mmm cold beer

June 5, 2003 10:19 AM

mmm, cold beer How to keep your beer nice and cold on a hot summer day.
posted by H. Roark (26 comments total)

This is great. I have actually been working on a mechanism that would work to instantly make things cold. I dubbed it the Coldinator. I gathered together all my friends to be part of my business. I had a VP of Marketing, Director of Technology, CFO, COO, and numerous people working underneath of them. We would have numerous meetings discussing things like: "Should we make the Coldinator blue?", "We're going to base the Coldinator on 'Box Technology'"whatever that means, "The web site will definitely NOT have flash." After 2 1/2 years this is all we got, coldinator
posted by LouieLoco at 10:37 AM on June 5, 2003

H. Roark: I once designed what I thought was a very clever drinking vessel which consisted of two concentric glasses. The wide gap between them would be filled with cracked ice, thus keeping the drink within nice and cold, without diluting it.

So I motored over to my favourite glass factory - a place that had served many generations of Cardosos - all proud of myself in a "Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?" way, where I was greeted royally by a nice old woman who took one look at my design, then at my beaming self and politely pointed out that, while they would be glad to make them, it seemed to her that, once the ice started melting, I would be in effect pouring large quantities of iced water down my dribbling designer's chin.

I still managed to mumble "Yes, that problem has been foreseen... I... just need a while to tinker with the solution."

Needless to say, I have never set foot in the place again. And in my nightmares I am still visited by the toothless hag's mocking laughter.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:41 AM on June 5, 2003

This was great; sort of a "Monster Garage" for thirsty geeks.

And Miguel - use a straw.
posted by yhbc at 10:46 AM on June 5, 2003

<beer snob>
Philistine.

Guinness (or any stout) should be served just below RT, 15 degrees or so. Only lagers, and other beverages with little flavour, should be served at 8 degrees.
</beer snob>
posted by bonehead at 10:52 AM on June 5, 2003

Migs, my parents have several plastic mugs that are twofers, as you describe, with liquid inbetween them, but both sealed at the top. Once, frozen, they work fairly well, but then again, you have pour your beer into a plastic mug to use them and, well, I'm guessing that just isn't your style.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:54 AM on June 5, 2003

I agree with bonehead/beersnob on the correct temp for stout. (Actually, RT is misleading -- more accurately, it's cellar temperature.) But in recent years Guinness has been saying its beer is best consumed at temperatures from 8 to 3.5 degrees. (2nd link to my writings.)

The reason: colder beer goes down faster, which means more pint refills. Guinness even sells a bottled version on which the label advises chilling for THREE hours before serving.

As for the Peltier, I'm thinking it would be perfect if it could be hooked up to my lawn mower.
posted by sixpack at 11:21 AM on June 5, 2003

I suggest we actually make our glasses out of pykrete. Make a mold which you pour the water and sawdust into, and the glass should last for hours and keep your drink nice and chill at the same time. Only drawback is that if you use it for too long you risk swallowing some saw dust. But we can work this out...

Also, Ufez, I don't see why the glass would neccesarily have to be made of plastic. Would some kind of ceramic do just as well? Just make sure that the ice has room to expand. I picture something like aa stien....
posted by kaibutsu at 11:24 AM on June 5, 2003

hehe LouieLoco. i want one :)
posted by poopy at 11:28 AM on June 5, 2003

Perhaps some of our professional members will be able to tell us if there exists or not an instant cooling device on the market. Something with liquid nitrogen that would produce lots of icy smoke would be nice.

The problem with cooling is that, while some dilution is a good thing, increasing dilution (as inevitably happens) is annoying and eventually ruins a drink.

I wish there were a little rod, like those things used to boil water in a mug, you could stick in a half-way gone gin and tonic, Martini, beer, whatever, which would cool it down. That sure would be useful!

*dreams*

P.S. Ufez - Thanks. I bought one and tried one, but the plastic has a horrible taste and does something to the beer. Same with chilled glasses - they get watery. Ugh!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 11:33 AM on June 5, 2003

Who needs glasses?
posted by beagle at 11:41 AM on June 5, 2003

Ah, yes, beagle. But beer bongs hurt way too much with cold beer. I can remember hanging out at my sister's apartment running warm water over cans of Coors Light so they wouldn't hurt too much swalling 12oz in about 4 seconds. Them were the days.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:48 AM on June 5, 2003

erm, swallowing.

