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I like cold beer. Given the answers in Do beer bottles explode in freezer? -beer bottles may break in a freezer.
How can I get my beer to chill as much as possible. Get it so cold that it's only slightly away from being frozen ?
If the bottle type of a beer matters, I am happy to propose we talk about Corona Extra or Budweiser as both of these are easily available in USA and Australia (I am looking to chill my beer in Australia) and am hoping their bottles are of a similar quality.
To get beer as cold as possible, as quickly as possible, it should be submerged in a salted ice water bath.
Because of the alcohol in beer, the freezing temperature of beer is slightly lower than that of water. (How much lower depends on the actual alcohol content of the beer you're cooling.)
The salt in the ice water will in turn lower the freezing temperature of the water slightly, ensuring it is as cold as possible, and the conduction cooling of the water against the cans or bottles will cool them much more rapidly than exposing them primarily to cold air, as they would be either in a freezer or in ice alone.
Additionally, since the temperature of ice-water will naturally be moderated by the water, you don't have to worry about your beer freezing, no matter how long you leave it it, and it will get as cold as it is going to get within 15 mintues or so.
A freezer is too cold and fridge not cold enough.
The alcohol reduces the freezing point by 0.4 C for each 1% of alcohol.
So you would need a freezer with a temperature control.
Since is is not far below freezing point of water you could use an ice bath and be pretty close. A 10% salt solution is about -6 C.
Since the question doesn't specify how fast the beer is to be chilled, I think the approach @Aedonis took is a very good one. If you're not up for a that much of a DIY project, there's a cheaper and easier solution that takes no tools:
For my fridge, I bought one of the little units like this one. It's cheap and simple. Plug the controller into the wall, plug the freezer into the controller, thread the sensor into the freezer on the hinge side of the door, and set the temperature. A used freezer plus $25 or so for a temperature controller, and you've got beer at the perfect temperature.
One possible problem is that the internal temperature of a typical home fridge or freezer isn't very consistent. The bottles in the bottom back may freeze while the ones in the top front are too warm. A small fan, like the muffin fans they sell for electronics, will move the air around inside enough to keep it consistent, and they cost less than $20.
Good luck!
You could make this a DIY Project. I have a beer fridge that I made from a chest freezer, thermostat, and a heat lamp. I modified the chest freezer that I got from home depot for like $250 bucks and I connected it to a control box (like $20) that turns on and off the freezer when it reaches a certain temperature and turns on and off the heat lamp at a certain temperature. And as a nice touch, I added a renewable dehumidifier to keep the fridge from leaking. Works very well. I have my beer at serving temperatures at all times. It definitely makes a difference in the flavor of the beer and it makes for a great fermentation chamber when I am homebrewing.
Materials
Here is an example of someone that went all out and made a trim. I did not do this but it is a good example: Jack's Chest Freezer Fermentation Chamber
You could follow those steps up there ^. I have yet to do the wood trim, but you can do all of this without the trim. I am using a heat lamp from home depot instead of an actual heater like that. The heat lamp is 3 parts which are purchased separately: the lamp, the connector from the lamp to a hot and ground wire, and then plug end that plugs into an outlet. You can connect all of these with a shrink rubber that is waterproof.
It took me about two hours to make (only because I struggled with making the right sized holes in the project box). It takes very little electrical knowledge to complete this.
How do I get beer to chill to the maximum possible?
Here is a recipe for getting your beer to a perfect temperature without breaking the bottles when a freezer in itself may too cold and a fridge may not be cold enough. The following method is relatively inexpensive.
Popping the beer in the fridge will take an hour to cool down. Even just sticking the beer in the freezer would take a good 20 minutes or so. This is just way too slow on a hot summer day. So, here’s how you can cool down a six pack in 3 minutes to the perfect drinkable temperature.
What You Need:
A six pack (bottles or cans)
A bowl or pot large enough to fit the bodies of 6 bottles (preferably metal)
Mixing Spoon
2 trays of ice cubes
1-2 Cups Table Salt
Water
How to Do It:
1)Place bowl/pot in a sink.
2)Add ice, salt, and enough water to fill up half of the bowl/pot.
3)Stir until salt is dissolved.
4)Add beers and make sure they are covered up to the neck with the icy water. You may need to add a bit more water.
5)Place in the freezer (If you don’t, it may just take an extra minute or 2)
6)After 3 minutes, pull the beers out. You should find that they are at the perfect temperature.
How It Works:
The trick is in the salt. It may sound unusual considering that in winter, we drop salt on the ice to raise the temperature and make it melt, but in this case, the salt is tricked into cooling the beer. Since the salt does in fact melt the ice, it goes through a transition from a solid to liquid. When this occurs, it absorbs extra heat which keeps the water extra cold. In this case, the excess heat comes from the beers and the liquid more actively cools them. - Cool a Beer in 3 Minutes
Don't fool around with freezer or salted water! Either get about 1 gallon of food grade Glycol or Everclear alcohol and put it in your freezer until it's -10F. You can leave it in the bottle or put it in a bucket. Be careful handling it because you can instantly cause frost bite if it comes into contact with your skin. Use gloves. Take it out of the freezer and pour into a metal or pyrex bucket. Stick your wine or beer bottle into it and swirl the liquid around it the bottle. It should get to freezing within a couple of minutes of soaking the bottles. Enjoy!
Put the bottle in the freezer and set a timer. Take the bottle out when time is up, and sample the result. Start at 30 minutes (for a half-liter bottle with around 5.5% alcohol), then gradually work up from there in small steps.
Before freezing completely (and breaking the bottle), the beer will get slushy: small ice crystals suspended in liquid. (Happened to me once by accident and the beer was still tasty.) Note down how long it took for the beer to reach that stage. Subtract a few minutes (unless you happen to have developed a taste for slushy beer)—voilà: the perfectly chilled beer.
Main drawback is that you will have to plan ahead. If you are not ready to consume your beer when it’s ready, moving it from the freezer to the fridge when the timer expires will give you a few extra minutes without drastic temperature increases.
Your equation will depend on various factors:
