Subzero temps and shipping

Trying to stay humble here but I just got 8 RR bottles shipped to me during the weather this week in Chicago and all survived. Granted my shipper used the russian nesting doll system of packaging but all good here!

 

Dropped a box off yesterday headed to Illinois. Maybe @galos11 can give this thread an update when it arrives.

Any swelling of the cans or any visible damage possibly due to the cold temps temps. Since tomorrow is Friday, maybe Tim could open and 'tests one' . . . for science of course

 

Depending on where I'm shipping to in IL, some boxes spend two nights there which is much more stressful than one at these temps, obviously.

 

I could probably run an experiment or two. Will definitely report back on my findings!

 

I'm curious what the general consensus is on insulating. I've used 1/4" sheets of styrofoam to insulate boxes from abuse, but not from the cold. Can insulation really keep the contents of the box from freezing in freezing conditions without some kind of heat source? It would surely slow the process, and maybe that's all you can plan for? I've thought about adding charcoal-activated hand warmers to a box, but it seems like the packing material would prevent that from having much of an effect.

 

I don't think hand warmers would work very long without oxygen. I'm just trying to slow the transfer of temperature to the contents with 1.5" closed cell insulation. No insulation will stop freezing without a heat source.

 

Everything arrived in perfect condition, no signs of swelling or any kind of damage! Thanks @7irondave

 

I usually just pack in asbestos, seems to do the trick.

 

You should be fine. Most of the snow has pushed through for now. And there was quite a bit across the state. Temps also warmed a bit today. Hit 21 by me and was sunny. By Monday temps are going to be even warmer. I broke my own rule of shipping in these temps, but it was mostly bourbon, and a few beers with both being 12% or higher. With a few days since big snow and the break with sun today, I sent yesterday to Chicago knowing that UPS is almost always 1 day for me. Arrived no prob.

Now I really need to get this garage full of Smooj out of my property before it blows something up and onto @colby600 's porch. That's happening Monday with temps above 32 for the first time in many weeks.

I will say to anyone who prefers USPS, I haven't had a priority or regional box make it to anywhere in Chicago in less than 3 days since November. It's typically taking 4, sometimes even 5 days. And I live 2-3+ hours from just about anywhere in Chicago. Prior to that 24-48 hours like clockwork.

 

@aasher , I noticed your post in Post a picture of your latest beer haul and couldn't help but think your input could be valuable to this thread.

Do you have the temps the box was exposed to? The amount of time the box spent in those temps. The abv of the beers that survived and the ones that didn't make it. Any pics of the exploded bottles?