And kaibutsu, cermaic may work, but one of the benefits of having it in plastic is that you can tell easily whether the liquid was frozen or not. Plus, frozen ceramic would make for rather cold hands.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:50 AM on June 5, 2003

Miguel -- your outer container needs to have a stiff rubber flange around the inside rim, which extends in towards the center about 25% of the way in. Assuming your inner vessel does not have any fluting, deep etching, or other irregularities in its surface, as you insert it, it should seat tightly against the flange, forming an effective barrier to both the melting water, and, as a pleasant byproduct, to the escape of the the coldity as well. Go back to that old hag and claim your birthright -- the honorific The Man Who Kept Everyone's Beverage a Little Colder A Little Longer!

And the royalties you can just paypal me.
posted by luser at 11:52 AM on June 5, 2003

Guinness (or any stout) should be served just below RT, 15 degrees or so. Only lagers, and other beverages with little flavour, should be served at 8 degrees.

That's all well and good in the UK and Norway and other cold, dank climes, but when the air temperature is 105F/40C, you'll want cooling to keep the beer at "room temperature" instead of at blood heat.

You could also pour chilled antifreeze into the correct part of a Klein mug.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:59 AM on June 5, 2003

Uhm...what about the double mugs with an enclosed water chamber that can just be put in the freezer? Is this really a problem? They are plastic however.
posted by mnology at 12:05 PM on June 5, 2003

For example
posted by mnology at 12:07 PM on June 5, 2003

Anything less than this is sheer pussitude.
posted by COBRA! at 12:23 PM on June 5, 2003

They already make pitchers like this so's you can order at a bar and have the last beer as cold as the first. I've seen 'em but never looked at the construction of them so I don't know if they solve any of the problems outlined above.

Me, I just drink supa fast.
posted by vito90 at 12:23 PM on June 5, 2003

The Thought Wizards of "Hooters" have an ice holder that goes into a pitcher of beer to keep it cold while the drinkers sip on what is in their glasses. You could use this "technology" in conjunction with smaller glasses or partially filled regular sized glasses to manage the consumption vs. temperature problem. It would also be an iron clad excuse to buy a keg, as pouring multiple cans or bottles of beer into a pitcher would be lame.
posted by Mushkelley at 12:24 PM on June 5, 2003

Ufez - with beer like that, did you mean *swilling*? ;)
posted by notsnot at 1:02 PM on June 5, 2003

There's always reusable ice cubes.
posted by drew_alley at 1:08 PM on June 5, 2003

The Thought Wizards of "Hooters" have an ice holder that goes into a pitcher of beer to keep it cold

I've seen these (albeit not at Hooters, I promise!) where they have a slot going down the back of the pitcher for ice. They make the pitcher bigger around, but it sure seems like you get a lot less than you would in a normal pitcher. I'm probably wrong, and if you did volume analysis, I'm sure it'd come up the same, but the mental stigma is there.

Ufez - with beer like that, did you mean *swilling*?

Natch, notsnot, but isn't that what college is for?
posted by Ufez Jones at 1:09 PM on June 5, 2003

Kaibutsu -- just put the Pykrete around a glass and your sawdust problem is solved.
posted by me3dia at 1:31 PM on June 5, 2003

...when the air temperature is 105F/40C, you'll want cooling to keep the beer at "room temperature" instead of at blood heat.

Keeping mugs in the freezer does the trick. Hardware stores in my neck of the woods sell double-walled mugs filled with anti-freeze gel for just this purpose.
posted by bonehead at 1:33 PM on June 5, 2003

Coming to a deli near you: the self-chilling can
posted by sixpack at 2:49 PM on June 5, 2003

Guinness (or any stout) should be served just below RT, 15 degrees or so. Only lagers, and other beverages with little flavour, should be served at 8 degrees.

Hmm, peltier + thermometer + negative feedback loop = beer thermostat!
posted by inpHilltr8r at 3:18 PM on June 5, 2003