Freezing wort

[MashBag]

Has anyone tried it?

I was thinking of running a couple of mashes and freezing one for later?

Thoughts anyone?

 

[gSmith]

I inadvertently froze 25L of wort solid when the thermostat on my brew fridge broke. It took 2 days to defrost but was otherwise fine. Ended up as a very nice beer!

 

[Caramel Ox]

The question is do you even need to freeze it? A mash out at 75 will pasteurise it?

 

[MashBag]

The question is do you even need to freeze it? A mash out at 75 will pasteurise it?

Boiling it will be the end point, and I suppose I could cube it.

 

[Agentgonzo]

What would you be gaining by keeping it for an extended period of time, rather than just fermenting it?

If I'm going to have to keep 23L of wort somewhere, I may as well keep it in a fermenter and chuck some yeast in at the same time

 

[MashBag]

I repurpose my brewing space in September and October for winemaking. No room for mashing.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I would use a no-chill cube personally. It would save sapce in the freezer.

 

[MashBag]

Freezer space isn't an issue, chill cubes should work, just make me twitch

 

[crescent city Mike]

A friend of mine always freezes a small portion of his wort in zip-lock baggies as "wort-sickles" as a starter for the next batch. It seems to work for him.

 

[MashBag]

A friend of mine always freezes a small portion of his wort in zip-lock baggies as "wort-sickles" as a starter for the next batch. It seems to work for him.

Used to do that a lot but don't say it out loud, eh... It upsets people who are convinced it it does not work.

 

[Jiffy176]

Looking at trying this as I've just got a stir plate and flask.
Would 500ml be sufficient to make a starter mixed, then when defrosted mixed with water up to 1L?
Thanks.

 

[Caramel Ox]

Looking at trying this as I've just got a stir plate and flask.
Would 500ml be sufficient to make a starter mixed, then when defrosted mixed with water up to 1L?
Thanks.

Approximately…if you normally have some trub left when you transfer to fermenter then you can recover this for free by pouring the kettle into a jug and putting it in the fridge to settle. Can then pour off the clear wort into a bottle to freeze.

 

[Jiffy176]

Approximately…if you normally have some trub left when you transfer to fermenter then you can recover this for free by pouring the kettle into a jug and putting it in the fridge to settle. Can then pour off the clear wort into a bottle to freeze.

Nice!!

 

[MashBag]

Yup it really is that simple.

Tbh I tried that and just fill a 500 ml bottle day 2 ish when it's going well. Both work. Also just poured the contents of the bottom of the secondary into a bottle.

Never used a stir plate and starter though. Remove the top and drop it in frozen.

I know. I Know Twitter is going mad

 

[MrJay83]

My cube arrived today (could only find a 25l but was happy enough) and a 30l (advertised as 25l) was delivered. Will that much headspace have an affect of the wort? I brew for kegging and normally have 23l-ish into my fermenter.
I've seen some videos were people speak about hotside oxidation and I'm a bit confused by it. Isn't the wort getting oxygen into it before fermentation a good thing?

 

[MashBag]

I have some of those.
Here's the trick.
Screw the lid on almost tight.
Tip it backwards so the lid is uppermost.
Squeeze* the sides, until the wort trickles out.
Nip it up quick.

Tada. No air gap.

* there is a proper knack to this....
Between you knees works.
Up against a wall, knealing beside and pushing your knee in works too.
Finally a tennis ball between the tub and the wall helps with knee action.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[MrJay83]

I have some of those.
Here's the trick.
Screw the lid on almost tight.
Tip it backwards so the lid is uppermost.
Squeeze* the sides, until the wort trickles out.
Nip it up quick.

Tada. No air gap.

* there is a proper knack to this....
Between you knees works.
Up against a wall, knealing beside and pushing your knee in works too.
Finally a tennis ball between the tub and the wall helps with knee action.

Let us know how you get on.

Thanks. I'll do my best not to scald myself
Wall & tennis ball sounds good. Keeps one arm free.

 

[peebee]

I've seen some videos were people speak about hotside oxidation and I'm a bit confused by it. Isn't the wort getting oxygen into it before fermentation a good thing?

Don't worry. Children are a bit young to brew beer so that story about Hot-Side Aeration to scare the kids with fell a bit flat ("HSA" I think it gets called now, because you must use first letter of words only if you want to talk to children these days).

There are some grownup kids who do still believe it though.

 

[MashBag]

people speak about hotside oxidation and I'm a bit confused

I tried really hard for 4 or 5 brews and could not recreate HSA. Fact or fiction you decide. I could not recreate it in the beers I brew.

 

[MrJay83]

I tried really hard for 4 or 5 brews and could not recreate HSA. Fact or fiction you decide. I could not recreate it in the beers I brew.

I've done a bit more reading on it and it seems to be a thing in a temperature band below boiling and above pitching temp. It probably has next to no effect on the homebrew scale because I would imagine that I introduce far more aeration during the mash in that temp range (I stir 1, 2, even 3 times if I think it's needed) than what will be in a couple of centimeters of headspace in the cube.