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Technology

Keeping Your Keg Cool Sans Ice 315

Posted by michael 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."
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Keeping Your Keg Cool Sans Ice More

Keeping Your Keg Cool Sans Ice

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  • thats my kind of college! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:44AM (#9149939)
    i wonder how many kegs he bought for that 20g... for testing purposes of course

    • Re:thats my kind of college! (Score:5, Funny)

      by tha_mink ( 518151 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:53AM (#9150044)
      Can you say focus group? I would love to be a "research assistant" on this one. "Hrm. This beer IS cold, but I could use it a few degrees colder..."
      • "Hrm. This beer IS cold, but I could use it a few degrees colder..."

        If it has to be ice-cold to be palatable, you probably shouldn't be drinking it. :-P Fat Tire [newbelgium.com] is just one example (out of hundreds) of a beer that's much more interesting when it's served in the mid-40s to low 50s. Your average Budmilloors swill, at those temperatures, would be just plain nasty.

    • wonder how many kegs he bought for that 20g... for testing purposes of course

      As an alumnus of Case Western Reserve University [case.edu], graduating way too many years ago (1988). I can tell you that with authority, that he probably didn't buy any kegs for testing. It's not exactly a party school -- or, at least it wasn't back in my day.

  • Now this is important research ... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:44AM (#9149940)
    Anything that improves the quality of beer deserves the Nobel prize

    • Re:Now this is important research ... (Score:5, Funny)

      by pixelpusher220 ( 529617 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @08:24AM (#9150327)
      actually it also serves a public good...

      You run it off your car battery to keep the beer cold and when you're finished with the beer, your car battery is dead so you can't drink and drive!

    • FWIW, next time, can we wait till Fri afternoon to post beer stories?

      My day just got a lot longer...

  • "Revenge of the Nerds 6" (Score:5, Funny)

    by AtariAmarok ( 451306 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:45AM (#9149945)
    This sounds like part of the plot for "Revenge of the Nerds 6"; something about the jocks having a party that blows because the beer is warm, but the nerds invent amazing keg-cooling gadgets and get the cheerleeders to go to the Lambda-Lambda-Lambda nerd frat party.

  • What's wrong with this (Score:3, Funny)

    by neosiv ( 320921 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:45AM (#9149953)
    I think it a fine invention. Beer has a greater impact on the world thus far than quantum computing.

  • Ooooo neato! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:45AM (#9149954)
    Can they make clothing out of this? That'd be nice for the hot regions of the USA this summer.

    And, I'm sure there will be people trying to figure out how to scale this to computers, particularly portable devices.
    • "Plug me in man, I'm burning up!"
      "You got to plug in on the way here, now it's my turn."

      The children of the next generation will have more than just the TV remote and the computer to fight over...

  • 1 + 1 = ? (Score:2, Funny)

    by ultrasonik ( 775562 )
    If there are 2,500 wholesalers are in the US how are 3,200 for them in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania?

    • Re:1 + 1 = ? (Score:3, Informative)

      by anjrober ( 150253 )
      The article says "2,500 wholesalers in the United States. Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania between them have 3,200 wholesalers and distributors."

      2500 wholesalers in US
      3200 Wholesales and distributors in WV, PA an ohio
      it's the distributors that is the larger number.

  • Physics Nobel Price (Score:4, Funny)

    by Big Nothing ( 229456 ) <tord.stromdal@gmail.com> on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:47AM (#9149974)
    Give THIS guy the Nobel Price in Physics. Or Medicine. Or Peace - I don't care.

    *cheers*
    • Well, as for Peace...

      Cut to the pub. Buffy is chugging a beer

      Guys: Chug, chug, chug, chug

      Buffy finishes the beer and burps

      Guy #1: The thing that the modern day pundits fail to realize is that all the socioeconomical and psychological problems inherent in modern society can be solved by the judicious application of way too much beer

      Guy #2: Black frost is the only beer.

      Buffy: My mother always said that beer was evil

      Guy #1: Evil... Good... These are moral absolutes that predate the fermentation of

  • How about... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Woogiemonger ( 628172 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:48AM (#9149981)
    I wonder if it's feasible to add solar-powered refrigeration to a cooler? Now THAT'D be a really useful invention. This keg thing is nice too though.

  • He hasn't even designed a prototype yet (Score:3, Interesting)

    by freelunch ( 258011 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:48AM (#9149984)
    He plans to begin design work on a prototype in the next several weeks.

