (which had frozen & swelled) started to explode because of the vibrations from my footsteps.
I used to work as a stocker for one of the bigger liquor stores in Boston in high school. When I first started working there I was shocked to find out how many times (even in a single day or week) a particular case of beer was moved in or out of the walk in cooler for various reasons (usually space considerations, stocking tweaks). To a high schooler like me, first learning about beer, it was common knowledge that a beer would “skunk” if it was chilled and then warmed back to room temperature etc. The manager just looked at me and said, “Uh, no.”
Granted this doesn’t relate at all to freezing and then thawing a beer, but it’s quite likely that any given beer you buy from the store has probably already been chilled or warmed a couple times already.
Exactly my experience with some Labatt Blue recently. Some of the cans are still thawing in the refrigerator. Bought 'em in Michigan, left 'em in the trunk, and they were frozen by time I brought them back to their homeland. Oh, well – still have some Creemores available.
When I would drink half frozen beer I left too long in the freezer I noticed that what would pour out first was usually extra strong. I think that the alcohol was the first ingredient to become liquid as it warmed up leaving very watery beer ice behind. I could be wrong though!
Frozen or over heated beer was always refered to as skunk piss since I was a kid. I don’t know if it turned out different when frozen in steel cans, or not. Frozen cans in Wisconsin tend to freeze and thaw for months before you notice, so it may be an issue as to how long it happens, and how long after it sits in the can. We have some brewers on the board, maybe they’ll contribute.
