Cold Weather Trading / Winter Shipping Thread

My MN buddy just lost a bottle of Proprietors because of the cold. Check the radar ba's!

 

No problems shipping in cold weather with me personally. I just look to make sure temps aren't dipping below 20 or so and I haven't had an issue. I try not to ship low alcohol beers.

The box is fairly well insulated too- the layers of packaging help it from swinging radically in short periods of time.

 

After a couple hundred trades & reading countless "winter shipping" threads over the years, I've established 10 degrees as my minimum trading temp. If you trade when it's going to be zero during the beer's trip or, heaven forbid, below zero, you're gambling.

And always, always ship on a Monday. A weekend or holiday sitting out, even in relatively benign temps below freezing, will likely doom a box of beer.

Those are my two basic rules & I've only lost one single bottle of 4% or so beer when I was new, & the box arrived in sub-zero weather.

Plus, you can read this & plenty more.

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/shipping-beer-in-winter.136681/

 

I was getting ready to ship some Abrasive when it was below zero last week. I tested a can out by leaving it outside overnight. That night it got down to about -6 F. The next morning when it had "warmed" up to around zero I brought the can inside.

I was expecting to find an inflated looking or even blown can but it was neither. I popped it open and the contents were still in a liquid state. It poured nicely and tasted even better. Probably the coldest beer I've ever had.

 

The more insulating layers between your beer and the outside world the better. In a recent BIF where the temp between my target and I was always below freezing, I let my beers slowly come up to room temp before wrapping the interior box with Mylar/space blanket shiny side in. Might have been overkill but it worked.

Definitely second shipping on a Monday to avoid weekend warehouses.

 

Given it's supposed to be a HIGH of -2º here in Iowa on Monday, I am shipping his out later on Monday. Thanks for all the suggestions. I picked up some styrofoam sheets at work so there will be plenty of layers.

 

UPS typically loads its trucks immediately so there is no storage inside a warehouse. The trucks sit outside overnight. Not sure with FedEx but you should assume that your box will sit in a truck outside overnight for the duration of the trip. Granted there is no wind and other insulating materials around it which will help.

 

If your receiving beer always make your trading partner aware of our weather conditions. I make it a point to have the shipper choose the hold at location option through fed ex. It should be easier/quicker once holiday season passes.

 

If you're receiving a box and have the tracking #, you can also select the hold at location option yourself. I always do this if it's cold and I'm not going to be able to run home to bring the box inside.

 

even in transit it is sitting in an cold temp maybe even colder... trailors are not heated so if its moving there will still be no heat.... i recommend hot packs... i unload trailors that are 0 degrees and negative at UPS so shit happends.. part of shipping....

 

I've been very careful/lucky - up until now. I BEGGED the sender to mail last Wed. so it would get here by Dec. 24, knowing if it didn't it would sit in a cold truck overnight. He didn't, saying he'd "never had any trouble" - I'm thinking him living in California may have played a factor in that. In any case - you ever seen a Beat-cicle? It's a heartbreaker, and pretty grotesque, shield the young ones' eyes...

 

Ouch...what did the person you traded with say when you sent them that picture?

 

No response yet. It's our second trade, and he's a decent guy. And I take some responsibility, I should have just said we needed to wait, maybe until Spring (though I'd already shipped). I'm guessing he'll do his best to make it up, though Beat's tough to come by. Especially the non-frozen kind

 

My Minnesota friends - quit bloody trading. Right. Now.

I know & love many of you, but anybody who sends/receives a box when the temp is forecast to dip below zero gets what they deserve. If you're happy to play Russian Roulette with a box of good beer, I don't have much sympathy for anyone who gets a live round in the chamber. And this screed isn't aimed at anyone in particular, I know this has happened multiple times in the past few weeks.

Six straight days of below zero nights beginning Saturday. Don't do it.

 

I sent a package to Chicago today knowing it will be in the 20s and 30s through Saturday and the package will be delivered there that day. Just be careful!

 

My shipping guy just called FedEx. Packages are stored inside the facility until put on the truck for delivery that day. Trucks sit outside overnight but never with packages in them.

 

Trucks also drive down long stretches of road that are not inside a facility.

And I've heard both that trucks sit inside & trucks sit outside from FedEx folks, so I think it depends, & neither inside nor outside is an 'always' situation overnight.

 

So I just sent a nice box to MA didn't think much of the cold weather. Till it already shipped. How many of you have lost bottles to freezing.? Kinda worried about it's like 14 degrees out their now but by the delivery date it's Gonna be in the 50s :/

 

I've put off all my shipments that were scheduled to go out this past Monday until tomorrow. Shipping beer in the single digits and teens has me a bit worried. It really depends where it's traveling through. Although if it will be in the 50's where it's being delivered most likely anything that froze would be thawed so it may be hard to tell.

 

it takes a mere few days to freeze. not much at all and single digits will really speed that up. also, higher alcohol will fare better. as long as the seals do not break, you are fine. some corks will expand but they will also contract. many say C02 will escape but thats not always true.