    Great. I hope he lets us know when he has a design for a prototype.. And then maybe when there is actually a prototype vs. a vague bong inspired idea..

    At this rate it seems that it would be easy for someone to get a jump on any opportunity and beat him to the market and patent.

  • Real Ale (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:48AM (#9149985)
    Speaking as a good Englishman, why not learn
    to drink beer with some taste which doesn't need
    to be frozen ?

    • Re:Real Ale (Score:3, Informative)

      by mrtroy ( 640746 )
      Bah speaking as a Canadian, most beers taste better cold.

      But have'nt these kids today heard of making a keg fridge? It was a must have for my roommates and I....

      In that picture they show a PUMP, the beer will taste bad before they can finish it anyways! Man up, get an old fridge, a CO2 tank and the tap/lines and build a damn kegerator
      • "Bah speaking as a Canadian, most beers taste better cold."

        Contrary to Molson "I Am Canadian" advertising, that's because most Canadian beers are just as bad as most American beers. As an immigrant in Canada I am forced to drink Guinness as it is the only pint guarranteed to taste good (and come in a decent size unlike those small N. American things). I make up for lost time when I go back to England though. Even though Canadians are so snobby about their beer compared with Americans', some of the best

    • Re:Real Ale (Score:2, Funny)

      by tehcyder ( 746570 )
      Careful, next you'll be suggesting they drink something that has an alcohol content higher than 3%. Madness.

    • I believe it goes like this

      Amercians drink piss beer ice cold
      British drink Good beer piss warm.

      Canada seems to be the only sane country where they drink good beer ice cold. Then again since most of Canda is still frozen this time of the year it isn't hard.
    • I was going to say that presumably this thing can be made to run at "cellar temperature". I'm glad I'm not the only one around here who likes to drink beer with decent flavour at a temperature that it can be tasted.

    • Re:Real Ale (Score:3, Interesting)

      by nmrs ( 591104 )
      Having recently moved to England from America, I can now testify that the average British beer drinker has about the same beer preferences as an American... Out of all the people I know here, I am the only one that drinks ale. Every Englishman I know between the ages of 20 and 40 drinks lager (which needs to be "frozen"). On top of that, England now has Guiness "Extra Cold". What the hell is that all about? So you take a beer with enough flavor to taste fine a bit warm, and then freeze it...

  • No big deal... (Score:5, Funny)

    by MoeMoe ( 659154 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:49AM (#9149988)
    Wake me up when it can be attached to a molex connector...
  • But would any nerd ever want to keep beer cold indefinitely?

  • HomeBrewers Device (Score:5, Insightful)

    by notaknob ( 654162 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:49AM (#9149999)
    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

    • Re:HomeBrewers Device (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Chewie ( 24912 )
      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.

      That's been the main thing keeping me from getting more serious about brewing - I have no lagering space. I've got four people living in my house, so space and electricity are at a bit of a premium. If this thing (once it gets beyond the vague, pie-in-the-sky idea stage) can cool to an arbitrary temperature, that would be wonderful for

    • Re:HomeBrewers Device (Score:4, Insightful)

      by essiescreet ( 553257 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @08:13AM (#9150215)
      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!

      • Re:HomeBrewers Device (Score:2, Informative)

        by LedZeplin ( 41206 )
        First, What do you mean by ferment on top of the dishwasher? Unless you have a magical dishwasher that has an aura that keeps the air 45f I'm missing how that works.


        Second, 80F for Ales you are a brave man, or you really like a lot of esters [beer-brewing.com]. I get scared if my wort gets over 75.

    • Holy Mother of God.

      This is the first time I've *EVER* heard of someone using the word "Homebrew" in relation to actual alchohol. For certain, this has to be a first on slashdot.

      I think I've spent waaaaaay too many years in the geek culture.

      *sigh*

      That being said, I'm a little dissapointed by the article. The guy hasn't even built it yet, he just has an Idea for one.

      It doesn't even seem that tricky to me.

      feh.

    • Re:HomeBrewers Device (Score:2, Informative)

      by whome ( 122077 )
      You don't need this for homebrewing. There are great Wyeast ale yeasts which will create a really wide variety of styles at room-temperature. I've been brewing for 15 years, and I've used ale yeasts 98% of the time. Go have a chat with the owner of your local homebrew supply store, and s/he will tell you what you need to make whatever kind of beer want.

      So don't wait for this device to become available, just go ahead and brew away!
      • Go have a chat with the owner of your local homebrew supply store, and s/he will tell you what you need to make whatever kind of beer want.

