PeltierBeer

Helstein writes "Finishing a beer in the sun before it gets warm is usually not a problem, but what about those really hot days? Having some hardware lying around there is only one solution to keep the beer cool, that's to make a PeltierBeer."

Comments

I have that foam thing

[Anonymous Coward]

It works pretty well. I drink my beverages before they get warm.

The only problem is

[fw3]

that their research seems to have missed:

Guinness is supposed to be drunk at room temp not 8-10 Deg C.

<doh>

Re:The only problem is

[cabra771]

That's "American" Guinness. Real Guinness doesn't come in a can, silly.

Heh

[Anonymous Coward]

All of the europeans are probably scratching their heads right now wondering why anyone would actually go out of their way to make the beer cooler.

Well

[GigsVT]

This is a nice excercize if you need some soldering practice, but there's a reason he doesn't post any real data regarding how much colder it kept the beer than without the cooler. It really isn't doing anything.

I'd be surprised if there was even a one degree difference in actual liquid temperature with the thing on than when off.

Re:Well

[MyHair]

I quote from the last page of his site, which was not at all difficult to miss if you rtfa -

Yes, but if you'd look at the pictures on the second-to-last page it appears the thermometer's sensor is on the peltier cooler itself. Even if that's a misinterpretation on my part it's clear there is no probe in the Guiness itself but outside the glass at best.

By the way, I haven't tried the Guinnes-in-a-can yet. I'm not a total snob, but other beers aren't as good in the can, so I assumed Guiness would have the same problem. How is it? And can you pour yourself a four-leaf clover in the head with the can? :-)

Airports?

[nebular]

He says he wouldn't want to take the cooler to the airport.

Sure he might get hassled a bit, but then he'd have to explain himself.

I mean come on, Sure everyone likes cold beer, but after enough of them, it just doesn't matter anymore.

So the only reason to build this thing, extreme bragging rights, and hassled at the airport? just one more chance and I for one will believe that the customs agents will be quite impressed.

dui

[Anonymous Coward]

So it runs on 12v. I could plug it in to my cigarette lighter in my car for those late night drives.

Wouldn't this heat the beer?

[MacDork]

Maybe my understanding of thermodynamics is a bit off, but wouldn't this thing decrease the cold time of the beer? Unless I missed a picture I see no form of coolant on the thing, just a heatsink and a fan. This works great for a computer because it's the processor that is hot (high in heat energy) and the air that is cool (low in heat energy). Since entropy will cause the heat energy to flow from a high concentration to a low concentration, won't having this attached to a cold beer in hot air have the inverse effect, heating the beer more quickly?

Re:Some problems that I see

[Mattwolf7]

Yeah thats what I was thinking. His design would have worked much better keeping the beer in the Aluminum can instead of pouring it into a glass since Al is much better than glass (You dont see very many glass heat sinks do you?)

An improvement:

[Ayanami Rei]

Some slashdotters noted that

1. The money may have been better spent on an insulating foam sleeve.
   
2. The peltier cooler could actually heat the beer up if the excess heat generated is not managed.
   

Clearly, this calls for combining the features of both! First, obtain the "beer bra" and cut a peltier-sized hole in the bottom. Affix the cooler to the surrounding insulator with lots of glorious duct tape. Arrange the backup batteries on the outside of the insulating foam.
And there you have it! The hot side of the cooler and the batteries won't raise the temperature of the beer, and the foam will also help it stay cool. Furthermore, this system could greatly speed the cooling of beer originally at room temperature.
Now if someone would kindly build this device and mail it me, I would be most grateful.

::makes kissy face::

Pleeeeese... you big strong hacker you.

For severe cleverness....

[Handpaper]

Run the outfit from photoelectric cells - more sunlight, more cooling!

Re:For severe cleverness....

[Anonymous Coward]

To generate the power for that peltier he'd need something like a 50W panel... the 53W panels I bought are 3 feet long and 1.5 feet wide.... Kind of unweildly really.

I wonder how much cooling gets through that thick chunk of glass at the bottom of a pint glasss... really need some kind of wrap-around jacket to go around the glass...

I've been thinking about making something similar myself for quite a while now

Re:Works both ways

[7-Vodka]

what you got to do is figure out how to keep the beer cold with one side while using the other side as a barby Q grill.

Re:problem solved

[Audin]

Three words: "Irish Car Bomb"

http://www.cocktail.com/recipes/i/IrishCarBomb.htm

No need for technology here

[jaclu]

Personally I chill liquids in the sun the same way people have been doing for 2000 years....

Wrap some cloth or paper around the bottle/glass, wet it, when the water evaporates, the liquid is cooled...

The more sun, the more cooling, so its kinda self-stabilising.

baa

[Anonymous Coward]

I know the point is geeky overkill, but still...it looks like usability is poor. ;)

http://www.cafemaison.com/termos-nissan-pilsner-be er-glass-holder.html

Still geeky, probably way cheaper.