What's the best way to keep beer cool en campsite?
Discussion
This year will be my 5th Le Mans, our smaller group have in the past camped on our own and in recent years with a much larger group, with a freezer to chill beer. However this year we are on a different campsite and face the challenge of keeping our beer cool. Usually the builders bucket full of cold water is the way but ultimately leads to an unsatisfying beverage...
Does anyone have any ideas? We are travelling in 2 cars, no room for a fridge and no guarantee of electrical hook up as we are non numbered in Houx...
Does anyone have any ideas? We are travelling in 2 cars, no room for a fridge and no guarantee of electrical hook up as we are non numbered in Houx...
RobGT81 said:
Drink it before it gets warm.
Bazzinga!The best solution is to buy a proper branded coolbox - we have a Coleman Maxcold which claims a 5-day ice lifespan - and then prefill it with home made ice and frozen bottled water and frozen orange juice cartons, which then can be drunk when defrosted.
The LM supermarkets also sell carrier bags of ice and frozen water bottles on or around their fish counters.
With the bucket you're half way there, you need to bury it though as ground temperature is more consistent than air and preferably wrap in damp paper towelling. Buy bags of ice from the supermarket to top up.
We used to buy a large dustbin and bury that, the only thing that became an issue was if the lid wasn't replaced, people would fall in !
We used to buy a large dustbin and bury that, the only thing that became an issue was if the lid wasn't replaced, people would fall in !
Truckosaurus said:
The best solution is to buy a proper branded coolbox
Everybody's favourite supermarche sells this one.http://online.carrefour.fr/sport-plein-air/glacier...
We have a big and decent cool box like the below, we got ours from Costco and they are selling them again now!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Igloo-Wheelie-Cool-Coolbox...
Freeze about 24 water bottles and chuck them in the morning you leave, this will keep the box cool for a good couple of days, and when defrosted - cool drinking water
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Igloo-Wheelie-Cool-Coolbox...
Freeze about 24 water bottles and chuck them in the morning you leave, this will keep the box cool for a good couple of days, and when defrosted - cool drinking water
sidekickdmr said:
We have a big and decent cool box like the below, we got ours from Costco and they are selling them again now!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Igloo-Wheelie-Cool-Coolbox...
Freeze about 24 water bottles and chuck them in the morning you leave, this will keep the box cool for a good couple of days, and when defrosted - cool drinking water
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Igloo-Wheelie-Cool-Coolbox...
Freeze about 24 water bottles and chuck them in the morning you leave, this will keep the box cool for a good couple of days, and when defrosted - cool drinking water
As mentioned by @Truckosaurus this is what we do and you can also top up with ice from Supermarket or an ice machine..
We tend to go for a cool box, filled to the brim with cold water and add 2-4kg of ice to it each day. When you take a bottle you put another one in and depending on the weather it stays cold for 24 hours. The main problem is Sunday, we do a supermarket trip each morning for fresh meat and bread, and buy ice then but on Sunday morning that tends not to happen. As a result Sunday evenings are normally fueled by warm Leffe and maybe some red wine,
As others have said, freeze bottles of water/juice now. Fill an ice box with them when you leave - leave as little air as possible in the ice box, so carry some beer/burgers/bacon etc on the way.
The small ice boxes will hold a few bits, and will be easier to pack, and then as you drink/defrosts, you can top up with 1kg bags from the supermarket
The small ice boxes will hold a few bits, and will be easier to pack, and then as you drink/defrosts, you can top up with 1kg bags from the supermarket
jamiebae said:
We tend to go for a cool box, filled to the brim with cold water and add 2-4kg of ice to it each day. When you take a bottle you put another one in and depending on the weather it stays cold for 24 hours. The main problem is Sunday, we do a supermarket trip each morning for fresh meat and bread, and buy ice then but on Sunday morning that tends not to happen. As a result Sunday evenings are normally fueled by warm Leffe and maybe some red wine,
Isn't filling it with water causing you an issue? we tend to empty out any water which is created as the ice melts.
eps said:
jamiebae said:
We tend to go for a cool box, filled to the brim with cold water and add 2-4kg of ice to it each day. When you take a bottle you put another one in and depending on the weather it stays cold for 24 hours. The main problem is Sunday, we do a supermarket trip each morning for fresh meat and bread, and buy ice then but on Sunday morning that tends not to happen. As a result Sunday evenings are normally fueled by warm Leffe and maybe some red wine,
Isn't filling it with water causing you an issue? we tend to empty out any water which is created as the ice melts.jamiebae said:
eps said:
jamiebae said:
We tend to go for a cool box, filled to the brim with cold water and add 2-4kg of ice to it each day. When you take a bottle you put another one in and depending on the weather it stays cold for 24 hours. The main problem is Sunday, we do a supermarket trip each morning for fresh meat and bread, and buy ice then but on Sunday morning that tends not to happen. As a result Sunday evenings are normally fueled by warm Leffe and maybe some red wine,
Isn't filling it with water causing you an issue? we tend to empty out any water which is created as the ice melts.Hoonigan said:
Nope, ice melts much quicker in water, keep it drained and you will have cool beer for longer.
Fiiiightttttt!!!! I put ice in with the beer but always seem to get a coolbox full of cold beer and water!
Well if the water feels cold then probably better then the air in the coolbox. The air is quickly replaced when you open it and the beers in the water are always colder for some reason I guess coverage of cold water does it.
We have two Coleman 5 day coolers that hold 100 cans :-)
Hoonigan said:
Nope, ice melts much quicker in water, keep it drained and you will have cool beer for longer.
Yes, and no. In a body of water at 1 degree it melts more slowly than in ambient air so once cool it keeps cold for longer. Also the air is circulating whenever you open the lid, but the cold water stays there and stays cold. We tried both and the beer gets colder faster in water, with no discernible effect on the length of time a bag or block of ice lasts. 
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