        Well, right. Unless you want to make a lager. In which case, you need a fridge/freezer set damn-ass cold, space for said device, and power to make the whole thing cold. If this is electrically more efficient, this could be the answer to my lagering prayers!

        And FWIW, I do swear by Wyeast's shampoo-style bottles of yeast. Proofing, my ass!

    • Re:HomeBrewers Device (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Spoing ( 152917 )
      1. 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

      All the beer I've brewed (myself and with friends) fermented cool but by no means cold (~60-70 degrees). For that, a basement corner or crawl space usually works well. (If you don't have one...well...this device would be good!)

      Now, after it has fermented and is ready to go, before drinking the beer, I think this would be ideal.

  • Why not have both? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Black Parrot ( 19622 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:50AM (#9150002)


    > I'd rather see this than another few million dumped into quantum computing.

    The cooler reduces the entropy of the beer, and then you drink it, causing your brain state to collapse on a solution that's guaranteed to seem like a good idea at the time.

  • Kid needs to transfer.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by southpolesammy ( 150094 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:50AM (#9150007) Journal
    Hmmmm, a keg wrap that runs off of 100-120VAC power == keg parties.

    Can also run off of a car cigarette lighter == tailgaiting extraordinaire.

    This kid is going to the wrong school. He'd be a god down at Ohio State....

  • Everybody wins (Score:5, Insightful)

    by erick99 ( 743982 ) * <homerun@gmail.com> on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:50AM (#9150018)
    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

  • VaporWare at the moment (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jonasmit ( 560153 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:51AM (#9150024)
    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...

  • Can It cool my computer? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by stecoop ( 759508 ) * on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:51AM (#9150029) Journal
    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...

  • I'd rather have a jet powered beer cooler.. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by joib ( 70841 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:52AM (#9150038)
    ..like this [asciimation.co.nz] one. IIRC it was even on /. a few years ago.
  • There are these ceramic tiles *already* that when current is pumped through them, one side gets REALLY hot and one side REALLY cold (kind of interesting when you hold both sides at the same time). You can buy 'em for a few bucks. A sheetful of these and a big battery will keep anything cold for quite a while.
    Where's my 20K, then?
  • First, Koolio [ufl.edu] - the beer delivering robot, and now this!?

  • Innovation .... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by univgeek ( 442857 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @07:57AM (#9150084)
    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)
  • "The potential market for the product, Hunnell says, is beer wholesalers and beer distributors."

    Why am I reminded of this?

    "I think there's a world market for about five computers." Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1952

    (waits for 30 responses claiming he's got the quote, date, or author wrong)

  • No Ice No Electricity either (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I wonder if using the Nigerian Nomad clay pot reefer would work on a keg?

    1. Big clay pot filled with wet sand
    2. Smaller clay pot inside big clay pot with layer of sand in between(keg in this case)
    3. Wet Rags on top of sand
    4. Evaporation keeps your inside pot cool...

    no plugs need
  • I hope that the trauma unit at my local hospital gets one of these cold blankets to put me into hypothermia to slow down the effects of brain damage after I get so drunk I fall over and hit my head real bad.

    ask your doctor to sign up for clinical trials on hypothermia as a treatment for brain injury patients by sending your doctor here [clinicaltrials.gov]

  • I'd buy that for a dollar... (Score:4, Funny)

    by JayAdams ( 779194 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @08:06AM (#9150155)
    Actually, I would like to pledge $20 dollars to the existing grant to make sure this gets the proper funding! Nothing like a project like this to spur the great minds of our generation to take action.

    I have to think that the $20k will pale in comparison to the Home Shopping Network profits next year.

  • College Years (Score:3, Funny)

    by caldroun ( 52920 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @08:08AM (#9150167) Homepage Journal
    I dont remember my kegs sitting around long enough to see room temprature, of course, I dont remember.

  • Free Flow of Beer Key to Innovation (Score:4, Funny)

    by Lodragandraoidh ( 639696 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @08:12AM (#9150209) Journal
    Without the free flow of beer there would be no new inventions.

    When this vaporware becomes reality, it will mark the dawn of a new Rennaisance - a bold new world where intergalactic keggers are the rule, rather than the exception...

    Long live the electric keg cooling blanket!

  • Its about time! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Gannoc ( 210256 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @08:14AM (#9150220)
    or even a car's cigarette lighter.

    Thank God. Frankly, I think its pretty dangerous to have to lean over and pull beer out of the back seat ice cooler while driving. Now, we can just plug a cooler into the cigarette lighter and keep our eyes on the road.

