How to chill beer fast

Julio Cerezo - Beer Sommelier
Director of Sabeer Beer Academy

Like any other food made from natural ingredients, beer is sensitive to sudden changes in temperature. Therefore, it's preferable to cool it gradually in the fridge rather than in the freezer. But... who hasn’t found themselves needing to chill some beers quickly to enjoy them in just a few minutes?

We arrive home from the supermarket, eager to reward ourselves with a cold beer, only to realise with dismay that the only ones we have on hand are those we’ve just bought. Or friends unexpectedly show up at our door and our stock of chilled beers. What do we do? 

Today, we’re going to share some ‘tricks’ to use in those moments when your thirst or your guests can’t wait for the usual and recommended method of allowing the fridge to do its job.

TRICKS TO COOL BEER

• Trick 1: Ice, water and salt > Fill a container with plenty of ice, add water (better if it’s cold) and salt, stir well and add the beers. Since the containers are surrounded by water, the surface contact is much greater than if only ice were used, speeding up the cooling process Moreover, when the salt dissolves, it absorbs heat, causing the water – and with it, the beer – to cool down more quickly. Two tips to make it even faster: don’t put too many beers in at once (the higher the ratio of water and ice to beer, the better), and cans instead of glass bottles.
• Trick 2: Damp serviette and freezer > Modern freezers can chill your beer fairly quickly, but if you wrap the cans or bottles in a damp serviette (either cloth or paper), they’ll cool even faster. In this case, the surface contact of the damp fabric with the container accelerates the cooling that would occur from direct contact with the freezer air, saving you time in getting your beer ready. Once again, the cans will chill slightly faster than bottles.

• Trick 3: Chilling by immersion of cold objects > There are increasingly more gadgets on the market designed to quickly chill your beers by contact: metal or glass cubes that you immerse in your beer glass, stoppers with a metal rod that you insert into the bottle... Naturally, you’ll need to keep these in the freezer for when the need arises. Their effectiveness is relatively low, and in our opinion, they alter the beer-drinking experience more than is desirable.
• Trick 4: Chilling with ‘fridge microwaves’ > The so-called ‘fridge microwaves’ are a type of microwave that rapidly chills any liquid or solid food. In the case of beer, the manufacturers claim they can chill a can in 5 minutes. Assuming that’s true, their current price of several thousand euros still makes them prohibitive for most household budgets.

Choose the option that best suits your needs, and be careful not to over-chill; an almost frozen beer loses much of its aroma and flavour, and alters the perception of its texture.

Cheers!