How bad did I F up my beer?

[Brew Askew]

I wanted to cold crash my beer before bottling so I plugged in my upright freezer set to the warmest setting and threw my carboy in last night.

I got home opened my freezer and found my carboy contained a block of ice.

If I just let it thaw will it be ok? Any strange flavors? Anything to worry about?

[spiderwrangler]

You know they call it a freezer for a reason, right?

You might as well try to let it thaw and go from there... That is the basis for making Eisbock, after all (partial freeze).

[spiderwrangler]

If you're bottle conditioning, you may want to add back some yeasties.

[Bugeater]

Once it thaws and the alcohol and water recombine you may have the clearest beer you ever brewed.

Wayne

[Brew Askew]

It is very clear. With a little hop particulate still in suspension. I picked up some more yeast today and I will bottle it tomorrow. Thanks for the tip Spider, I wouldn't have thought to do that.

[scotchpine]

You could turn your carboy upside down and just collect half of it back as is slowly thaws. If it's a barleywine, you cuold end up with like a sherry or somethin!

[ApresSkiBrewer]

Be careful with that carboy... there is a chance it could be damaged in some way from the freezing (and subsequent expansion within the carboy) that could cause weak spots or cracks.

It depends on how 'frozen' it got... but if it was ice wall to wall in the carboy, I'd be really careful.

Good luck!