    Thank you, technology!

  • A sheet of Peltier devices? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by jfengel ( 409917 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @08:19AM (#9150277) Homepage Journal
    The article is woefully skimpy on details, but it sounds like he's planning to sew a bunch of Peltier devices onto a sheet of nylon.

    Perhaps, though the article doesn't make this at all clear, he thinks he's got some way to build a thermoelectric device out of a sheet of nylon. It would be a good and useful trick, especially when accomplished by a first-year physics student.

    Either way, it sounds to me like you're going to have to combine this with a fan if you're going to get anything useful out of it. Thermoelectric devices move heat a few centimeters and concentrate it, but if you just let it dissipate it'll eventually warm up the other side of the device, sapping a lot of your power. You need to blow a fan past it so you can use the air as a heat exchanger.
  • Why dont they just weave some flexible tubing into some cloth and stick a fan on one end? Kinda like squashy version of one of these ?
    these ? [ebigchina.com]

    Or if air isnt good enough howabout pumping a gas or liquid through that tube?

  • It has so much more application than beer. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by adl99 ( 779447 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @08:24AM (#9150331)
    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.
  • 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.

  • It will come in handy for all those long road trips to the M.A.D.D. [madd.org] seminars.
  • The problem of keeping a keg of beer cold deserves more attention. The keg is awkward and heavy when full, and doesn't need cooling when empty. I'd suggest a Peltier-based solution.

    Take a Peltier from an old computer rig or the new Coleman fridge. Bolt it with conventional thermal grease to a sizable (100 cm^2) heat spreader (Al or Cu) machined to match the barrel curve. Apply temporary heat transfer compound (KY jelly suggested, ketchup or mustard possible) and affix to lower quarter of keg with a rub

  • Wouldn't it be better to make a self refridgerating beer keg? Wraps are prone to damage, while tha aluminum armor of a keg is built to take punishment. Remember it's the beer that we want to keep cool, not the keg!

    Can the technology be used with the copper coils used in ice coolers? After all the goal is most often to serve cold beer.

  • cooled keg + car (Score:3, Funny)

    by dubiousmike ( 558126 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @09:09AM (#9150876) Homepage Journal
    = waking up with your car parked in a fountain
  • Somebody at just won a major invention prize for the following non-tech refigerative device: put a little pot inside a big pot with a layer of sand completely between the two pots. Fill the sand with water. Evaporation will keep the contents of the inner pot cool. This is proposed for 3rd world warm summers to keep from spoiling for 24-48 hours. This means you dont have to rush to market before every meal.

    After this invention was announced, archeologists mention similar devices used in medieval Europe an

  • So passé (Score:3, Informative)

    by chrisatslashdot ( 221127 ) <spamforchris@yahoo. c o m> on Friday May 14, 2004 @09:23AM (#9151033)
    This technology is way behind. A German company has devloped a keg [coolsystem.de] that cools beer with no cord. I actually saw this keg and drank its beer at Pack Expo 2003 [cendex.com]. The beer was real cold and the outside of the keg was warm. It works by evaporative cooling using a double-walled shell, a controlled vacuum, and a special moisture holding material. The keg could be regenerated and used over and over. It is quite an ingenious system. The company rep said that they had no sucesses in marketing the keg in the US. But this might very well be worth the cost of airfare to Germany.

  • Warm brown beer ... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Dark$ide ( 732508 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @11:46AM (#9152849) Journal
    It just won't catch on over here. In Great Britain we like our beer warm and dark brown.

    For the folks who have a British car - the suggestion is that it's due to our fridges being made by Lucas Electrics.

  • $20,000! (Score:3, Funny)

    by NerveGas ( 168686 ) on Friday May 14, 2004 @11:55AM (#9153039)

    I'll do it for $2,000, and get to pocket more than half of that!

    "Thermoelectrics". You know, peltiers. I just picked up a couple of high-quality, surplus 45-watt Peltiers for $4 each. Each being able to pump up to 30 watts of heat, it certainly wouldn't take many of them to keep that beer keg nice and chilly.

    So, just for grins, let's say that I buy 20 of those, and run them at much less than full power. That keeps each spot from getting so hot that it needs a heat sink. That's what, $80 so far? Then, it's a matter of building the power supply/temp controller and sewing up a wrap.

    Out of this guy's $20,000 grant, he'll probably be able to spend about $19,500 on "restocking vital supplies" (refilling all of the kegs he's drunk).

    steve

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