This little party trick is guaranteed to impress, and you don't need any special materials, just a decent freezer and a bottle of beer. Emory University physicist Sidney Perkowitz, the author of the forthcoming book Hollywood Science, says the phenomenon at work here is most likely supercooling - a process by which water can remain in a liquid state below its freezing point. It's a delicate balance, though, as the water will turn to ice given the slightest shock.

If supercooling is the culprit, the hidden scientist in this video most likely left the bottle in the freezer long enough for it to drop down below the freezing point - some other sites recommend about 30 minutes. Next, the shock of slamming the bottle on the table jolts the beer, and this added energy forces it to crystallize into ice.

Of course, it's hard to say for sure what's happening in this clip, and the many other frozen beer related videos posted on YouTube, because we don't have all the information. The best way to test the idea would be to try it yourself. I'd do the same, but I don't believe in waste.—Gregory Mone

6 Comments

People are commenting on videos like this saying "it's fake! it's sodium acetate, not beer(or water, or whateveritis that has been superfrozen)! I saw it on popsci!"
So I thought someone should point out the connection between this and your sodium acetate DIY: http://tinyurl.com/2go6oy .

This is how I understand it:
In effect, the sodium acetate solution was superfrozen (because it's supersaturated, as popsci pointed out) even at room temperature, so when it was given a reason to crystalize, it did so and didn't melt again until you heated it up to its melting point for re-use.
But this is different; this is beer. The beer hasn't been given time to return to room temperature, so it's a superfrozen liquid to start with, turns solid, and then it would melt again (as is visible in some videos) when it passes its melting point on the way to room temperature.
So the same principle is in effect in both cases, and both substances _can_ be superfrozen, but there's an important difference in that, when left at room temperature, the beer would melt again and the sodium acetate wouldn't.
Am I right?

I just want to point out that the fluid, in this case beer, is under quite a bit of pressure inside the bottle. I think that the high pressure and alcohol allow to beer to remain a liquid at a lower temp than normal, upon release of pressure the beer freezes instantly.

This is similar to how ice-skating works, the compression of the water-ice lowers its melting point allowing the blade to glide on the thin layer of water.

Just my take on the phenomena, which I have also observed first hand.

That's a good guess, but unfortunately for your theory, the melting/freezing point of liquids is relatively unaffected by pressure. If you'll allow me to quote Wikipedia, since the right physics book isn't on hand: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_skating), "Although high pressure can cause ice to melt, by lowering its melting point, the pressure required is far greater than that actually produced by ice skates." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melting_point) "melting point is relatively insensitive to pressure."

I used to work at a bar where the coolers would "supercool" the bottled water, which would remain liquid until the cap was released. Then, whoosh, the whole bottle would turn to slush. The releasing of the pressure seemed to be the trigger.

From an OSU college students personal experience, this really works. One half hour is all it really takes. There is also a better video of this on College Humor.

I wouldn't call Corona a "perfectly good bottle of beer"...



June 2013: American Energy Independence

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