When you’re on a road trip, it is natural that you would love to have some beer and chill with your friends! Yet, there is always the issue of keeping beer chill during road trips. After all, keeping a refrigerator in cars is not an option in most cases.
I have faced this issue whenever I go on a road trip. So, I tried various methods and have come up with some effective tips and tricks to keep beer chilled without a refrigerator.
So, without further ado, let’s take a look at some excellent tips for keeping beer chilled while you’re on the road!
Can You Keep Beer Chilled Without Refrigeration?
Yes, there are some effective ways that allow your beer to chill without refrigeration. However, keep in mind that these tricks can only work for a few days. So, if your road trip doesn’t last for weeks, then you can definitely chill beer without refrigeration!
Easy Tips and Tricks To Keep Beer Chilled During Road Trips
Given below are some of the best tips and tricks to keep beer chilled while you’re on a road trip. Make sure you follow them thoroughly to make the most of your experience!
Tip 1: Consider Getting A Cooler
If you can’t have a refrigerator in your car or another vehicle on a road trip, then you can definitely go for an icebox or cooler! It pretty much works in an efficient manner and keeps your beer chilled.
In fact, coolers aren’t just good for keeping the beers chilled but also for your food as well. However, make sure you don’t store your food and beer in the same cooler. Instead, go for two separate coolers.
Given below are some instructions to chill beer using a cooler:
- Get an efficient cooler. You can opt for an affordable one if you’re going for a road trip for 2 to 3 days. However, for a longer duration, consider going for the best cooler.
- Fill the container/cooler with ice-cold water. The cooler it is, the better! Then, add your beer bottles to the container.
- Add a lot of ice to the cooler. After adding water and beer bottles, you need to add a lot of ice to them.
- Add salt to the container. Salt can help in melting the ice into water and making the water colder than usual. Thus, helping in keeping your beers chill. Yet, if you don’t want the ice to melt quickly, don’t use salt.
Once you are all prepped up with your beer cooler, simply close the container tightly and put it in the trunk or wherever there’s less heat.
Tip 2: Use A T-Shirt
Yes, it is possible to keep beer cool with the help of a T-shirt. So, if you cannot take a cooler with you for some reason, go ahead with this trick!
But, there are a few limitations. One, this method is ideal for fewer beer bottles as you simply cannot use it for bulk. Second, this method may not work if you’re driving in extremely hot and humid temperatures.
So, this tip is ideal for a few beer bottles and areas with cold climates. Here’s what you need to do:
- Get some spare T-shirts: You can either get one or many T-shirts depending on the number of beer bottles you have. If not T-shirts, you can go for any other cloth as well.
- Get some slightly cold or normal temperature water: It doesn’t matter if you don’t have ice-cold water. You simply need room temperature or slightly cold water for this method.
- Soak a T-shirt with water and wrap it around the beer bottles: In the last step, you just need to soak the T-shirt with some water. Wrap the T-shirt around the beer bottles nicely.
- Place The T-shirt in a cold area of your vehicle: Make sure that you place the T-shirt in the coldest area of your vehicle where there’s less heat.
In this way, a T-shirt, along with the cold temperature and water, can bring down your beer’s temperature and keep it chilled!
Tip 3: Use Toilet Paper Or Paper Napkin
If you don’t want to waste your T-shirts, you can opt for toilet paper or paper napkins as well. I know this option may sound a bit gross but trust me, it works in a great way!
Toilet papers and paper napkins are available in bulk and are suitable for a huge number of beer bottles too!
Here’s what you need to do:
- Get some toilet paper. Soak or wet them in cold water. Even room temperature would work fine.
- Wrap your beer bottles in the soaked toilet paper or paper napkins.
- Store them in a cool place inside your car or any other vehicle.
What happens here is that the water evaporates. This evaporation helps in cooling the beer bottles. So, as the beer bottles become more chilled, the toilet paper becomes drier.
If you want, you can also take a carton, keep those wrapped beer bottles inside it and place it in a cool area. This will help in keeping beer bottles chilled in bulk.
Tip 4: Chill Beer During Any Stops
It’s natural that when you are on a road trip, you will take some stops in between the journey. This is the time when you can consider keeping the beer chilled too.
There are some quick ways to cool the beer while you’re out. These include:
- Burying Your Beer Bottles
If you’re waiting on a site for more than 30 minutes or an hour, you can definitely try this trick! It works better if the area is cold and damp.
What you need to do is dig a hole big enough to accommodate your beer bottles. Then, place your beer bottles inside the hole and cover them up with mud/sand. If it is dry, you can pour some water on it to make the area damp.
The earth’s coolness will easily make your beer bottles chill and ready to drink after 20 to 30 minutes!
- Sinking Your Beer Bottles
If you’re making a stop near a stream or river, sinking your beer bottles cautiously can cool them too!
You just need to get some plastic bags and put your beer bottles inside them. Then, sink the plastic bags in the stream. But, make sure that you use a weight, such as a big rock, to ensure that the bags don’t sink into the river.
The water from the streams or rivers can help in cooling the beer bottles effectively. However, there are certain risks to this method such as:
- If you don’t have a proper arrangement or weight, the bags may fall into the stream. Thus, leaving you with no beer!
- This method isn’t ideal for nighttime either.
So, keeping these things in mind, you may proceed further.
Tip 5: Make Use of Garbage Bags With Ice
Is your cooler too small to hold all the beer cans or bottles? Do you not want to spend money on buying coolers? Well, then this tip can definitely come in handy!
You can take big garbage bags, put one into another. Then, add a lot of ice to these bags. Keep your beer bottles inside the bags. Again, add some ice on the top. Store these bags in the trunk or other cool areas.
However, keep in mind that this method isn’t as effective as coolers. There’s no proper insulation and hence, the ice would melt in some hours.
These are some of the best methods to keep your beer chilled during road trips or even chill your warm beers!
How Long Does Beer Stay Chilled Without Refrigerator?
Well, the answer depends on the climatic conditions and the method you use for chilling your beers.
If you live in hot and humid areas or travel around such areas, then no matter which method you use for chilling it, it won’t stay chilled for long. The best way to keep your beer chilled for long in these areas is by using an ice cooler containing multiple layers of chunky ice cubes.
Now, if you live or travel in cold temperatures, your beer will remain chill without any extra steps!
Is It Harmful To Drink Warm Beer?
Now, what should you do if the beers become warm? Are they safe to drink or should you dispose of them?
Warm beer is extremely safe to drink as long as you can acquire the taste for it. Today, most of us prefer to drink ice-cold beer or slightly chilled beer as it tastes better to us.
But, if you try out warm beer, you’ll find that it even tastes better than a cold beer at times! It has a more powerful and authentic taste than chilled beers which may taste a little bland.
Final Thoughts
In the end, everyone wants to drink chilled beer when they’re on a road trip and enjoying themselves with their friends.
With these tips, you can at least lower the beer’s temperature somehow to enjoy its chilled nature in the Summer months!