Whilst on my search for new beers I found a beer called

Niugini Ice Beer

This is a Ice beer and I'm not to sure about what an ice beer is.

Can somebody give my a explanation to what an Ice beer is?

  • Possible duplicate of How do they get beer so strong? – paparazzo Jun 21 '16 at 13:26
  • @Paparazzi I wouldn't that this is a duplicate as in that question I asked in general how do they make strong beers while freeze distillation was an answer it was not focus on that and there are other ways to get beer strong such as adding ethanol as pointed out in the answers of the other question this question however asks specifically what Ice beer is – Jamie Eltringham Jun 21 '16 at 13:30
  • Clearly I don't agree. The answer is a duplicate. A user can navigate and get the answer. On tech sites like SE the common practice (as I have observed) is to use duplicates to link to an answer even if the question is different if that is the proper answer. For sure if it is my answer I mark as duplicate rather than repeat my answer. – paparazzo Jun 21 '16 at 13:42

Ice beer is brewed using a technique known as fractional freezing, or freeze distillation. It's rooted in the tradition of German Eisbock style, though in an Eisbock the technique is used to considerably concentrate the alcohol (alcohol percentages in the final product can range from 10%, to over 50%) whereas when a modern mild lager-based Ice beer probably doesn't gets only a small increase in ABV. The one you link to in the question, for instance, is only 5.2% alcohol.

The process involves bringing the beer down to a temperature below the freezing point of water so that ice crystal form, and then drawing those crystals out. This process is repeated until the beer reaches the desired strength, and in the case of Ice beer, that's probably not many times. The goal is that when you remove the crystals, the remaining drink is both more alcoholic and has more pronounced flavors, and you can allegedly remove impurities, as I suppose they may serve as nucleation sites for the crystal formation.

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