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from the also-because-ice-cold-beer-is-an-abomination dept.
Why isn't beer served with ice? Well, the main reason is, the beer will get watered down as the ice melts – it's a problem that also extends to drinks that are served on the rocks, even though the coldness of the ice may help them to go down smoother. That's where the Beyond Zero system comes in. Instead of making ice cubes out of water, it makes them out of booze.
Invented by Kentucky-based entrepreneur Jason Sherman, the system actually consists of two devices – the Liquor Ice Maker and the Liquor Ice Storage Unit.
A liquor of the user's choice is first poured into the Maker, where it's cooled well below the temperature reached by a regular freezer, and formed into cubes. Exactly how that's accomplished is a trade secret, although the process takes just a matter of minutes.
Whiskey slushie, anyone?
(Score: 2) by looorg on Saturday May 27 2017, @11:59AM (6 children)
It might not have to go into that kinda of extremes, even tho liquid co2 seems to be the obvious and fastest way to rapidly cool something.
There has to be something more then a normal freezer, Vodka as an example survives in a normal freezer. As far as I can remember you need something around -30C to freeze that but it obviously takes longer then a few minutes to do. I wonder how this device would handle something like Stroh Rum (80% alcohol).
I guess he could dilute the alcohol a bit first to make it easier (and faster) to freeze to - not like you are going to be able to taste or notice the difference. Even tho that would somewhat defeat the purpose if the device - might as well have water based ice cubes then.
It could be something about how the ice cubes are constructed, instead of making one large cube he makes many small cubes that is then put together into a larger cube. Making a smaller cube would be faster then freezing a large cube.
Also it can't be "to cold" either cause you wouldn't want to drink that, you could sustain serious damage if you drink something that cold.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroh [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday May 27 2017, @12:31PM (1 child)
Yeh, I am still thinking either liquid CO2 or liquid nitrogen. Both of which possess the thermodynamic capacity to do the job. However, liquid CO2 is generally more available.
Like you say, if you get this thing too cold, one may find things like frozen dental work pronto should you chew into one.
Neither would it surprise me to find the thermal shock of pulling supercooled "antifreeze" into one's mouth may do wonders to one's dentition.
Especially if crowns are involved. You know... thermal shock. The same thing that fractures glassware on rapid temperature changes.
Thanks for the -30 deg C point for vodka. I would now have to consider the latent heats of fusion for vodka as well as CO2 or Nitrogen to get an idea of how much refrigerant is required for each round of drinks.
( What really makes me think he's doing it this way is he is so careful to keep the refrigerant technology under wraps as a "trade secret". My guess is it would kill off sales if the prospective customers knew they had to have pretty substantial sources of CO2 or Liquid Nitrogen to run this thing, so "trade secret" is a good business method to make the sale before the customer realizes what he's getting into. But a big venue catering to the super-rich would probably go for it. The machine would be cheap enough to build in low quantities for the stated price, as - like a car - my guess most of the money goes into promotion and appearance. But the consumables would be another story. )
It did not appear to me that heat pump technology was in use, as there does not appear to be sufficient volume in the device in the photo to house the necessary compressors and heat exchangers. And the price looks too low for small runs of something like that.
Again, I am speculating on how this would work, just as I speculated on Rossi's E-CAT, being the fact of how it works is being withheld from me.
Being this is a discussion site, and I have no dog in this, I'll toss my speculation into the fray and see what others think about it.
Figuring out how stuff works, or making unusual things is my idea of fun. ;)
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by looorg on Saturday May 27 2017, @01:08PM
For all we know tho there is a giant tank of something standing in the closet under the machine. We are just seeing the business end of it sort of like a beertap or soda machine at any restaurant. We are not seeing the big tanks of ingredients. So there might as well be an industrial sized canister of something hidden away or a compressor, even tho I would think Richy Richy doesn't want to hear the sound of a compressor everytime he is chilling his drinks with boozecubes (or whatever we should call them) -- that said looking at the picture it doesn't even look like the machine is actually making ice cubes but instead some sort of ice ellipse blobs.
One wonders if there is some kind of gauge or button depending on what you put in, after all Vodka - Beer and Wine have very different freezing points. You could freeze Beer and Wine at home with much issue so the freezing point there is just a few degrees below zero (C) (depending on how solid said freezing is). To make it easy you could just freeze everything to Vodka levels but that might be excessive, take more time then needed etc.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Saturday May 27 2017, @12:53PM (1 child)
A few years ago, there was a report about a lot of people getting frostbite in their throats as a result of storing vodka in the freezer. The temperature would get to about -5ºC and then they'd do shots, instantly freezing their throat. I wonder if these ice cubes have the same potential...
sudo mod me up
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday May 27 2017, @01:41PM
Just a note, from my perspective. My choice of beverages is Scotch whisky. I'll take it straight, or on the rocks, sometimes Scotch and water if it's good water. (Yeah, I know, the rocks can't be any better than the water, but they're cold, so you don't notice if the water sucks.) I sip my drink, I don't do shots, don't gulp it. I have stored bottles in the freezer, and 0 degrees F is indeed pretty damned cold. Even if I were a chugger, I wouldn't try to throw a shot of 0 degree liquid down my throat. I'm imagining frost bitten belly button here, FFS! UGGHHH!
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday May 27 2017, @06:06PM (1 child)
Liquor can be as low as 24 proof (12%), or as high as 190+. The summary isn't specific as to what the freezer can handle.
This seems like more of a "fancy" thing for people who enjoy $7+ cocktails, not people who are concerned about keeping the cost of their beer below $1 per bottle. It also seems like yet another mostly useless contraption to keep in your oversized american home to amuse yourself and possibly a few friends for a few hours, then send off to the landfill when you can't sell it at a garage sale.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1) by purple_cobra on Saturday May 27 2017, @08:33PM
Ugh, you've just reminded me that many years ago, when I was younger and *cough* more adventurous (i.e. stupid) I decided to "taste" some 90% ABV (180% proof?) absinthe. The word 'taste' is in inverted commas because you know what happens to your scrotum when it gets really cold? That's what happens to your taste buds when something like that absinthe hits them. Weird feeling, then an unpleasant stinging sensation, followed by a minute or so of a tongue that felt anaesthetised. I took the decision that it was better suited to those of a more artistic temperament.