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Ice beer involves lowering the temperature of beer until ice crystals form. Since alcohol has a lower freezing point than water and doesn't form crystals, when the ice is filtered off, the alcohol concentration increases. As a result ice beers have at least 5.5% alcohol by volume. Also the beer tends to have less character than other beers because the yeast cells/protein particles get filtered off with the ice. Ice beer was developed in Germany during Oktoberfest celebrations with bock beers which are traditionally brewed in the spring. A particularly cold year froze the beers and a new taste was noticed by the drinkers. These were called Eisbocks. However, in its current form, ice beer was developed from the fruit-juice industry which used to freeze orange juice concentrate in order to reduce shipping costs. Ice beer found some brief popularity in the United States during the 1990's, but has since all but died out. Miller introduced Icehouse under the Plank Road Brewery brand name at that time, which is still sold in some areas; Budweiser briefly sold "Bud Ice", but no longer brews this style. Many lower-end beers still use the freezing process, such as "Busch Ice" (5.9% ABV) and Natural "Natty" Ice (5.9% ABV) and are sold cheaply, often to college students seeking a cheap buzz.
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