Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Condensation On Your Beer != Good

Posted by timothy on from the except-in-england dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Turns out that condensation on your favorite chilled beverage is a bad thing for keeping it cold. Two researchers conducted an experiment in their bathroom proving that condensation can raise the temperature of your beer by nine degrees!"

7 of 275 comments (clear)

  1. wait, will wiping off help? by therealkevinkretz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    By the time there's any condensate to wipe off the glass, hasn't the damage (i.e. heat from condensation) already been done? That's what warms the glass and its contents, not the water remaining on the side. So wiping it off won't prevent the warming.

    1. Re:wait, will wiping off help? by CanadianRealist · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You're right. Water has a high heat of vaporization. The amount of energy required to vaporize a given amount of water is close to 5 times the amount of energy that would be required to heat that same amount of water from 0 C to 100 C.

      So think of it as being a bit like taking the amount of water in the condensate, heating that to 500 C* and adding it to your beer. (* heating to that temperature without vaporizing)

    2. Re:wait, will wiping off help? by Quirkz · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Your reflexive disdain is outdated. Lots of craft brewers are going to cans, at least here in Colorado. Much easier to take camping, lighter, probably cheaper and just as easy to recycle. Also, unlike even brown glass, and much better than pale glass, a can won't let *any* light through, so the beer is less likely to skunk.

      --
      The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
    3. Re:wait, will wiping off help? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I hate to break this to you, but unless you are 100 years old, ANY beer you have ever drunk has been from a lined can.

      METHOD OF LINING THE INSIDE OF CANS (Google Patents, 1933)

      The new cans are pretty decent (the lined ones).

    4. Re:wait, will wiping off help? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yes, speaking as a British beer snob who's travelled the US coast-to-coast, there are astonishingly good craft beers in shops throughout the US.

      Speaking as a science snob, the mass market American beers are some of the most impressive feats of industrial and chemical engineering today. When you talk to a craft brewer and ask them what makes their beer special, they'll tell about the effort, the love, and the hops. If you filter out the hippie bullshit, and if they have a clue, they'll patiently explain about their hops and the peculiarities of the soil it comes from. They'll also talk about their water. Next, go visit a distillery in the Scottish Highlands, and ask them what makes their product different from the distillery on the next hill. They will talk about their water. Every distiller will go on and on about the local water supply, and how there is no place else in the world where one could replicate that exact flavor.

      Now visit a macrobrewery. It's like stepping from a tiny server closet to a Google data center...total nerd spooge. These guys do serious engineering. They bottle all over the in the world, using water from hundreds of different hills, using hops from thousands of farms, and can make their product taste exactly the same, every time. You can fly all over the world, order one of these "crap lagers", and get precisely what you asked for every single time. These companies manage that a billion times per day. If that doesn't impress the holy fuck out of you, then engineering probably isn't for you.

      Also, a question for the beer snobs out there: if the difference between a crap beer and a good beer is as great as you claim, why don't I see quality beers selling for $100+ at restaurants and liquor stores. It's easy to find places stocking $5 wine and $500 wine, $5 whiskey and $500 whiskey. Where's the all the good beer that could actually command a real premium price? Why does the free market seem to think premium beer is only worth the same markup as premium toilet paper? Is beer snobbery really just more about the snobbery than the beer?

  2. Just in time for cinco de mayo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Now how about an experiment about the optimal water quantity for a wet t-shirt contest? Something about capillary action certainly has to be discovered...

    1. Re:Just in time for cinco de mayo by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Now how about an experiment about the optimal water quantity for a wet t-shirt contest? Something about capillary action certainly has to be discovered...

      I'd rather be involved in the next 15-year study to confirm the latest findings on saggy breasts.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia