Never done this on purpose. Once by accident in the freezer and it was a bloddy shattered mess, took an hour to clean up the freezer. I've gotten packages on the doorstep with slushy beer, but never completely frozen. I'd imagine that the beer stability is a function of temperature and to a different degree for different beers. The worst that could happen is for components to "fall out" / separate. I suppose that could alter the flavor for some beers, but it's all still there in the bottle. Kinda like yeast fall out in some Belgians. It can alter the flavor lf the bulk liquid if it isn't in there, make it less bitter/sweeter.....

There's been a couple strong ales that came to be by accident (ie-Deschutes Super Jubel/Jubel 2010) when a thief tried to get away with a keg and ended up dropping it in the snow and leaving it to freeze. They liked the result so much they freeze distilled a little themselves. I think there's a couple others as well. I've only done the mistakenly left in the freezer/bloody mess thing myself.

The bloody mess is pretty much what I expected, what with the broken glass and all.

forgot about a bottle one night and got lucky.. a bottle of Breckenridge 417 ESB froze completely. no broken glass. let it sit for 20 minutes or so, and poured out straight booze, got about an ounce or so. pure fuckin goodness. home eisbockin!

I wonder if there's just enough alcohol in the better beers to keep them from completely freezing and shattering. On the other hand, most silver canned bmcs do exploded in the freezer. Is it concentration or area they truly just water? [:p]

Every beer I've ever put in the freezer ends up freezing completely if I forget to take it out until morn. Sometimes there is a leaker sometimes not. For the most part I've had good look with non-exploders.

quote: Originally posted by mattfungus I wonder if there's just enough alcohol in the better beers to keep them from completely freezing and shattering. On the other hand, most silver canned bmcs do exploded in the freezer. Is it concentration or area they truly just water? [:p]

The higher the alcohol level, the greater the impact on freezing point. It's kinda like the antifreeze concept, except ethanol is the additive and not something like ethylene glycol. However, the practical impact isn't that huge in the range of beer. 0deg C 100% water drops to -4 and -9degC at 10 and 20% levels of ethanol. Pretty strong beers, eh? Not a huge drop, but significant. The story for 80proof liquor is more dramatic: -23degC (-10degF). This is why you can take that bottle of tequila and store it in the freezer! Just be careful, it goes down a wee bit too easy and cool that way :). Ethanol's freezing point is below -110degC, so there is a limit to the effect.

There was a poll question on this once http://www.beerpal.com/brain/pollvote.asp?pollID=150 The inspiration for the poll came from reading a forum thread on another beer site where some dope was telling everyone how big of a genius he was for microwaving a frozen beer. That option in the poll was selected by no one, proving an overall high IQ on this site [:D] I have froze a few, both high ABV and both in hectic situations like a tasting or party. My result after thawing was a flat beer with no carbonation, about half the flavor, and the body seemed thinner like heybeerman stated. Previously frozen beer is not that great to drink IMO but it beats the alternative of throwing it away.

I've never forgotten about a bottle in the freezer, but I did forget about a can once......once. I would have loved to have seen the explosion (actually it was just a faint pop) myself rather than just the aftermath.

quote: Originally posted by cyrenaica I would have loved to have seen the explosion

Now I'm curious! I went looking for a video of the event, but came up empty. Plenty of vids showing the aftermath, or opening a frozen beer, but none of the actual explosion. Hmmm....