I have a friend who puts liquor in the freezer?

Question

I am sorry...I am not a drinker and just wondered why the bottle would not bust? Will it go bad after a period of time?

Answer 1

Depends on how much alcohol is in the bottle.  Vodka won't freeze....a bottle of Bud will.  Trust me on this, I learned the hard way.

By the way, Vodka connoisseurs keep theirs in the freezer.

Answer 2

Alcohols with a high proof (usually 100 proof or higher) will not freeze solid in the freezer, which is why the bottle will not break.  Alcohol has a lower freezing point than water, so even when they are mixed with water-based liquids, at high concentrations they won't freeze unless very, very cold.  Alcohols with this high a proof usually do not go bad, either - bacteria, mold, and fungus can't survive in this environment.  Hope this helps.

Answer 3

liquor doesn't freeze so it can't expand and break the bottle

Answer 4

alcohol dosent freeze, thats why the bottle dosent break. and if the liquor is colder, it doesnt burn going down.

Answer 5

the bottle doesn't break because the alcohol has a lower freezing point than water.  it shouldn't go bad after a period of time.

Answer 6

Hard liquor won't freeze in a freezer, it's not cold enough.  And most of it is good for years unrefrigerated so it will probably last longer in the freezer.

Answer 7

we keep our vodka and aquavit in the freezer. it wont go bad. we do it because it tastes so much better chilled. The alcohol content is high enough that it doesn't freeze. Keeping it in the freezer actually prevents it from evaporating so it preserves it better.

Answer 8

Alcohol doesn't have a freezing point. (actually, it does, i'm sure, but it is wayyyyy below zero degrees)

Answer 9

liquor dosn't go bad, the only reason to put it in the freezer is to chill it

Answer 10

All alcoholic beverages are a homogeneous mixture of water and ethanol (drinking alcohol).  Any combination of water with another substance, provided the water is more than 50%, will decrease the freezing point of the substance from water's freezing point of 0C. The amount it goes down is only related to the molality of the extra substance, it doesn't matter what the water is mixed with.

As it turns out, around 30% ABV, the math works out to give a freezing point of the entire liquid of around -30C.  This is colder than normal freezers, and most liquor is usually 40%, so the freezer would need to be even more powerful.  Beer will freeze though, and wine should freeze as well.

BTW, the only liquid which takes up more volume as a solid is water.  Every other substance will shrink when it freezes, so even if you could freeze it, there's no guarantee that at 40%ABV the liquid would still freeze into a bigger solid and bust the bottle.  The ethanol could overpower it and the entire thing could get smaller, saving the bottle.

Liquor kept with a cap on it will never go bad.  Even 19th century whisky properly stored is still as good as it was when it was made.  (Unfortunately, it would probably have more impurities than we are used to today; there are certain old brandies that are preserved but undrinkable because they contain too much lead -- it was just how they made it)