Sometimes we want to get our beer cold quick. So we throw it in the freezer or outside if it’s cold in the winter. But then, uh oh…we forgot about it and we have a weird slushy beer that tastes absolutely disgusting!
Can beer freeze?
Yes, although beer won’t freeze solid like an ice cube it will freeze into a slush mixture. Since it is mostly water the water particles will freeze, and the alcohol will begin to sink to the bottom of the container. With the freezing point of alcohol being very low the beer will not be able to completely freeze solid.
Well, a lot of the things we learned over the years are actually true about both alcohol and beer freezing. There’s a little bit of science involved with how beer is made along with some technicalities with what is actually freezing. So let’s start at the beginning to find out how beer can freeze along with the freezing point of beer.
What’s The Freezing Point Of Beer?
The freezing point of beer is 28° Fahrenheit and -2° Celsius. These temperatures are somewhat generalized because the freezing point is dependent on the alcohol content. Pure ethanol alcohol freezes at -173.2° F and -114° C. But this is also pure alcohol. Since beer is made up of mostly water rather than alcohol beer will freeze at a temperature a few degrees cooler than water at around 28° F and -2° C. This chart below shows how cold can beer get before it freezes based on alcohol content.
| Percentage of Alcohol Content | Freezing Temperature (Fahrenheit) | Freezing Temperature (Celsius) |
|---|---|---|
| 3.0% | 30.2 °F | -1 °C |
| 3.5% | 29.9 °F | -1.2 °C |
| 4.0% | 29.6 °F | -1.3 °C |
| 4.5% | 29.3 °F | -1.5 °C |
| 5.0% | 29.0 °F | -1.6 °C |
| 5.5% | 28.7 °F | -1.8 °C |
| 6.0% | 28.3 °F | -2.0 °C |
| 6.5% | 28.0 °F | -2.2 °C |
| 7.0% | 27.7 °F | -2.4 °C |
| 8.0% | 27.0 °F | -2.8 °C |
| 9.0% | 26.4 °F | -3.1 °C |
| 10.0% | 25.7 °F | -3.5 °C |
Can You Put Beer in the Freezer? Here’s How it’s Done
There are many ways out there to chill beer fast, and they usually involve ice, salt, buckets, and still take 30 or more minutes to get cold But there is a quick and easy way to chill beer fast in the freezer. Grab yourself a wet paper towel and wrap it around the beer. Stick it in the freezer and in about 10 minutes you should have a cold beer.
How Long Can You Put Beer in the Freezer?
It takes a long time to brew beer. It’s a shame that it takes such a short time to ruin a beer! If you put a warm beer that’s been sitting out it will freeze in about 90 minutes. This assumes your freezer is at 0° Fahrenheit. If all you want to do is chill your beer you can get it nice and cold in about an hour. However, since a beer can freeze, and an hour or more is easy to forget about your beer, it’s best to go with an option that takes the least amount of time.
Tip: Set a reminder for yourself so you don’t forget it!
What Happens To Beer When It Freezes?
One of the risks of leaving your beer in the freezer is that the bottle or can explode because of the liquid expanding and makes a huge mess in your freezer. If it’s a bottle that exploded you also run the risk of having sharp glass in your freezer. This is the worst case scenario and hopefully it doesn’t happen.
If you remembered your beer in time and it’s frozen in a sealed container you still have options for that beer. There’s some good news and some bad news for your beer. The good news is that the characteristics of the beer are pretty much the same. The bad news is that the beer will lose it’s carbonation and taste flat.
The Science Behind A Frozen Beer
And now to the science part of what happens to your beer. In a way, it’s kind of like oil and water where those two substances actually mix. Since your beer is mostly water the water starts to freeze, but they alcohol does not freeze since the freezing point is so low. The ethanol will actually be suspended from the ice crystals as they freeze. The longer the beer freezes the more the ice will freeze and you would end up with all of the alcohol pooling at the bottom of the container.
There are also sugars from the fermentation process which also impacts the freezing point of beer. Sugars are also a contributing factor to beer freezing at a lower temperature. Like some juices, when the drink freezes you’ll usually end up with a slushy drink that’s not frozen solid because of the sugars.
It’s kind of a shame that the amount of calories and carbs in a beer when beer is mostly water! But the water overtakes the alcohol to give the beer an ability to freeze.
Do This If You Left Your Beer In The Freezer
If you left your beer in the freezer it isn’t completely ruined. There are a number of things that you can do to salvage the beer. You might not want to risk drinking it the traditional way if it lost it’s carbonation, but you may be able to reuse that beer. So here’s a few different things you can do to repurpose that beer!
- Beer Popsicle’s – you can let your beer thaw in the fridge to turn it back into a liquid state. Remember, the chemical composition has not changed although it may have lost it’s carbonation. But that’s OK here. There’s plenty of recipes around for you to make the perfect beer popsicle with your once frozen beer.
- Beer Margarita’s – similar to the beer popsicle’s. Except there’s even more recipes out there. Thaw the beer in your fridge and than find a tasty recipe and make your beer margarita.
- Cooking with Beer – there’s lots of good recipes out there that call for beer to be added. Beer battered chicken immediately comes to mind. But no matter what your food preferences are search for that food item and add “with beer” to it. For example, “chicken with beer” or “beef with beer”. You’ll find lots of recipes to choose from.
Final Thoughts On The Freezing Point Of Beer
So…can beer freeze? You bet! And now that we know the freezing point of beer we can also learn how to prevent it. We even learned a new way that we can chill beer fast in the freezer with a wet paper towel. Be conscious of your beer if you decided to freeze it, and be careful not to let it freeze. Set a reminder! Drink up and be happy!