A little more data for you. What kind of advantage do you get by starting with beer that's already been refrigerated? Data below is based off the same basic setup as the last installment. Ice Mule Pro Cooler, 10 pounds of ice, salt. We probed 2 Michelob Ultras: one from the refrigerator, and one that was room temp.
The pre-chilled beer is getting in the slush zone by 15 minutes.
You've undoubtedly heard that adding salt to your cooler can get your beer slushy. We decided to do a little test. You have room temperature beer, and you're thirsty now. Can salt help? If so, how much?
We punched a hole in the top of the can, and inserted the thermocouple so it was close to the center of the can. Then the can was buried in the cooler with plain ice for 30 minutes while we logged the temperature data. Next we removed the first can, dumped a packet of salt in the cooler, mixed it with the ice, and buried a fresh can.
What's the verdict? Check this out.
The ice and salt mix got the beer 10 degrees colder after 30 minutes.