5 ms·

Got Ice? The Physics of Chilling Your Beer

26 points by spottiness 15y ago

darrennix 15y ago
I looking for suggestions on how to get a can of dr pepper down to the temperature where it just starts to get slushy but not freeze and then stay there. My current approach is to stick it in a bucket filled with ice and salt wAter, stick that in the freezer for 20 mins, then enjoy. :)
kragen 15y ago
This probably ought to include the heat lost through the walls of the cooler, which is the big ice melter for outdoor picnics. (After all, you can put the beer in the fridge before you go out.) I did some of these calculations at http://lists.canonical.org/pipermail/kragen-tol/2007-December/000876.html http://lists.canonical.org/pipermail/kragen-tol/2007-Decembe... with a somewhat larger cooler in mind.
jechen 15y ago
I enjoyed reading the comments pointing out numerous flaws and errors in the article. :) Happy 4th of July!
ChaseB 15y ago
My uncle built a really cool beer chilling device. I posted it about a year ago. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1634090 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1634090
- revorad 15y ago
  That is one seriously cool hack. Do you have a video of it in action? Did you sell any?
  - ChaseB 15y ago
    No video. I guess I could put one on YouTube. Haven't sold any. Sent out a catalogue sheet to all the big box stores and any that were seriously interested wanted to see a sample. Factories quoted me 30-45K just to start. It's definitely on the back-burner, though.
- bostonvaulter2 15y ago
  The original link appears to be dead.
mahrain 15y ago
Another question: if the beers in the fridge are running out and you have to "restock" with room-temperature ones (http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail39.html http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail39.html), how long does it take a 4*C fridge to get them down to that temperature? And how long for the freezer to do the same thing?
rwmj 15y ago
The title should be "Got Beer?" because that photo doesn't have any real beer in it ...
furyg3 15y ago
The first comment on wired has a very good tip: For best cooling you want to use a mix of Ice and cold water, with a ton of salt. This lets the water temp drop below freezing, and makes better contact with the cans/bottles, transferring heat away from them faster. It makes a pretty big difference, especially when you've got a bunch of warm beer / wine and want to get it to a drinkable temperature as fast as possible.
viggity 15y ago
Talk about partying on July 4th. List all temperatures in celsius. ಠ_ಠ

26 points by spottiness 15y ago

I looking for suggestions on how to get a can of dr pepper down to the temperature where it just starts to get slushy but not freeze and then stay there. My current approach is to stick it in a bucket filled with ice and salt wAter, stick that in the freezer for 20 mins, then enjoy. :)

kragen 15y ago

This probably ought to include the heat lost through the walls of the cooler, which is the big ice melter for outdoor picnics. (After all, you can put the beer in the fridge before you go out.) I did some of these calculations at http://lists.canonical.org/pipermail/kragen-tol/2007-December/000876.html http://lists.canonical.org/pipermail/kragen-tol/2007-Decembe... with a somewhat larger cooler in mind.

jechen 15y ago

I enjoyed reading the comments pointing out numerous flaws and errors in the article. :) Happy 4th of July!

ChaseB 15y ago

My uncle built a really cool beer chilling device. I posted it about a year ago. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1634090 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1634090

revorad 15y ago
That is one seriously cool hack. Do you have a video of it in action? Did you sell any?
- ChaseB 15y ago
  No video. I guess I could put one on YouTube. Haven't sold any. Sent out a catalogue sheet to all the big box stores and any that were seriously interested wanted to see a sample. Factories quoted me 30-45K just to start. It's definitely on the back-burner, though.
bostonvaulter2 15y ago
The original link appears to be dead.

mahrain 15y ago

Another question: if the beers in the fridge are running out and you have to "restock" with room-temperature ones (http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail39.html http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail39.html), how long does it take a 4*C fridge to get them down to that temperature? And how long for the freezer to do the same thing?

rwmj 15y ago

The title should be "Got Beer?" because that photo doesn't have any real beer in it ...

furyg3 15y ago

The first comment on wired has a very good tip: For best cooling you want to use a mix of Ice and cold water, with a ton of salt. This lets the water temp drop below freezing, and makes better contact with the cans/bottles, transferring heat away from them faster. It makes a pretty big difference, especially when you've got a bunch of warm beer / wine and want to get it to a drinkable temperature as fast as possible.

viggity 15y ago

Talk about partying on July 4th. List all temperatures in celsius. ಠ_ಠ