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Keeping Your Keg Cool Sans Ice

Posted by michael on from the technology-you-can-use dept.

DrLudicrous writes "Case Western Reserve University is reporting that first year physics graduate student Adam Hunnell has come up with the idea for a Keg Wrap, a thermoelectric sheet that will be able to maintain a full keg at 32-35F by running off of wall current or even a car's cigarette lighter. The funding for this project is coming from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, which has provided Mr. Hunnell with a $20,000 grant. Serious stuff - I'd rather see this than another few million dumped into quantum computing."

15 of 315 comments (clear)

  1. Now this is important research ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Anything that improves the quality of beer deserves the Nobel prize

  2. Re:Why do Americans care so much about cold beer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Guiness is both a meal and a beer! A true geek beer because it saves time.

  3. Real Ale by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Speaking as a good Englishman, why not learn
    to drink beer with some taste which doesn't need
    to be frozen ?

  4. HomeBrewers Device by notaknob · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This kind of device is exactly what many homebrewers would need for fermenting. I'd probably pickup two or three as I don't have the space or money for more refrigerators. nk

    1. Re:HomeBrewers Device by essiescreet · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, you could do what I do, and ferment on top of the dishwasher... The only reason you need to ferment at these temps is for lagers. Make an ale, and you can ferment at 80 degress (F) if you want. I regularly do.

      What would be more cost effective is to get a chest freezer, there's room for your fermenters, kegs, CO2 tank, and you've always got beer on tap. Then, no more bottling!

  5. Everybody wins by erick99 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Case is to be congratulated for providing an academic environment that also conjoins the commercial world where these students will end up when they are finished their studies. This particular student is well on his way to being both a successful engineer and a successful business owner. Everybody wins!

    Happy Trails!

    Erick

    --
    http://www.busyweather.com/
  6. VaporWare at the moment by jonasmit · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hunnell's idea is to design a wrap, made of nylon or a similar material, using thermoelectrics...The main challenge to building a successful wrap, Hunnell says, is selecting the proper thermoelectric devices from the many types manufactured. He plans to begin design work on a prototype in the next several weeks.
    Seems like they would wait until the guy did something before writing about it! All those grad students with real data and publications and they write about an idea that got a kid a grant? Not to mention losing any royalties to somebody with real money stealing his idea (especially if the hardest thing is choosing COTS parts) Oh well...

  7. Can It cool my computer? by stecoop · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If it can cool my noisy computer too using a nice and quiet blanket than I think he's missing a big market there too - beer is always on college students mind though...

  8. Innovation .... by univgeek · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And this, Gentleman, is one of the most famous American Innovations of the early 21st century. Nowhere else in the world could they have come up with such a marvelous invention to keep frat boys drunk, in a car, or in a house.

    (see next story on how outsourcing be a big deal, as it will not affect american innovation)

    --
    All bow to his Noodliness!! His Noodle Appendage has touched me!
  9. I hate beer snobs by tybalt44 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Dear Dr. Stupid,

    You may notice that most American beer is Pilsener-style lager (pils). Which is intended to be drunk cold. Ask a brewer of Pilsener-style lager in any country what temperature his beer should be drunk at, most will say between 2 and 5 degrees C (36-41 F).

    I myself prefer ales and stouts to lagers, but there can be no doubt that (1) cold lager can be an ideal (and very tasty) beer in a hot environment; (2) people in many countries (including the U.S.) prefer lagers; (3) no amount of ignorant snobbery can make their preferences wrong; and (4) YAASA. STFU.

    Folks, next time some snooty jackass looks down his nose at you because of your beer, remember the Latin phrase de gustibus not est disputandunum, so you can teach him a lesson as your fist squelches into the soft tissues around his nose. And also, like our friend the AC here, he's probably wrong anyway.

    Please remember to FOAD. Thank you for your attention.

    Yours sincerely,

    tybalt44

    1. Re:I hate beer snobs by LedZeplin · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Serving beers at or near freezing and serving beers at lagering tempature is a big difference. If you get a pilsner that it brewed for flavor and not for profit margin, you will find that they should be served at lagering tempatures, around 45F.

      As for the initial comment of 32-35 degrees for the blanket, I'm sure it would have a temperature control to choose your desired tempature. Who will this be marked to? The Frat boys who want to swill lots of cheap beer and tempature is secondary, or the beer snobs who want to keep their kegs at the proper tempature?

      Your Friendly Beer Snob^h^h^h^h Advocate.

  10. It has so much more application than beer. by adl99 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I cannot believe that the chap submitting this didn't think about the possibilities for this. Refrigeration in the third world is so important - if this thing can run off a cigarette lighter, then it must draw so much less current than a peltier device, making it a very good solar-power candidate. This thing could revolutionise healthcare in third world countries. It could wipe out subsistence farming - food would stay unspoilt for so much longer. I am surprised (well, considering he's a student, not THAT surprised) that it has been marketed solely for beer. Well, some of the best inventions have arisen during wartime, and the war against cold beer has been raging for as long as I can remember, anyway.

  11. Doesn't the other side of it.... by callipygian-showsyst · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Doesn't the other side of this sheet get really, really warm? The heat it's removing has to go somewhere doesn't it?

    Can someone explain why this wouldn't make your car an oven? Most "thermoelectric" devices I've seen only have about a 10 degree differential from one side to another. Bringing a keg down to 32 degrees (F) in a car sounds like it would take a LOT of energy.

    --
    Best Buy can have you arrested
  12. Re:Apply the technology to computing by dont_think_twice · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If it can cool a keg of beer, it can cool a graphics card or a CPU as well.

    Slashdot has to be the only place where people think "sure, keeping my beer cold is nice and all, but what would really be neat is if I could use it to run my computer 3% faster."

    I hope you realize the rest of the world says "sure, making a computer run 3% faster is neat and all, but it would really be nice if it could keep my beer cold"

  13. Re:No big deal... by Giant+Panda · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think USB is the next step. Then it can be sold on "ThinkGeek".