Frozen beer

[Slasher]

I left some bottles of beer in the freezer portion of my mini fridge for well over 24 hours now, and after pulling them out they appear to be completely frozen

Now I've heard before that leaving beer in the freezer can cause them to explode, and I'm just a little concerned that doing the wrong thing with these bottles might cause them to blow the fuck up.

Should I leave them out at room temp and wait for them to thaw? Should I leave them in the fridge portion and leave them to thaw? Place them in the sink and run them under warm water?

For now they're just sitting in the fridge part slowly coming back to regular 'cold' temp, but I was wondering if maybe I should handle it differently

 

[PSPHax0r9]

Shit...I don't know if I can give you actual advice but we usually just throw out any beers that get frozen. They expand in the can like no other. I don't know what kind of pressure that builds up, and no one has been willing to fuck with it.

So uh, I would say just let them go and throw 'em out. Unless someone can give you better advice. Let me know how it goes.

 

[FrozenIpaq]

You sir, have a problem! You could continue to what you are doing now or do what you suggested, put them in a sink under warm water. After they're thawed out you can drink them / re-fridge them if you want but it will most likely taste even worse than before. My suggestion: thaw them out, then pour them out.

 

[Robby]

Drinking beer after it has been frozen doesn't taste good at all, it taste like it has been watered down.

 

[RoBz]

Make some kind of ice pop

 

[MenaceInc]

1. Throw frozen beer out
2. Get some nice rum
3. ????
4. PROFIT



I like to give all my advice via crappy overused internet memes.

 

[NeilR]

Drinking beer after it has been frozen doesn't taste good at all, it taste like it has been watered down.

^^^ That is quite true. Not sure how many you're dealing with but you won't enjoy them.

As for how to thaw them out I don't think it really matters as they are bottled; I'd leave them in the fridge.

 

[Slasher]

Thanks for the advice so far guys

Thankfully it was only two beers so not a huge deal. I'll give them a go later and see how they taste, but if it really does taste like shit I'll just dump them out. No biggie

Just woke up now and there's no disaster in my fridge yet, so far so good. They are now reduced from a frozen block to a slushy mixture. I think I'll just leave them in the fridge to slowly, carefully, defrost back to a liquid state. I was going to drop them in the sink and defrost them the fast way, but then I got to thinking that maybe the speedy process would cause too rapid of a state change or who knows and cause an explosion with shrapnel and everything


Does anybody know why beer (bottle and cans) does what it does in the freezer? Any idea why the saying is that they explode?

Also why would the beer taste any different after it's done thawing?

 

[Deathrow]

Putting them in the fridge shouldn't be a problem. Remember, the temperature in the fridge in higher (fahrenheit) than the freezer. Temperature on the bottle won't increase, instead it will "thaw" in fridge temperature.

If you want to test this yourself, take a water bottle full of water and fill it relatively full. Put it in the freezer for 3+ hours or so and it should be frozen. Sometimes the water bottle shape will mutate from too much water in it. Put it in the the fridge and see what results you get
You should just get the same amount of water because mass can't be created nor destroyed with what you started with

 

[Riorio99]

The exploding thing is due to the protracting of the metal cans in the cold. When they defrost, the mixture expands at a quicker rate than the can. (I think, my science may not be all that solid.)

The taste is probably something to do with the carbon bubbles, it would be the same as if you had just left it open all night. (same science disclaimer applies)

 

[Slasher]

The exploding thing is due to the protracting of the metal cans in the cold. When they defrost, the mixture expands at a quicker rate than the can. (I think, my science may not be all that solid.)

What about a bottle exploding then? Would the same thing apply for a bottle as does a can?

Like for example what if something like this happened

 

[Andy]

What about a bottle exploding then?

Like for example what if something like this happened

[qimg]http://www.uniquedaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/freezer-beer.jpg[/qimg]

[qimg]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3454/3295921994_817ddb3c8e.jpg[/qimg]

When water freezes it expands, that's why the glass cracks. I'm pretty sure they wont 'explode', if the cans haven't popped open already then that likely wont change.

 

[Robby]

I had a 40oz. frozen over night by accident, in the morning I put it in the fridge for a couple of days and it didn't explode. But when I finally drank it, I ended up dumping it.

 

[Bill]

When water freezes it expands, that's why the glass cracks. I'm pretty sure they wont 'explode', if the cans haven't popped open already then that likely wont change.

Yup, ice takes up more space per part than the liquid form of what ever is frozen. However, I have seen a can "explode".


It doesn't become a bomb like some people would lead you to believe, just sprays all over the damn freezer, leaving quite a mess. It makes a decently loud pop as well.

Never seen this with a glass bottle though. I'd suggest wearing protective eye wear if you choose to thaw it, as rapid heating of glass tends to make it shatter.

 

[Slasher]

Alright so I just left them out in room temp and they eventually thawed without any issues

I refrigerated them up again and tried drinking them but they were flat and not very enjoyable :/

 

[Abe Froeman]

Yeah, the only lesson you need to learn form this is that frozen beer tastes like shit after it thaws. Slushy beer at first freezing if you catch it at the right time is the nectar of the gods however.

At least you manned up and drank them like a proper college kid though.