A Simple Hack for Cooling Your Beer In Less Than 10 Minutes

Few things are more refreshing than an icy cold beer on a hot summer day, but while prepping for a cookout, it’s easy to forget to stick a few brews in the fridge before firing up the coals. To chill booze in a hurry, take a cue from the science whizzes over at Popular Science, who say that a container filled with ice, salt, and water is the secret to scoring a cool drink.

As PopSci explains, regular water freezes at 32°F, but salt water freezes at a lower temperature, meaning it can get cooler than its salt-less counterpart. That’s because as salt dissolves, it’s distilled into sodium and chloride ions, which prevent the water molecules from forming ice.

Take a container—preferably a cooler—and fill it with enough water to submerge the beers, along with ice and lots of salt. Make sure each drink is surrounded by liquid, and wait five minutes. After that, voila: chilled beer! (Pro tip: To speed up this process, try spinning the bottles, as this will even out the heat redistribution.)

[h/t Popular Science]