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Here's how well Chill Indiana Glacier Bags actually work

Published: Friday, 01 June 2018 17:45

At long last, Indiana has Sunday alcohol sales. But getting your hands on cold beer from a store can still be a challenge.

Indiana gas stations and convenience stores have been battling lawmakers for the right to sell cold beer longer than the Cleveland Cavilers and the Golden State Warriors having been battling over the NBA title.

But so far it's been a losing effort, making cold beer an exclusive offering of the state's package liquor stores. Even the historic Sunday sales legislation came to be saddled with an agreement that cold beer sales wouldn't expand.

Instead of giving up, the Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association are fighting back and raising awareness about the law with a loophole that doubles as a beer caddy.

Reusable "Chill Indiana bags" are now being sold in stores. The idea is that for $6.99, you can buy a bag and get access to unlimited ice from any participating location. So buy your beer, put it in the bag with some ice and head for the door.

The claim is that an ice-filled "Chill Indiana" bag takes bottles or cans from "room temperature to an acceptable consumable temperature in just 15 minutes, and it keeps that beverage cold for hours."

Sounds great! But how cold is that exactly? And how much brew can it hold? Time for a little lab work.

Chill it up

For our first test, we used one room-temperature, 12 oz. can of Pabst Blue Ribbon. We then put the can in the ice-filled "Chill Indiana" bag to see exactly how cold it got in 15 minutes.

We also put the "Chill Indiana" bag up against a traditional cooler, a regular freezer bag and a freezer. Here are the temperatures we ended up with, from coldest to warmest:

Freezer bag: 39.9 degrees
"Chill Indiana" bag: 43.4 degrees
Cooler: 60.9 degrees
Freezer: 63.5 degrees

So essentially, the "Chill Indiana" bag served its purpose quite nicely. While not the coldest, that PBR went from warm and gross, to refreshing and still gross! It is PBR, after all.

The ice also didn't melt at all. We kept the ice in the bag for about an hour, and not so much as a puddle began to form. The freezer bag, however, was a mess and had plenty of water in it after just 15 minutes of sitting on the counter.

That water brought the temp lower quicker, but long-term, it's not a great solution.

Oh, and clearly the IndyStar freezer is trash. Hey management, what gives?

Fill it up

This one was a simple capacity test to see exactly how many brews you can haul in a "Chill Indiana" bag.

Now, the manufacturers recommend sticking to a six-pack, but who needs limits? Here's what we got when we filled it to the gills:

13 12 oz. cans
9 12 oz. bottles
9 16 oz. cans

In each scenario, there is some room for ice, but not much. But with that kind of capacity, it could be a sleek way to transfer beers that are already frosty.

Cheers.