Beer Coolers
asked:
It maybe summertime now in your neck of the woods or it may not be; depending on which part of the world you are living in, at the moment, but it is no excuse for not having a cold beer for whatever the season! Whatever the reason or season, you’d probably be reaching out for a cold beer from a beer cooler after a hard day’s at work, while mowing the lawn, just after waxing your ‘classic’ car, after a game of golf, football or basketball, or just watching those games on TV with your buddies, or even just enjoying the sun at the beach! And what better way to top it off? A beer of course! But there is one thing most beer drinkers don’t like, warm beer! What we hanker for is a cold beer from a beer cooler. Simply put, a Bruski from a beer cooler! So, beer coolers or beer dispensers were designed specifically for beer drinkers like us. To help us get over that warm tepid taste which we despise.
* Well, What Is The Right Temperature For Beer Then?
The temperature of a beer is based on a drinker’s preference; warmer temperatures disclose the variety of flavors in a beer but cooler beers are much more refreshing, especially on a hot day. Most beer drinkers prefer pale lager to be served cold, a low or medium strength pale ale to be served cool, while a strong barley wine or imperial stout to be served at room temperature.
Beer expert Michael Jackson, (not the one who ‘moon-walks’!), proposed a five-level scale for serving temperatures: that is, well chilled (7 °C/45 °F) for ‘light’ beers (light lagers); chilled (8 °C/46 °F) for Berliner Weisse and other wheat beers; lightly chilled (9 °C/48 °F) for all dark lagers, ‘altbier’ and German wheat beers; cellar temperature (13 °C/55 °F) for regular British ale, stout and most Belgian specialties; and room temperature (15.5 °C/59.9 °F) for strong dark ales (especially Trappist beer) and barley wine.
* Beer Cooler Types
The Coleman Company popularized the beer cooler, sometimes known as an ‘ice box’ in America, by marketing its first galvanized beer cooler in 1954. Later, Coleman developed a beer cooler with a plastic liner. A beer cooler is also called a cool box, cooler, portable ice chest, ‘chilly-bin’ in New Zealand, or ‘esky’ in Australia. Whatever you call it… ice box, ice cooler, marine cooler, boat cooler, marine ice chest, igloo, ‘esky’, beer cooler, or ‘chilly-bin’, it is most commonly an insulated box used to keep drinks cool. Keeping beer cold in a beer cooler is not brain surgery. The process includes insulating the right places, keeping hot air out, and packing of ice and contents properly. Ice cubes, sometimes mixed with salt, are most commonly placed in it to help the beers inside stay chilled. Ice packs are sometimes used, which has a gel sealed inside them that stays cold longer than just ice.
A portable beer cooler found these days could be thermoelectric. It may have a plug to fit in to a car’s cigarette lighter socket. Rather than using a compressor and refrigerant, this beer cooler uses the ‘Peltier-Seebeck’ effect, a form of thermoelectric effect, along with an external fan to extract the heat. A thermoelectric beer cooler typically can drop the temperature by about 40°F or 22°C below ambient temperature, or can raise it by at least that much; this is really a function of the effectiveness of the insulation. A better beer cooler may even have a digital thermostat control. It does draw a significant amount of power, and it can drain a car’s battery making it unable to start. An electric beer cooler may have a low voltage auto switch-off at around 10 or 10.5 volts to prevent this. A beer cooler may also come with a power adapter to convert AC mains (100v to 240v) down to 12 volts, with a lighter plug in socket for the beer cooler’s cord.
It maybe summertime now in your neck of the woods or it may not be; depending on which part of the world you are living in, at the moment, but it is no excuse for not having a cold beer for whatever the season! Whatever the reason or season, you’d probably be reaching out for a cold beer from a beer cooler after a hard day’s at work, while mowing the lawn, just after waxing your ‘classic’ car, after a game of golf, football or basketball, or just watching those games on TV with your buddies, or even just enjoying the sun at the beach! And what better way to top it off? A beer of course! But there is one thing most beer drinkers don’t like, warm beer! What we hanker for is a cold beer from a beer cooler. Simply put, a Bruski from a beer cooler! So, beer coolers or beer dispensers were designed specifically for beer drinkers like us. To help us get over that warm tepid taste which we despise.
* Well, What Is The Right Temperature For Beer Then?
The temperature of a beer is based on a drinker’s preference; warmer temperatures disclose the variety of flavors in a beer but cooler beers are much more refreshing, especially on a hot day. Most beer drinkers prefer pale lager to be served cold, a low or medium strength pale ale to be served cool, while a strong barley wine or imperial stout to be served at room temperature.
Beer expert Michael Jackson, (not the one who ‘moon-walks’!), proposed a five-level scale for serving temperatures: that is, well chilled (7 °C/45 °F) for ‘light’ beers (light lagers); chilled (8 °C/46 °F) for Berliner Weisse and other wheat beers; lightly chilled (9 °C/48 °F) for all dark lagers, ‘altbier’ and German wheat beers; cellar temperature (13 °C/55 °F) for regular British ale, stout and most Belgian specialties; and room temperature (15.5 °C/59.9 °F) for strong dark ales (especially Trappist beer) and barley wine.
* Beer Cooler Types
The Coleman Company popularized the beer cooler, sometimes known as an ‘ice box’ in America, by marketing its first galvanized beer cooler in 1954. Later, Coleman developed a beer cooler with a plastic liner. A beer cooler is also called a cool box, cooler, portable ice chest, ‘chilly-bin’ in New Zealand, or ‘esky’ in Australia. Whatever you call it… ice box, ice cooler, marine cooler, boat cooler, marine ice chest, igloo, ‘esky’, beer cooler, or ‘chilly-bin’, it is most commonly an insulated box used to keep drinks cool. Keeping beer cold in a beer cooler is not brain surgery. The process includes insulating the right places, keeping hot air out, and packing of ice and contents properly. Ice cubes, sometimes mixed with salt, are most commonly placed in it to help the beers inside stay chilled. Ice packs are sometimes used, which has a gel sealed inside them that stays cold longer than just ice.
A portable beer cooler found these days could be thermoelectric. It may have a plug to fit in to a car’s cigarette lighter socket. Rather than using a compressor and refrigerant, this beer cooler uses the ‘Peltier-Seebeck’ effect, a form of thermoelectric effect, along with an external fan to extract the heat. A thermoelectric beer cooler typically can drop the temperature by about 40°F or 22°C below ambient temperature, or can raise it by at least that much; this is really a function of the effectiveness of the insulation. A better beer cooler may even have a digital thermostat control. It does draw a significant amount of power, and it can drain a car’s battery making it unable to start. An electric beer cooler may have a low voltage auto switch-off at around 10 or 10.5 volts to prevent this. A beer cooler may also come with a power adapter to convert AC mains (100v to 240v) down to 12 volts, with a lighter plug in socket for the beer cooler’s cord.