Eis That Beer

Eis Beer: Pronounced as if it were ‘Ice Beer’.

Eis beer is a concentrated version of a regular beer and this concentration is carried out by freezing the beer for a few hours and then letting it thaw out. The beer is not allowed to thaw out completely as some of the ice crystals are discarded. On tasting various Eis beers, it has been noted that it has a much more smoother as compared to its non-Eis versions. Freezing the beer also removes some of the hops bitterness and tannins. Alcohol does not freeze but water does and the loss of water increases the alcohol concentration of the beer.

I intentionally brewed 10 liters of my Wheat Stout so I could Eis 2 liters of it. Once the fermentation was complete, I measured out 2 liters of the beer and put it in the freezer just before I went to bed. The next day I put the ice block on a strainer and allowed it to thaw for some time. The ice block almost immediately collapsed because the alcohol had not frozen and this left some smaller blocks of ice in the strainer that I left to continue thawing for some time. 

After about half an hour, the remaining ice blocks has lost most of its color and I got about 1.5 liters of beer. I primed with a much lesser amount of sugar than I usually prime with, bottled it and then pushed it to the back of my cupboard.

The reason I did that was because I have no intention of opening the beer in a month’s time. Instead I plan on opening it after ageing it for 6 months at the minimum. I prefer ageing bigger beers because the inherent alcohol note in an un-aged big beer is sharp, harsh and heady which ruins the drinking experience. Its like drinking a peaty, smoky scotch with a seafood platter and having that smoke and peat linger on throughout your meal thus overwhelming the delicate flavors of the seafood.

Eis beers are not available as widely as the other commercial craft beers are because of the sheer cost of brewing it. Initially, things seem fine, but if you observe closely the beers do carry a higher cost. I lost half a liter when I Eis-ed the stout. So that’s half a liter of hop bitterness (irrespective of how small it is), half a liter of water, half a liter worth of base, specialty and roasted malts and half a liter worth of fermentation. Half a liter isn’t much, but imagine the costs when a commercial brewery loses the aforementioned items because they don’t brewing small batches. And that loss causes the per serving cost of the Eis beer to shoot up. Which is why this beer makes perfect sense for a home brewer. You tend not to lose a lot if you plan properly and the only thing you need to worry about is trying to keep your hands off of the beer for a while.

The ageing process brings out the beer’s flavors, the alcohol mellows out slightly (but trust me, its very much there), and some of the hop bitterness fades away, all of which makes for a smoother drinking experience. I have not found a source anywhere on the internet that says a beer will lose the flavor and aroma compounds, so Eis-ing an IPA would make for an interesting beer. Of course, I wouldn’t age an Eis IPA since the dry hop flavor and aroma would simply cease to exist after 6 months of ageing.

Lastly, a simple piece of advice for folks who Eis their beers: share it.