Cold Beer. Fast.

We went to a little barbecue at a friend's house this evening. Our friend loves to cook, so there really wasn't much to bring. We called this afternoon to make sure that everything was going as planned and to ask what, if anything, we could bring. He got back to us as we were about to leave the supermarket. The only thing that might still be needed was beer. "Fine", I thought. "The supermarket sells beer, and usually has a very good selection." All we had to do was drop the groceries off at home, and be off to the barbecue. It seemed like a decent plan except for one thing. The supermarket doesn't sell cold beer. I was counting on a trick I had run across on the web once a while back.

We paid for our groceries and went home. At home, I went to find a cooler first thing. It was just big enough for the 6 bottles to stand up in. I filled the spaces with ice up to the bottoms of the necks. Then I added some salt (maybe a tablespoon or two) and about an inch of water in the bottom. I left it while I put the cold groceries away. To my surprise, when I checked it in about 10 minutes the ice had almost completely melted. I poured off most of the salty water, taking care not to get any salty water on the tops of the bottles, and added more ice and salt. We hopped in the car with the little salty cooler and arrived at our friend's house a short time later. No more than 45 minutes had passed since the cooling process had started, but I was amazed by how icy cold the beer had become in a short time. It was a great success. I'm sure I will use this many times in the future.