Super cool device super cools beer

Pub tales — By DJ Spiess on November 14, 2007 at 3:24 pm

Finally modern science is getting put to good use. Kent Hodgson, 22, of New Zealand, has found a way to cool beer within seconds using a small portable gadget. Hodgson calls his invention Huski.

Can the Huski chill your beer to the correct temperature?

The Huski uses liquid carbon dioxide to cool your beverage. The liquid carbon dioxide is pressed down into the plastic device. The pressure compresses the liquid carbon dioxide, and causes the carbon dioxide to for crystals of dry ice at the bottom. The surface temperature of the device is minus 78.5C (-109.3F). The device is then placed into the beer, where it rapidly cools the liquid.

The only problems we see with the device are that you need to place it into the liquid, which means opening a warm beer, we’re not sure what it might do to a glass bottle of beer, and touching something that is minus 78.5C (-109.3F) can be risky at best. The carbon dioxide in the beer will rapidly escape upon opening, since warmer liquids have more difficulty holding carbon dioxide in solution. The beer might be flat before you can chill it. It might be better to place the closed beer into a pool of water, and use the Huski to supercool the water.

We’re also concerned about what rapidly cooled liquids might do to a glass. We can not be sure without testing the Huski. We will have to test the Huski when it comes out (exploding glass can be fun!). Worst case, the Huski will provide us with endless Beer Nuts! stories.

Still the device is a very cool idea. Hodgson plans to sell the device once he patents it. He hopes the device will sell for about $50 (Australian dollars?)