Ice beer

Ice beer is a marketing term for pale lager beer brands which have undergone some degree of fractional freezing somewhat similar to the German Eisbock production method. These brands generally have higher alcohol content than typical beer and generally have a low price relative to their alcohol content.[1]

Process

The process of "icing" beer involves lowering the temperature of a batch of beer until ice crystals form. Since alcohol has a much lower freezing point (-114 °C; -173.2 °F) than water and doesn't form crystals, when the ice is filtered off, the alcohol concentration increases. The process is known as "fractional freezing" or "freeze distillation".[2]

History

Eisbock was developed in the Kulmbach region of Germany by brewing a strong, dark lager, then freezing the beer and removing some of the ice. This would concentrate the aroma and taste of the beer, and also raise the alcoholic strength of the finished beer.[3]

Eisbock was introduced to Canada in 1989 by the microbrewery Niagara Falls Brewing Company. The brewers started with a strong dark lager (15.3 degrees Plato/1.061 original gravity, 6% alcohol by volume), then used the traditional German method of freezing and removing ice to concentrate aroma and flavours while increasing the alcoholic strength to 8% abv.[3] Niagara Falls Eisbock was released annually as a seasonal winter beer – each year the label would feature a different historic view of the nearby Niagara Falls in the winter. This continued each year until the company was sold in 1994.

Despite this precedent, the large Canadian brewer Molson (now part of Molson Coors) claimed to have made the first ice beer in North America when it introduced Canadian Ice in April 1993.[4] However, Molson's main competitor in Canada, Labatt (now part of Anheuser-Busch InBev) claimed to have patented the ice beer process earlier. When Labatt introduced an ice beer in August 1993, capturing a 10% market share in Canada,[4] this instigated the so-called "Ice Beer Wars" of the 1990s.[5]

Both companies use a similar process of freezing the beer and removing ice crystals to raise alcoholic content. Labatt's Maximum Ice, for example, is 7.1% abv.[4]

Miller acquired the U.S. marketing and distribution rights to Molson's products, and first introduced the Molson product in the United States in August 1993 as Molson Ice.[4] Miller also introduced the Icehouse brand under the Plank Road Brewery brand name shortly thereafter, and it is still sold nationwide.

Anheuser-Busch introduced Bud Ice (5.5% abv) in 1994 and it remains one of the country's top-selling ice beers. Bud Ice has a somewhat lower alcohol content than most other ice beer brands. In 1995, Anheuser-Busch also introduced two other major brands: Busch Ice (5.9% abv, introduced 1995) and Natural Ice (also 5.9% abv, also introduced in 1995). Natural Ice is the No. 1 selling ice beer brand in the United States; its low price makes it very popular on college campuses all over the country. Keystone Ice, a value-based subdivision of Coors, also produces a 5.9% ABV brew labeled Keystone Ice.

Characteristics and regulation

The ice beers are typically known for their high alcohol-to-dollar ratio.[1] In some areas, a substantial number of ice beer products are considered to often be bought by "street drunks", and are prohibited for sale.[6] For example, most of the products that are explicitly listed as prohibited in the beer and malt liquor category in the Seattle area are ice beers.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 The Average Ethanol Content of Beer in the U.S. and Individual States: Estimates for Use in Aggregate Consumption Statistics; William C. Kerr, Thomas K. Greenfield; Journal of Studies on Alcohol, Vol. 64, 2003.
  2. ↑ Popular Science
  3. 1 2 Rhodes, Christine P. (2014). The Encyclopedia of Beer: The Beer Lover's Bible - A Complete Reference To Beer Styles and Brewing. Henry Holt & Co. ISBN 9781466881952.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Company News: New Brew From Molson; U.S.'s Northern Neighbor Is Putting Ice in the Beer, New York Times, August 3, 1993.
  5. ↑ Ice Beer Wars, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, April 14, 1993.
  6. ↑ McNerthney, Casey, City Looks at Banning High-Octane Booze in More Areas, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 21, 2012.
  7. ↑ Amended Banned Products List, Seattle Alcohol Impact Areas, Washington State Liquor Control Board, effective date March 1, 2009.
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