[Rob] has made an astounding contribution in the effort to keep our libations chilled. Not content with merely refrigerating his cold ones, or even putting them in a cooler full of ice, he has built a beer caddy out of solid ice. Though it may look simple initially, you can see from his writeup that it actually took quite a few itterations to get it to freeze correctly, and then actually survive the process of removing the bottle placeholders. Ultimately, he found that glass bottles full of sand work best and you have to freeze the caddy in layers. Though he calls himself an impatient person, we’ve seen people who insisted on having their cold ones made frigid faster. You can see a video of the ice caddy after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz5idMOzeOo]
[via Lifehacker]
Not a ha…
Kidding. That’s cool, too bad it’s going to leave a puddle where ever it sits though. I want to see a video of it floating in the pool. lol
@Pouncer
I hate you tro…
Kidding. I want to see it floating in a pool as well!
This guy obviously takes his refreshments very seriously, judging by the number of failed attempts he had.
Floating it in the pool, unfortunately, would probably just make the ice melt faster than just leaving it out, due to the specific heat of water.
Instead of all the gravel, sand and dirt, just use salt water (or glycol).
As soon as the cup holders melts a little and get larger I don’t think it’s going to keep the beer colder, or chill a beer. The heat from the beer isn’t going to dicipate if it’s not in contact with the ice. I chill beer quickly with the ice and salt water trick in a cooler and can go from warm beer to chill beer in 20 min.
that’s a cool project, literally
ok, that is cool, count me too to see this thing in a pool.
Next thing to do: Position a plastic bucket handle in the water before freezing so you don’t freeze your hands off carrying it around.
I think it would be cooler (har har) if he used the techniques found in the internet for making the ice clear, I seem to recall that the clear ice melts slower also.
If you make some kind of beer caddy shaped container out of thin plastic or something and filled it with water, you could have a version of this that could be frozen and reused once it melts. You could have a couple of them in the freezer at once, ready to swap over once the one in use melts.
They already make beer glasses using this principle and also reusable ice cubes. Stick a patent on the idea and you might be in business!
Totally misread the title as “Solid ice beer candy”… am I the only one?
mmm pauli girl!
Meh.
Block of ice, drill press, template and you’ll have a ice caddy that doesn’t look like the holes were put in by epileptic monkeys.
Plus you won’t put sand in your freezer.
Where I live in the modern world, we have things called beer fridges. The amount of energy to create this much ice versus it’s effectiveness is probably 3 to 4 times more than actually plugging one in and letting it do the job it was made for. Has HaD finally turned into ThereIFixedIt.com?
Add sawdust, turn it into Pykrete, it should last longer since it would melt a lot slower.
Next iteration: Pykrete beer caddy!
@Xb0xGuru. Good luck taking a beer fridge to the beach or to a pool.
And the energy is being used up by the fridge regardless. The fridge would be even more efficient by having such a large piece of ice there in the first place.
@cde
So it’s a “magic fridge”? Besides free energy can it travel thru time too?
I think he should put a lid of ice on it as well, that way it would be completely surrounded by ice. Would have to put in a barrier between the top and bottom though so they don’t melt and freeze together.
How many beers where harmed, and consumed to death, during this hack?
…all of them?
@cde “The fridge would be even more efficient by having such a large piece of ice there in the first place”. Depends on the size of the fridge. The ice is obviously sub-zero and fridges are designed NOT to freeze food, but keep it at a refrigerated temperature. Ergo it might have to work harder to stop food from freezing.
As for the pool/beach – good luck in getting it back again, or are you going to go to the trouble of making one of these every time?
Beer fridges are 12V DC by design, so run off a car battery. Even if you keep it connected for the journey and unplug it once you’re there, you’re still getting chilled beers at the end and since it’s completely enclosed, will do a far better job at keeping your beer cool. Have you seen a beer fridge before?
This is a novelty thing and nothing more. You might as well take an inflatable dart board with you as it’s about as useful.
We should all pitch in and buy him a new stove.
Beer should be served between 6 and 8°c not smacked below freezing point.
@Xb0xGuru
Fridges do not “have to work harder to stop food from freezing”. If the fridge is cold enough, the compressor turns off. That’s all there is to it. You act like it turns on a heater if it it’s too cold. :-b
It may not look as awesome, but if you were to add 14% sawdust by weight… (see pykrete)
Or, iirc, if you keep the water flowing as it freezes, it comes out clear like blocks for ice sculptures…
I love the rejection letter from Martha Stewart Living at the end. Boiled DI water would be clear. DI water ice melts at 4C (heat of fusion. a of layer cold water between the bottles and ice helps in heat transfer (better than air). Raising the bottles off the bottom somehow to create a layer of ice underneath may also help.
I remember this guy’s paparazzi costume from years ago, and I have an eerie feeling that I remembered it at about the same time this article was featured.
Psychic Hack Force go!
http://www.cockeyed.com/incredible/paparazzi/paparazzi.html
The first time I noticed a HaD entry leading to a pix of an almost bare booby. Just funny, that’s all. Any way this just too damn much work, when I have a refer sucking juice 24/7 for everyday beer drinking. Not that I want to detract from this guy’s efforts
It is posts like this that makes me love this site. Brilliant.
Mike: You act like it turns on a heater if it it’s too cold. :-b
Some ‘outdoor’/’garage’ fridges are designed that way.